Mountain House Meals

[mrseth]

Hey folks, I just returned from a trip with @Honeymooners in Moab, UT. It was a great trip!

For this trip, we cooked/prepared all meals at base camp (minus Wednesday which was awesome) so I decided to try out Mountain House freeze dried meals and give a review on each. For my lunches, I ate sandwiches and for one breakfast I had pop tarts.

1. Each meal required me to boil water (amounts ranging from 1 cup to 1.75 cups)
2. In a windy environment, it took about 10-12 minutes to boil water to pour into the bags for the re-hydration process
3. Each meal took 8-9 minutes to "cook" to the point where the meal was hydrated and HOT (and I mean SUPER HOT)
4. Each meal was eaten straight from the package with disposable spoons I brought

Equipment:
1. MSR Whisperlite (not the international version)
2. MSR Seagull (I like the locking handle for pouring boiling water
3. MSR Fuel Bottle
4. Mineral Spirits for fuel

***EDIT: The point of this post is to merely review Mountain House meals- not to say they are the best, cheapest, gold-lined bread of life every camper needs in their kit. There ARE cheaper alternatives, this is just my take and information on one option on the market for "quick fix" camp foods***








1. Breakfast Foods



Breakfast Skillet ($6.99) - eggs, sausage, pork and sausage patty, peppers and onions

• Consistency: If you were to open a breakfast burrito from Sonic, this is basically what it felt like
• Taste: I could taste the eggs, sausage, and onions. I actually added salsa to this one, and it was delicious. I bet adding salt/pepper would've made it even better, but it tasted like REAL food, not MRE or other dehydrated foods I've had. I am impressed.
• Rating: ****

Scrambled Eggs with Bacon ($5.99)

• Consistency: Seeing how I know that these eggs can be runny, I went with less water than recommended. The eggs were still a hair runny, but not slimy or goopey.
• Taste: The eggs tasted like breakfast burrito eggs, not to gamey but not really needing added flavor. The bacon pieces were nice and salty with a bit of a good chew to them. I did not add additional condiments to this one.
• Rating: ** -honestly, I'd go back and add jalapenos and shredded cheese to this to make it even better.

Biscuits and Gravy ($7.99)

• Consistency: Basically it's thick(ish) gravy with smushy biscuit bread chunks.
• Taste: it does taste exactly like a plate of hot biscuits and gravy! It was a little peppery for my taste, but delicious with coffee.
• Rating: ****

2. Dinner Foods



Chili Mac w/Beef (personal favorite!) ($6.99)

• Consistency: The mac noodles are just like mac n cheese elbows- not hard or crunchy, perfect after 10 minutes of sitting in the boiling water!!! The beef is ground, and the beans inside are wonderful. Overall, if you follow the water directions, it really is like home-made chili mac. I love it.
• Taste: The noodles taste like regular noodles you'd buy from the store. The ground beef tastes natural and not too chewy at all. The beans and spices are very tasty and not too spicy at all.
• Rating: *****

Beef Stroganoff ($7.99)

Consistency: Eh, it seemed to stay soupy the whole time. I think I may have done too much water as the brown sauce never seemed to thicken.
Taste: Way too salty for my taste, but I did taste the beef. The sauce tasted pretty funny as well, maybe I just got a bad bag?? The noodles also tasted like wheat noodles-odd.
Rating: ** I think maybe I got a bad bag guys, I hate to give it 2 stars, maybe I'll up my rating next go-around


3. Deserts



Ice Cream Sandwich ($3.50)

Consistency: Its crunchy, kinda felt like hard foam haha
Taste: Tastes nothing like an ice cream sandwich, but the cookie portion is good!
Rating: *** A bit crunchy and was broken, but hey, 3 stars is fair for space food.


In conclusion, I would really like to try out more Mountain House product. They are inexpensive, easy to prepare, have good flavor, and there is nearly no cleanup. The other big plus is that I didn't have to take my cooler or buy any ice for this trip!

I'll add to this list the next time I consume a new meal! Thanks guys and safe travels!

-Seth

 

[MidOH]

Thanks.

I cleaned out our stores Chili mac. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, Chili mac. It's my secret overlanding indulgence. Their mac and cheese is also good, but it's just Mac and Cheese. Only thing wrong with Mountain house is the price. A bit rich, but worth it when your fridge is empty and there are no towns nearby.

There's plenty of cheapo meals available at grocery stores that can be prepped exactly like Mount House. Stove Top Stuffing. You can pour boiling water right into the foil bag. Lipton Teriyaki noodles, Idahoan twice baked mashed potatoes, etc. etc.

 

[Downs]

They're pretty good but a bit pricey, as much as a full MRE in most cases. Also low on calories, not a huge deal ifwe are just tooling around in our vehicle but if you are working your butt off or doing a lot of long hikes it may start to wear on you. You basically need the full two servings when you eat them if you need a lot of calories.

Good reviews though pretty much what I think of them as well, though Beef Stroganoff is one of my favorite MH meals :D

 

[SinisterJK]

Can’t say I ever really ate the MRE’s on the trails. I always have them in my bug out bag and in my bug out tote when we’re out on the rig but thanks for the review. I think I’m gonna use the ones I have next trip and see what the hype is all about. I’ve had MRE’s before didn’t make me a fan but the mountain house ones are the exact ones I have for emergencies so might as well give them a test run. I definitely agree I wish they weren’t so damn pricey!

 

[mep1811]

I always have a few Mountain House meals on a trip for those nights that are cold and wet and I don't feel like cooking a meal. You can't go wrong with them.

