I'm just curious to see what your favorite flavor of freeze dried/MRE type meal is, and what brand you think makes better food.  I'm starting to experiment with what meal packets we are taking with us this year.

Is NONE of the above an answer ;)
Seriously while some of the freeze dried meals are decent ( depending on your definition), you can save a lot of money and eat just as good or better by buying and repackaging dried foods form the supermarket.
If you have access to a dehydrator, its even easier.
Pick up a copy of the Backpackers Pantry or numerous other books regarding this topic.
 I bring all foods off the supermarket shelf or from Cache Lk[ the fry pan bread and fish chowder mix] and supplement with the pouch style meats, chicken,turkey,tuna etc.
 Eat better and save a bundle!

MREs are so loaded with salt, that I can't tolerate ANY of them. And 'salt' is my handle.

Old Salt wrote on May 27^th, 2008 at 2:58pm:

MREs are so loaded with salt, that I can't tolerate ANY of them. And 'salt' is my handle.

Since many of the MRE's have a shelf life, measured in YEARS, especially those Army surplus one's, you can add the "OLD" part of your moniker as well ;D
I'm sure the high salt content has a lot to do with the long shelf life :P

Salt is no doubt an issue with freeze dried meals.  Some are 300% of the RDA. :o

I only use them on solos, when I want to spend as little time as possible both in menu planning before and preparation while on the trip.  I like Mountain House Pro Packs - they are vacuum-packed small and 16oz. for one person.  7 day trip, 7 different meals for dinner, add some oatmeal and gorp for breakfast and lunch, good to go for the trip.  Eat right out of the pouch, no clean up.  About $5.  After trip, limit salt intake for one month.

You can definitely eat better for less money (and I do on group trips, when meals are a higher priority), but these are hard to beat for convenience, pack size and weight.  Maybe all that salt encourages you to stay hydrated . . .

In case you rethink your freeze dried/MRE plans?
These sites should get your imagination and appetite working ;)

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Although I agree that rolling your own is a less expensive and tastier way to go, our group usually tries one or two pre-packaged meals each trip so I can give some limited recommendations.

A few commercial foods that have passed the test of our fussy group (no leftovers) include:

   Backpackers Pantry Wild West Chili and Beans (vegetarian, simple and good)
   Backpackers Pantry Denver Omelette (vegetarian, shake and pour, very good)
   AlpineAire Mountain Chili (vegetarian, more stuff, good)
   AlpineAire All American Roast Beef Hash (simple, very, very good)

We usually have rehydrated meat of some sort on the side of the vegetarian dishes for the hard core carnivores. And there are similar products that include meat, if it not an issue with your group.

The AlpineAire stuff is a little bit more complex (more ingredients), but I can't really say it's better - although the hash is to die for when you are on a trip. It will certainly become a main meal on a future trip of mine, possibly getting mixed into a dinner omelette.

My opinion on MREs is pretty useless as I have liked them all, including some older Worsnick (?) entrees like:

   Turkey with Savory Vegetables (very good)
   Vegetarian Pasta Fagioli (also very good)
   Beef Stew (very good)

With MREs, you will probably need two to make a meal and you have to be able to handle a slightly different texture for meats and other bulky food pieces.

-aj

Try looking around at some of the bigger heath food chains.  We found one for last years trip which had freeze dried in bulk.  The mixed vegies were the best.  We ate it like it was a snack just as it was, but also added it to soup mixes.  

I will mention the freeze dried eggs.  Usually YUCK, but these are just about as good as the scrambbled eggs you get at the fast food resturants.  
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You wont be disappointed with these.  Breakfast last year was our best meal.  
Powdered eggs
precooked bacon
dried mushrooms
dried minced onions
powdered cheese on a soft shell taco were great.
one morning we rolled pancakes for the mixture above.

Good Luck

qp

Thanks for the replies. The opinions were both informative and gave me a chuckle here and there.  For the most part I don't rely on the freeze dried meals, although I have on a few trips. For the most part I bring 1 or 2 as 'emergency' food. Mainly, I rely on the fish we catch.

