Mountain House freeze dried food taste test
 

I decided to supplement my emergency food stash with some freeze dried food. (mostly #10 cans and rice/beans at this point) I will make a bulk order online, but wanted to taste test the stuff first so I went to Dick's Sporting Goods to pick out a small assortment.

They had a decent selection of the Mountain House freeze dried meals in 2 serving pouches, so I got the following: chili mac with beef, beef stew, chicken teriyaki with rice, beef stroganoff with noodles, lasagna with meat sauce, and mexican style rice and chicken.

I just prepared and am now eating the beef stroganoff with noodles...and it is actually really good. Seriously, surprisingly good. I guess I sort of expected something that was well, barely edible, ahhahahha. I'll probably try another kind tomorrow or the next day.

I bought them singly and at a retail sporting goods store and the price was about $6.50 a pouch. I haven't checked on the website yet, but hope I can get a better deal buying in bulk.

Anyone else have any opinions of their other meals, or any other brand? I just got Mountain House because that is what the store had the best selection of.

Re: Mountain House freeze dried food taste test
 

Yesterday I paid $2,100 for 150 cans........ send me a private if you want a phone number, the guy is legit and the price is excelent.

I comes six cans in each of the 25 boxes, one year for one person.

The cut off date to order is the 31 of this month.

Re: Mountain House freeze dried food taste test
 

I liked granola w/blueberries, chili mac, and lasagna the best. Chicken teriyaki was good. I didn't really like the beef stew, chicken and rice, and beef stroganoff. The ones I didn't like were the first ones I tried and that was before I figured out that you should add more water than you're supposed to and let it sit longer too. I think I'm going to have to try those again.

The mountain house website offers decent deal on the individual meals with free shipping over $50. I think they sell them at their retail price, but with free shipping and no tax its not bad. They have a sale right now on marine cuisine meals. I'm not sure if they are different food or just different packaging.

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My concern was the sodium content in some of the entrees. Do they have the nutritional labels on the individual packages? Would any of you give me some random packaging details on the sodium content?

Re: Mountain House freeze dried food taste test
 

damn you are lazy

http://www.mountainhouse.com/nutr.cfm

Re: Mountain House freeze dried food taste test
 

There was a sale in my supermarket on canned salmon. A dollar per large can. usually they are like 3.50, so I pick up all they have on the shelf - 11 cans I think and ask the cashier for a raincheck on 50.

:yippee:

Re: Mountain House freeze dried food taste test
 

Curtman, they have the sodium and everything listed at the Mountain House homepage after you wander around a bit. It is very high sodium. Ballpark for many is 1200 per serving, and the servings aren't big. But that is about like canned beef stew. So it depends how much you want to cut back sodium. The granola with blueberries was the only one not very high in sodium.

Z, Curtman has typed long responses to questions I asked, so I don't think that waspish remark was called for. Though most of us get cranky on here sometimes.

Re: Mountain House freeze dried food taste test
 

Thanks, I was afraid of the sodium content, I try to only use sea salts and rarely, I think I could live just fine without any extra.

I don't worry about his lazy remark, the day he can drag a Husqvarna 2100 chainsaw up and down a logging unit he will be qualified to speak. Until then he is moot.

Re: Mountain House freeze dried food taste test
 

Look forward to getting some MH supplies.
If its halfway edibile Im content.
In a survival/fema quarantine situation,I will be thankful for these supplies to no end.I dont like salt either,but if thats what I have to do to eat,bring it on!
Also agree with the stocking up on sale items,and the bulk grains/beans/rice deals.
Im looking at Walton Foods for some supplies along that line.

I can say this,survival preps(the whole nine yards) does get to be an expense,hard to keep Mrs. online with the whole program,thats a neccessity tho so I am still doing it.

Better safe than sorry

Oh,as for water,we have a creek down the road,I got a solar oven,so I can always boil it safe if there is a bit of sunshine.That puppy rocks!Makes GREAT bread.
http://www.sunoven.com/usa.asp

Spuds:sheep:

Re: Mountain House freeze dried food taste test
 

Good idea,never thought to make that a purchase EACH trip,it would add up fast.

Ramen noodles in 6 or 10 packs,cheap and last well.

Beware the Big Lot canned fruits,some are pretty gross.:thumpdown

Spuds:sheep:

Re: Mountain House freeze dried food taste test
 

Another thing I noticed reading the nutritional info on MH the fellow with the discount deal had also pointed out. Not many calories. Those 1200 sodium servings run like 270 calories. For sure it would take some high cal side dishes to supplement. If you tried to get enough calories just from the MH it would become a dangerous amount of sodium.