 

[grubworm]

Only thing wrong with Mountain house is the price.
There's plenty of cheapo meals available at grocery stores that can be prepped exactly like Mount House.

NOW youre speaking my lingo...cheap!

i can get a pak of this instant rice for $1 at walmart and add a .50 cent piece of spam and have a damn good meal $1.50
mountain house can bite it....

 

[persquank]

NOW youre speaking my lingo...cheap!

i can get a pak of this instant rice for $1 at walmart and add a .50 cent piece of spam and have a damn good meal $1.50
mountain house can bite it....

Spam and rice. Great idea. I also partake in the mountain house meals and any other "just add water" meal I can find. An extra long spork is a must have.

 

[systemdelete]

Last weekend I hade a few mountain house meals that were stored away in a disaster kit I had misplaced a while back. I think we figured out the best by dates were late 2007(purchased pre Y2K). All were fine after decades in and out of storage. Nice to be able to test their longevity claims and will certainly continue to be my choice for emergency/disaster kits. I always have a few in each kit.

One of the ones I had was the fajita “wraps filler” I obviously added fresh cheese, salsa, and tortilla shells, but the freeze dried meat, peppers, & onions came out great.
Rating ****

 

[Smileyshaun]

Natural high also has some good tasting meals, not as long as a shelf life as some of the other freeze dried foods but to me they taste cleaner .
On a lot of freeze dried meals like anything with rice you can add some more water and just turn it into soup , great on cold nights .

 

[SubeeBen]

Spam and rice. Great idea. I also partake in the mountain house meals and any other "just add water" meal I can find. An extra long spork is a must have.

Cut the bag in half width wise. Just saying after I had the killer titanium Long handle spoon & watched my buddy cut his in half to use a regular spoon without getting food all over his hands.

 

[Nick.Bed]

Mountain House has been the best freeze dried meal I have had, and I have tested quite a few (I'm a Search&rescue volunteer so I want food that I'll like if I need lol).

It is also the longest lasting. They have tested some meals that are 10years past the "best before" and people haven't been able to tell the difference between those and brand new bags.

 

[WarriorOverland]

I love me some mountain house... I’m more on the make my own side. Less salt, and I can control the amount. I tend to eat more than 1 pouch at a time. I also love the convenience of MH. I keep a few in the truck just in case.

I have been to know to ad scrambled eggs to breakfast skillet. Has anyone tried the new simple sensations. I’m hoping they are a healthier alternative.

 

[njedgexj]

I usually do mountain house also recently been trying the peak refuel meals pretty good so far

 

[wandering nomad]

Has any one had any experience with the wise brand meals.

 

[Downs]

Yeah I bought one of their 72 hour "kits". Tastes really similar to Mountain House to me. Could come off the same assembly line for all I know. Price is better when buying it like that compared to the expense of Mountain House. I bought it for a long weekend trip into the mountains. Fed me well for 3 days. Used up a lot of water for obvious reasons.

 

[Alex Brame]

My favorite mountain house meal is their spaghetti and meat sauce.

 

[utspoolup]

In the mountain house line try the Granola with blueberries and milk. Its one of the few you can eat cold that taste great. You can even find it in long distant patrol / cold weather packs for the military. I actually like this one warm as well. I keep a dozen bags in my rig with a jetboil and some bottled water for "emergencies", or if Im just tied and hungry and do not want to cook when out and about. I also outfitted the girls cars the same way since who knows what can happen. I miss the only marine lineups, the beef patties with broccoli taters and cheese was my favorite.

As some on here know I am a bit of a prepper. In the food storage I keep a few buckets to grab and go, in the buckets is several meals in packaging. But I also have some ridiculous number of #10 cans put away JIC. Many are ingredients to aid in a meal like FD meats, veg, etc, but out of the 800 #10 cans, I would say a good 230 give or take are mountain house meals. Each serve between 10-16 servings. If we average this at 13 meals a can, I have almost a year of just this for my family of 3. Some of the cans are special however, I have a several cases of the creamed beef. Which is AMAZING tasting, no longer available (they did a rerun in 2017, and I bought a few more cases), and this is special as it is one of the few meals that HAS to be stretched. IE mixed with something as an extender. Rice, egg noodles, bread, taters, whatever you have around. Other specialty cans are the uncooked pork chops and uncooked steak. Think of all your favorite recipes using beef/ pork. Now you have a 30 year shelf life can, and when bought in bulk is not bad priced. I have plenty to mix these with between Rice, oats, grains etc in 6 gallon bucket with O2 absorbents and mylar bags. Many are jsut meals which already is heavy in the stretch department, IE have noodles, rice, breads so that if you extended it, there is not much benefit in it nutritionally

Being homeless as a child due to a worthless mother started me on the prep route when I could provide for myself, doing humanitarian work only increased my willingness to be able to provide for my family. Seeing the writing on the walls gives me added cause.

 

[Downs]

Oh those blueberry oats packages are amazing. One of my favorite. Was always happy when my MRE had one in it. When I found them in the mountainhouse shelf at the store I bought a bunch of them haha.

 

[sabjku]

Love the Mountain House meals! And, this thread made me hungry.

 

[CSG]

I consider MH to be emergency/occasional food. I've bought about 6 buckets of assorted meals from Costco on their sales. Brings the average cost of the pouches to about $4 each. I prefer to eat real food but with a shelf life of 40 years, these are good for emergency stores. I keep a few pouches in the back of the LX in my kitchen box.