Mountain House pouches
 

So I finally decided to start stocking some long-term food today, & bought a load of Mountain House freeze dried foods from www.thereadystore.com

About half of my purchase was the more individual-sized "pouches" since I am single & don't need 10 servings every time a make a meal. I am wondering if these have the same shelf life (25-30 years) as the #10 cans (which I also bought a couple cases of)? Also, is there a way to make just a portion of the #10 cans instead of the whole enchilada all at once?

Anybody have experience ordering from these guys? Seems legit with free shipping & decent prices. Thanks ahead of time!

Re: Mountain House pouches
 

TO THE VERY BEST OF MY KNOWLEDGE - the cans have pouches in them.........the pouches are labeled good for 7 years (tho I believe you can keep them much longer)........the cans for 30 years (tho I have heard from someone who should know, they are going to change that to 40 years some time in the next couple of years.)

Now - I might be wrong, but I believe the #10 cans have 6 individual poches inside.........

Re: Mountain House pouches
 

Thanks, MH

Hmmn...If thats the case, perhaps I could "can" the pouches myself & the get the extended shelf life? Although 7 years is quite a while, probably will need 'em before that...:D

Re: Mountain House pouches
 

You don't have to use the entire can when you make a meal. You can use just a portion of it. You can reseal the can with the plastic lid, but it's better to re-store the unused portion in something more airtight, like a canning jar or a canister with a gasket. The stuff will usually last about a week. Note that the portion sizes quoted on all the FD and dehydrated storage foods are pretty small, so in actual practice, you'll probably get 5 or 5 meals out of a can that says 10 meals on it if you're eating normal food portions and not survival food portions.

I've never heard that Mountain House cans have individual pouches in them. (I can't eat Mountain House, though, so I haven't much experience with it.)

Re: Mountain House pouches
 

One thing you can do before opening the #10 can, is have the plastic lid near by. Open the can (it has nitrogen in it) and immediately put the plastic lid on. When you are ready to scoop out some of the contents, only lift the plastic lid enough to get a spoon in, remove as much of the product as you want and then put the lid back on so as to keep some of the nitrogen in. Leaving the plastic lid on the can will keep the contents good to use for several weeks.

If you want to keep the reset of the contents fresh for a longer period of time, I'd suggest either using a Foodsaver vacuum packer or vacuum pack the rest of the contents in canning jars.

I bought one of those 3 month pre-packaged units back in 1982 and started rotating them out of our storage a couple of years ago. I would take some of the scrambled eggs to work with me in a Ziploc baggie and noticed that over the course of a couple of days that it took me to use up the contents, that the product seemed to start absorbing moisture from the air and start rehydrating when kept this way. Still good to use, no change in taste, but like I said before, vacuum pack the rest of the can if you want to keep the rest for a longer period of time.

Re: Mountain House pouches
 

I opened and consumed a #10 can of MH Beef Stroganoff over 10 days last summer. All I did was add a small can of corn to go with it. Just place the plastic lid back on and put it on the shelf. No refrigeration needed. The last meal tasted just as good as the first. Actually, I'm having a tough time not opening any more of it.