But they are intended as entrees of familiar tasting foods. And that with long shelf life and just add hot water ease are the best features.

I appreciate Moon starting this thread. I'm glad to hear they taste better than expected.

I got a solar cooker too, but have not tried it out.

Re: Mountain House freeze dried food taste test
 

Thanks for the solar oven link and comments. I've always wanted a way to bake w/o heating up the house in the summer. Have any of you that own the solar oven cooked meat? Does it brown in the oven? I looked at some of the pics at the site (roated chicken) and it did not look lie it browned. Just wondering if I could expect browning? TIA

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Ponce, do you know how many meals each of those cans is suppose to make? I think that info was in Andy' original thread but since that is no longer available wanted to know if you asked the distributor? Or if someone has figured the cost per entree of the offer that would help. TIA

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I just ordered the 48 can deal and the ebay page says 522 servings which equates to 10.87 servings per can. I thought it was odd that it didn't work out to a round number.

I hope the guy is legit because I already paid him. He sent me email saying that it could be as late as mid-May before I get my order. I don't mind. I'm not hungry yet.

Re: Mountain House freeze dried food taste test
 

[QUOTE=Marielle]I just ordered the 48 can deal and the ebay page says 522 servings which equates to 10.87 servings per can. I thought it was odd that it didn't work out to a round number.QUOTE]

The number of servings per can depends on the food product contained. For the Chicken Teriyaki, 9 servings per can. For the Beef Stew, 10 servings per can. If you think about it that makes sense. Some food items are naturally bulkier than others.

Re: Mountain House freeze dried food taste test
 

More than one site shows JC as legit and honorable,so I have little doubt our purchases will show as promised.

I agree,wouldnt want MH to be my only food,will supplement too.BUT,if it was the only food you had,you wouldnt complain,I sure wouldnt.
I consider MH as the backbone of the survival food,easy way to get a nice start with huge storage life.

Also Winco has good bulk food prices,so if you have one near....

Im now looking into storage containers,What are you folks using for these bulk purchases,Im considering the big white drums that CocaCola uses at their bottling plants.

Solar Oven......
Made a roast in a pan with water,covered,in the solar oven.Just as if cooked on the oven at home.Nice slow cooked meat,its the real deal for sure.I made it into stew,good job.

Spuds:sheep:

Re: Mountain House freeze dried food taste test
 

Temp in my solar oven gets to about 350-400 if i recall,havent used it since summer.So....heat is heat I guess re: browning.Havent made a chicken,bread browns really really nice,its a super baking oven for some reason.

BTW,roast took about 2 hours,bread 45-60 minutes.

Spuds:sheep:

Re: Mountain House freeze dried food taste test
 

Thanks for all the replies. I am also thinking about the smaller order.

Re: Mountain House freeze dried food taste test
 

I made my own solar oven at it even has a small solar fan inside in order to cook the meal more even.......in summer I throw in all that is needed for a meat stew in the morning and by six pm is ready to go.

Re: Mountain House freeze dried food taste test
 

Ponce, you never cease to amaze me - where did you learn to do all this stuff you do? School, family, military?

Re: Mountain House freeze dried food taste test
 

Military, books and experimenting, the fan part was my idea from a conver something or another....is a small oven that that a fan inside, so that I decided to do it to my solar cooker.

The solar heating box sitting outside my home and facing south is working really good and it saves me heating oil, it will not make the house warmer but it will keep at at whatever temperature it is at.

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I hearing that some caned stuff goes rancid in a little over a year? Not all of the canned stuff but some. I'm due to buy more caned food and plan on watching the dates. Anyone know the facts on how long the canned food lasts in cans? I have heard its all different?
.

Re: Mountain House freeze dried food taste test
 

Different canned items last shorter or longer.

Spam is good for 80 years (as the spam website says, atleast 80 years).

Veggies like green giant and delmonte have expiry dates of atleast 30 months when the store puts fresh stock on the shelf. It's safe to assume that green beans that have a date listing them good for another 30 months after purchase will last atleast 25% longer and probably 50% longer. They always go conservative.

Watch out on canned soups! Especially soups that have milk like clam chowder. The dates on those cans are very close to be the max. I had a 2 cans of progresso clam chowder in the closet I forgot about (never rotated those two for some reason) and they were expired by about 3 months... I opened one and it looked nasty so i tossed it, the other looked worse. Donno if it was edible. FWIW those cans have been inside 24/7 and were dent free.

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I found some old Cambell's mushroom soup. I can tell it has separated. Anyone know how long condensed soup is good for? I have to check the can to see if the mushrpoom soup has milk content.

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Use a magnifying glass. You can write your name on the chicken's back!

