Dehydrated meals

Gday Dunc

I haven't tried the ones in the EO shop, however I had a crack at a few when we were travelling around Tazzie a few years back. They are nothing flash, but hit the spot at the end of a long day. The ones I had were the lamb and veggie roast dinners, and you just added boiling water to the meat and veg to get it all to re hydrate. The gravy was in there as well. I did find them a bit salty but I usually don't add salt. Not sure if that has something to do with the way the meat is preserved.

I would certainly keep a few on hand in case you get stuck, but I wouldn't want them each night. They are very convenient.

I haven't had a go at the ice cream yet. I was actually showing them to the kids yesterday, so we will buy a few from the EO shop and give them a go.

I can't get my head around the ice cream but I have read that it works and tastes ok.

Regards

Jas

I've eaten a few of the Backcountry brand meals.

Duncan
They are OK, if you are a carnivore they are better than nothing, but I wouldn't buy them for their meat.
People who do multi day remote bushwalking tend to buy them for weight saving & cooking convenience more than a desire to eat meat (protein).
I've found it's more about being creative, if meat is important to you and cooking meals which whilst containing meat, it is more there as a flavour additive than the centre piece of the meal.
Examples include carbonara where you throw in a small amount of diced bacon, spaghetti marinara with a small amount of cryovaced salmon & tinned prawns, or fried rice likewise with bacon which keeps well cryovaced. You don't use much meat.
I'm certainly no vegetarian, but I've had some great Lentil meals where there is a decent sauce to go with it. I still reckon one of the best Asian Laksa I've ever had was at the end of a 7 day hike which someone cooked using dehydrated fish they buy from an Asian deli.
As far as deserts go, about the best sweet thing I've found bushwalking is powdered custard and UHT cream. The ice cream tastes like ice cream froth, give me the custard.

Maybe I could get the ex to show how to make your own dehydrated meals.
She used to serve them up every night LOL

Hi Dunc,

We carry about four days worth of Back Country meals for emergency use.

Do they work. well, yes they do ..... to a point.

With this in mind, if it says that it is a "meal for one" .... take two.

Where it says a meal for two ............... it is a meal for one.

The meals are good for an emergency where you have water.

Our assessment is that these meals are good where physical activity is limited.

Everyone should carry some of these.

Cheers,
Wayne & Sally.

Have used the Back Country meals for many years on bushwalking trips, and a few of the comments are spot on with ease and convienience etc.

I usually supplement single packs with home dehydrated vegies.
Sunbeam dehydrators (2) are also great for your own beef or chicken jerky !!

A few tricks.

After putting in the boiling water, give them a stir and reseal after say 10 mins, use a chop stick or similar to get right down in the corners.
Give them 20 mins minimum.
Some of the bags have a zip lock top, others not, so takea couple of clothes legs for each bag to peg on after a couple of folds to keep steam in.

We eat straight from the packs, so no wash up : )

If you are a big eater, then the 2 man packs would be ample for dinner, meals for two, maybe 1 2 man or 2 single packs if supplementing.
The 2 man packs are not quite double the content of single packs.

The 5 man packs work great where we are 3 in a group, if 4 we supplement.
Though we then need to dish out and wash bowls after.

Home made dehydrated carrots, pumpkin, beans, etc need a bit more to rehydrate, so I usually boil them a bit in a dixie to soften up and add them at the stirring point to the packs.

Zip lock bags are usually fine for home dried ingredients, but if we head out for longer walks (up to a few weeks on the tracks) we use the vacumn sealer to pack down into daily portions.

There are some great dinner combos, I like em all, but there are some favs.
http://www.backcountrycuisine.co.nz

Chicken al la King
Honey Soy Chicken
Roast Lamb and Veg
Sweet and Sour Lamb
So many others . . .

Mmmm, gotta go have breakfast now : )

Dunc

I do not wish to detract from the Back Country food, as I have not tried them.

Another product, that I have tried, is worth looking at is Easy Meals. The only thing missing is vegetables which are easy to obtain either tinned or dehydrated.

They pack into a box well and minimise storage requirements. We have tried all the varieties and plan to take a big supply with us when we leave soon. All that is required is to boil them, in their packet, in boiling water. The necessary vegies can be heated in the same water.

Hope that helps

DW (another Duncan W)

Forget dried foods, after the first meal, the chicken tastes like tofu, the beef tastes like tofu, the lamb tastes like tofu, the fish tastes like tofu, curries taste like curried tofu, and tofu tastes like cardboard. After a week try the cardboard, it begins to taste like a good steak.

Get a range of Happy Camper Gourmet meals. They are super yummy. Unbelievable.

Sealed non fridge meals Happy Camper gourmet.

Get one or two well before you leave to try them. They even make a nice meal at home.

Mmmm the Red wine and Rosemary Lamb shank. Might order one myself.

I don't know about Ian as he is not as "well built" as you but would it hurt for you to only eat every second day as become less "well built"?, that way your problem would be solved. As a person who likes to cook I am suprised you would go for dehydrated food. Of course you can always borrow my 35lt Waeco or my 90 litre National Luna fridge freezer.

Sludgie

I have tried most of the vegetarian options for Backcountry and Backpackers as well as some desserts and they were all good. Very nutritious for what they are. Easy to prepare and can conveniently be eaten straight out of the pack. Save a lot of camp fuel using these because you only need boiling water then let them sit, they're still hot when they're ready to eat.
I also use Strive Food camp meals, a small family company based in Tassie.