IMO I like the AlpineAire Beef Stroganoff the best. It has a pretty good flavor (think hamburger helper style stroganoff). I found that the key to making them taste better and have better texture is to put in about 1/4 more water and let it stew in the bag at least an extra 15-30 minutes. That softens up any of the really tough meats etc.

I was just made aware that I have a food dehydrator (I had NO idea) so I think I'm going to try that out this year. Test #1 will be in two weeks when I venture up to the Flambou River area for a 4 day solo.

Dried banana's dipped in powdered strawberry gelatin are really good.
qp

I like to cook, but sometimes... I just don't want to. Or I just want to eat RIGHT NOW without having to scramble dishes, etc.

For bike trips and hiking trips, my friends and I have gotten pretty well used to the Pro Paks from MH, and my favorite is the good old-fashioned spaghetti. They're big portions, and if you look around, under $5 per single-serving package. Not the best deal, but it's nice to have a few along for a rainy day.

No dishes, small amount of package waste to carry out, hot filling meal in less than 5 minutes. They say that the stuff will even reconstitute with cold water, but personally speaking, this is not recommended :-P

I tried one of the MH pro packs this past weekend on a solo backpacking trip in northern wisconsin. It tasted pretty good, was ready super quick, and eating directly out of the bag worked great. The portion size was pretty good as well.    I also had regular style 'chicken stew' also from mountain house. It was so so. One nice thing was that it was a meal for two and since it was just me there was TONS of food.

For the main course at dinner, I only bring freeze dried dinners.  Everything else is grocery store.  Never tried the MREs - they are heavier and bulkier.

I have never seen any fz dr meal with 300% of the rda of sodium.  The most I have eaten are the two-serving size, which give a combined 80% or so of rda.  The single serving size run about 60%.
(So how big was that fish you say you caught?)

I travel every day but one layover day.  Minimum 8 hrs of work, up to 12 or 14 hrs for a long hard day.  I'm pretty sure I sweat out enough salt that I need all I am getting.   I doubt that any do-it-yourselfers actually measure out the salt content in any of thier meals, and they are also probably fairly high I'd suspect.  I also think that the Mtn House comapny has and uses professional nutritionists to come up with nutritious, balanced meals (forgetting the salt) - that is something I'd never be able to do myself.

I'd also suspect that the cost savings are somewhat exagerrated.  Say you make a meal for about half of what a fz dr two-serving meal cost.  That's about a $3 a meal savings (and probably less sincy there is packaging, fuel, spices to consider).  Still takes a lot of meals to recover the investment cost of a good dehydrator, and that is if you put zero value on the time used to do it yourself.

A big part of the price you pay for the fz dr meal is in the packageing.  It lasts for years (as compared to dehydrated stuff getting stale in that time frame), and for CONVENIENCE.  Just boil water, no cooking or simmering, so you save on fuel, keeping your pack weight down.  By eating in the package, you don't need a bunch of dishes, never have to wash them, can carry less fuel since you don't need much wash water, and save prep time at dinner.  To me, the convenience is worth the price.  I cook at home almost every day, and do dishes - I don't mind at all getting away from that routine while I'm out canoeing.

I like the taste of the fz dried foods.  I think that many of the meals are very good.  If all you have ever tried is beef stew or chicken and rice, which can be pretty "flat" tasting, try some of the other varieties.
 
I mostly buy Mountain House brand.  I like the Chicken Polynesian, Turkey Tetrazzini, Sweet and Sour Pork, Beef Teriyaki, Grilled Chicken Breasts & Mashed Potatoes - these only come in the two-serving size - I wish they'd have more variety in the single serve Pro Pack size.

The single serve meals I use are the Chicken Teriyaki, Beef Stroganof, Chili Mac and Beef, and Beef Stew.  

I'll get a few varieties of the Richmoor/Natural High  brand, Honey Mustard Chicken and Honey Lime Chicken are two I buy.

That's pretty much my menu for any Quetico trip.  I buy the stuff on sale, and/or in large quantities, so I always have a supply at home, ready to pack for hunting trips or backpacking, or canoeing or whatever.

Mad Nat, I'm right there with you on that entire thing. I was sort of suprised how many people on here dont use them. For me, they've always been a part of my outdoor experience on trips like Quetico or backpacking.  I too dont really notice the 'salty' flavor and when you are excerting yourself you need that salt to stay hydrated.  Anywho, this year I'm going to do both, but I still rely heavily on fish I catch.