Re: Mountain House freeze dried food taste test
 

MMMMMMMMMMM....chicken back............

http://i1.tinypic.com/sdl3cx.jpg

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I'm sure you could make a simple steam distiller that would work in a solar oven if you want your water pure, not just sterile. Hmmm...

Re: Mountain House freeze dried food taste test
 

Or like this?

Spuds:sheep:




Solar Water Distiller


http://www.thefarm.org/charities/i4at/surv/solstill.jpg
The Solar Still
Solar Stills operate on the same principles that produce rainfall. The sun is allowed into and trapped in the Still. The high temperatures produced destroy all pathogens. The water evaporates, and in this process, only pure water vapor rises in the Still, only to condense on the glass. The glass is sloped to the south, and the condensed water runs down the glass and is collected in a trough. The water is allowed out of the collector through silicone tubing, and is collected in 5 gallon glass jugs. There are no moving parts in the solar still, and only the sun's energy is required for operation.
The design of the our Solar Still began with many hours spent researching previous designs, successes and failures. Our goal for the Still project was to design and develop plans for a Still which could be replicated using "off the shelf" materials.
We designed a still which is easy to replicate, using standard building materials, of which 95% are available "off the shelf". The exterior materials were chosen for their ability to withstand our desert climate with minimal maintenance. The still produces an average of 3 gallons per day in the summer months. Winter production is expected to be 1/2 that amount. The Solar Still can utilize a standard size patio glass replacement, 34"X76". The material costs per still are approximately $150.
Brackish water is carefully placed inside Solar Still via an inlet near the base of the Still. As sunlight warms the black silicone bottom and heat is transferred to the water, the top of the water evaporates on to the inside of the glass cover, which is tilted toward the fresh water drain. approximately 8 square feet (of glass cover) will distill around 1 gallon of water per day, over five hours of full sunlight.
The most important elements of the design are the sealing of the base with black, high temperature silicone rubber; (spread it on with a Bondo squeegee) and creating a good seal between the glass cover and the bottom of the box.
http://www.thefarm.org/charities/i4at/surv/still1.gif
http://www.thefarm.org/charities/i4at/surv/drstill.gif

http://www.thefarm.org/charities/i4at/surv/still22.gif


The Solar Basin Still
http://www.thefarm.org/charities/i4at/surv/cpstill.jpg The Still is filled each morning or evening, and the day's production is collected at that time. The Still will continue to produce after sundown as the water is still very hot. The Still is over filled each day to flush out sediment. The over flow water can be used for irrigation. The only maintenance is to clean the glass occasionally.
A Large Solar Distiller Array! http://www.thefarm.org/charities/i4at/surv/solar2.jpg

Re: Mountain House freeze dried food taste test
 

Cool solar still!

On the packaging question, we vacuum seal first then use metal cans, from pet food tins to metal (new)trash cans. The vacuum sealed bag is insect protection, the metal for rodents who do gnaw plastic pretty well to get at food.

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Does the water come in contact with the silicone?

Re: Mountain House freeze dried food taste test
 

Very good Spuds, that's the one that I wanted to build if I have to, already had the prints for it.

About sodium in the food? remember that we are talking about emergency food and that people in Africa are eating tree leaves and making soup out of the bark.

How long are canned food for? for a long time but what happens is that they loose the vitamins which you can supplement with regular vitamins.

Found a bunch of rusted cans of food a couple of weeks ago and now I am eating those, none of the rust have gotten to the inside and it taste ok plus I am still alive.

When I took inventory of my food last week I forgot to count my two freezers so that now I have about six to eight months more of food for a total of four years plus, once I get my new one year order in.

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Placed my MH order today(the small one). Now if the post office will just deliver my check on time. thanks Andy for the original post and replies.

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I agree completely :beer: Did the same.

Spuds:sheep:

Re: Mountain House freeze dried food taste test
 

Just tried the Scrambled Eggs and Bacon. Certainly not Mom's Sunday morning fry up but ok in a pinch (thinking like a Katrina/Rita) like pinch. The 8oz of boiling water I think was too much, ended up pouring much of the water and thus the bacon bits out. The bacon gives it flavor but the eggs don't have much flavor. Definitely don't forget the seasonings if SHTF.

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When did you get yours? I am still waiting for mine......supposed to be here by the middle of next month (May).

Re: Mountain House freeze dried food taste test
 

Mine are also due to arrive the middle of May. I've been waiting over a month now.

Re: Mountain House freeze dried food taste test
 

After spending all this money on food storage please be sure to pay attention to the storage Temperature of your stash.

http://waltonfeed.com/grain/life.html

Heat will shorten the shelf-life of most foods substantially.
:wink:

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This was not from the order we placed w/ safecastle. Still expect it in May as you guys. I bought a few individual packs from Dick's Sporting goods to try it.