 Personal tastes and convenience aside, the reason a lot of us don't use the Freeze dried foods exclusively, is because while you assume there nutritiously balanced, that's really not the case.
I searched Mt Houses website for the nutritional breakdown on their products, and two things that pop out immediately, is the sodium content and the very small amount of fiber in each entrée.
 Yes, after a hard day's paddling, your sweating out a lot of salt, but since almost every food your eating on your trip other than the freeze dried is loaded with sodium,( instant oatmeal, jerky, peanut butter, trail mix etc) the over the top sodium in the freeze dried which helps give it the long shelf life isn't good for you at all.
Fiber, which allows the food to be digested slowly and the nutrients a chance to be absorbed before you have a bowel movement is something most people get far too little of. Fiber also keeps you feeling full, that's why eating junk food with simple carbs and low fiber, leaves you hungry and wanting more an hour after you eat. That contributes to over eating and the obesity epidemic.
Not to be gross, but after a few days on freeze dried, your bowel movements are loose and runny which can lead to dehydration IF you don't drink enough.
 Will a week or 2 eating the freeze dried do you irreversible harm?
No, but if you don't mind doing things yourself and like to eat healthy meals, you can get a better handle on the sodium, add the needed fiber and still make your meals easy to prepare.
 The dishes featuring rice, use WHITE rice which compared to BROWN rice isn't very nutrient rich or filling.
Making your own using the dehydrator and the various recipe sources people have posted, allows you to tune your meals for maximum taste and nutrition.
If you don't care about the nutrition factor or don't want to spend the time and effort to eat better and healthier, then by all means Freeze dried is the way to go.
I started out with Freeze dried but as my tastes, an interest in a healthier lifestyle and the desire to have control of what I put in my body developed, Freeze dried to me and I suspect many others the choice of last resort or in emergencies.
But like everything, if your happy with them, then by all means enjoy!
Just don't kid yourself into thinking their a healthy choice, because the vast majority of them are far from it.
I'm sure some of the Vegetarian meals IF made with whole grains/brown rice, legumes, lentils etc, are good for you, but you need to check the sodium and fiber content to be sure.
 I suspect your both relatively young guys, and the health issue isn't big on your radars?
 Down the road that will probably change either thru need or want ;)

Solo, howd you know I was young??? 25 lol.   While nutrition does balance into my life equation, its usually only when I'm training for marathon/triathalon.  Thanks for the info though....now where are your sources ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha (sorry thats so popular around here I couldn't help myself....I really dont care if you made that stuff up)  


Totally un-related side note: While getting drinks with my room mate on wednesday night I overheard a group of 8 behind us discussing a trip to BW/Q. I never got a chance to talk to them though. Guess someone else in St. Charles IL is headed up that way (though if they're still doing trip planning it can't be too too soon)

Thanks again solo

Drewfus,

Before I made the comment about caring about nutrition, I checked your profile, and of course your Avatar tells the story as well ;)
I looked for M-M's age as well, but its not in his profile, so I could be wrong about him?
 Your remarks about marathon/triathlon proves you do know the value of nutrition, you just haven't reached the point in your life when you realize that you can't eat healthy sometimes and EXPECT to feel good all the time ;)
 When you hit your early and mid thirties, your body will let you know.
 My "sources" , just do a Google search  :-?
Actually I'm the product of my research and efforts to stay healthy and fit as long as I can.
 At 59, I can still do the hard trips, solo to boot. The other Solo paddlers my age or older on the QJ couldn't do that if they didn't take care of themselves year round.
 In 25 yrs, you'll be 50, and hopefully healthy and still paddling.
If so, I can almost guarantee you'll be talking like me to some young buck like you.
I'll be 85, and Good Lord willing will still be paddling and portaging ;D
Of course by then I expect you young guy's to have invented the anti-gravity disk for canoe portaging and the CFPP?
That's the Carbon Fiber Pulse Paddle, you just hold it in the water and it propels you down the lake ;)
By then maybe they have that nano-technology assimilated with the human body, and I'll be 85 but feel like 25 8-)

Solo, I'll get right on all of that :P