Re: Mountain House freeze dried food taste test
 

Just want to let you all know that our delivery expectations remain unchanged on our March special buy. Mountain House has about two weeks left before they complete the production cycle for their entire #10-can menu. Our large orders will be shipping out to you through the month of May.

Thanks for your patience.

FYI, in the near future, I'm going to be able to offer a couple more special MH deals--at least one of which will be very unique. Stay tuned.

Re: Mountain House freeze dried food taste test
 

Thanks for the update. Anyway of finding out the delivery date? I have the small order, not the large but I am not comfortable knowing it will be sitting on the driveway until I come home from work. If I know the delivery date I can plan to come home during the day to put the order in the garage. Will they leave the order if I am not home? Who is doing the delivery? TIA

Re: Mountain House freeze dried food taste test
 

Sorry--I don't know who you are. :wink: If you email me with your name, I can perhaps be a bit more specific. I do have a couple hundred backorders in place at the moment that I'm "tracking."

But the fact is, I do not get specific shipping/tracking info until about a week after it ships, when I receive the invoice. By then, you should have the packages.

Generally, the late March orders (which is when I think everyone here placed their orders) will not be shipping in the next few days at least. The 8-case orders usually go by UPS ground. You should still be able to give me a phone number and request they call you before delivery, as long as the order hasn't already shipped. Or you can provide any other special delivery instructions.

Otherwise, yes, the order will be left at your front door if no one is home.

The larger orders ship by freight company and they will normally call to ensure someone is there to take delivery.

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Thanks, I'll PM you w/ my info.

For others, I'm cooking up :D the beef stroganof, will let you know how it tastes.

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Beef Stroganoff - very very good:ARMS1: :banana: for food out of a bag :elefant: :banana: :ARMS1: Tastey. Hope all the entrees are this good. Did read a thread I think from money matter? as a reminder, water is required to eat this food. So I was assuming I would have water (boiled)when I placed my order. So we may want to supplement this food with cans or MREs.

Re: Mountain House freeze dried food taste test
 

??. The orders we placed are coming in cans. These individual pouches allow cooking right in them. What do we use to cook the servings we take out of the cans? A covered pot?

BTW, cats think the stroganoff is good also :clap2: ,gave them the left overs. Can't forget the four legged friends :D

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Pot, mess kit, JetBoil ... and the fact is, you don't even need to cook most Mountain House foods if there is no heat source available. Most varieties are precooked and can be eaten just by stirring in some water if need be.

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We are excited waiting for delivery too :applause_:clap2:


Spuds:sheep:

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I have been dating all the canned and other goods so I can keep up the rotation. Also been learning to eat a lot more rice. I agree about the rust on the outside of cans as I live in a tropical humid enviroment. The inside seems just fine as long as there is no interior penetration.
Aloha
Turtleguy9

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Re: Mountain House freeze dried food taste test
 

Anytime we buy something larger than our ordinary practice and from a different area of things we get inquiry from the plastic police.

The policy actually helped when some scammer used one of our debit cards for a lot of gasoline and fast food, neither of which we ever use plastic for. He must have been gassing up and burgering the whole gang. All the money was returned to us.

Re: Mountain House freeze dried food taste test
 

What's the solution for cooking their powdered eggs? In a pan they seem to set up so fast I can't even scramble them. Get a partner?

And yes, they seemed really flat, even with bacon. Leads me again to seeds and plants, esp when the nutritional value of freeze-dried or canned foods is as little as 10% of fresh. Take care not to starve on a full stomach.

MREs are the opposite: ultra-high calorie, which is welcome even if sodium is high.

There are several folding/box style inside ovens. Seems like with enough insulation you could just heat and seal a pan and cook for hours. Popular with lightweight crowd now (on boiling dishes)

With that much food don't you guys run out of backyard space?

TS

PS, wouldn't it be better to use money orders?

Re: Mountain House freeze dried food taste test
 

Got my order from UPS today.
107 lbs in 3 boxes.

Nice Job JC,thanks for the fine deal.Let us know the next bargain buy so I can get more.
Wife was a little leary at first buying food,now very pleased and wished we had got more.I agree.

Spuds:sheep:

Re: Mountain House freeze dried food taste test
 

Yep,us too.
Been loading up on tuna,as I like it anyhow,and starting to get the low sodium Spam too when we shop.Each trip,more spam.
Hey, a little at a time,it adds up fast.Going to town tomorrow to buy some steel shelving for the pantry,its really getting impressive.

Spuds:sheep: