Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 17
 Is freeze-dried camping/emergency food supposed to taste good? August 19, 2010
Greg Abrams (Largo, FL USA)
I expected this to be "roughing it" food and for the most part that's true. You're mostly going to eat these when camping, or in a power outage/disaster situation (e.g., Hurricane Katrina) that persists for a while and you've already burned through other supplies. Generally speaking, you won't be eating these every day. But surprisingly, the taste is good enough that you won't feel like you're scrimping when you make a meal with them.
I've only tried the Beef Stroganoff and Beef Stew so far, but a couple of weeks back I opened a #10 of each and went for several days eating only these for lunch and dinner. For freeze-dried instant meals they're both quite good in my opinion and I was looking forward to the next meal (at least for the first two or three days...after that, anything can get old). Obviously, it's not the same as cooking these dishes up from scratch, but I certainly think one could do worse. Take a few servings of these with you on a camping trip and you'll have a good-tasting, lightweight, easy-to-pack entree to replace some of those snack bars.
Good for the Trail but Great for Emergencies August 6, 2010
M. Ross (Orange, CA USA)
I've had Mountain House freeze-dried food before in the single and double serving bags on camping and backpacking trips, but usually as back-up food. I say back-up as I usually try to make my own grub when I'm on the trail but I've mis-calculated before and I can tell you it's no fun to run out of food in the back country. That's something that only happens once to you before you make sure it never happens again. That, and my wife won't eat it. I've had it, though, and I can tell you that it is really quite good. Is it as good as what you can make at home in your gourmet kitchen? Well, that depends on your cooking skill, but I'll guess probably not.
That shouldn't steer anyone away, however, as I'm always shocked at how good this tastes. I haven't tried every one of their menu items, but I've had well over a dozen and they are consistently good - surprisingly good considering this is freeze-dried pack food. Mountain House provides meals that reconstitute very easily with boiling water and are satisfying to eat after a long day on the trail. (The satisfaction quotient rises exponentially when you discover a couple packets of this food after you discover your regular grub is all gone)
These in particular, in the #10 cans, work just as well on the trail, but you've got to open them up and pour the contents you need into plastic zip bags. Compared to the single and double serving packets, these are a really good deal, per serving. For reference, a #10 can is equivalent in dimension to a large can of coffee.
Where these really shine, though, is for your disaster and emergency preparedness kit. Being packed in these large cans the food is in a durable container and the fact that they are flushed with nitrogen gas enables them to have a shelf life of 25 years from the date of manufacture. 25 years? It's true. I can't hazard a guess what the years would do to the freshness factor of the food, but for purposes of emergency food supply that is truly outstanding. All the cans I ordered were only a month or two old - these are not surplus items that have been sitting in a warehouse for years. Being in these large cans makes them ideal for your earthquake or emergency supply as they are durable and easy to stack and store.
I think the price for these is reasonable, especially when one considers that many are fully prepared meals, rather than just corn, or just peas, etc. (though they have those, too) These form the foundation for an effective emergency supply for you and your family in the event of a natural disaster. Having some of these stocked away gives me peace of mind knowing that the food is there and that it won't go bad after a couple of years.
 great for small office with crazy meal times June 29, 2010
Ann15554
the #10 cans are great to keep for scooping up the right amount of food for 1-3 people when you have time to boil water and eat. Stroganoff or stew is great, anything with beans like chili they dont fully absorb the water and you get bites of powdered beans.
Excellent Item exactly what it says. April 15, 2010
Chris Winchester (Los Angeles Ca)
I have gotten several of these things and they are perfect size wise. I am going to continue to get them as time goes on. Their expiration date is way farther then what is said here as long as they are stored properly. I think one of the ones I have is 2034.
Hardtack March 11, 2010
Wulfstan (San Jose, CA United States)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
There are other "Pilot Breads" out there, and the most popular is a little bit tastier. However, the packaging here is primo, this stuff is good for a loooooong time.
I would not buy the Mountain House Pilot Bread for general eating. Buy it for emergency/earthquake or survival food. I know some suggest hard red wheat and honey. What the heck are you gonna do with a 55gallon drum of hard red wheat? It has to be ground and then cooked... and generally, if you are in an emergency sitrep, your power and gas is out too, so it's gonna be hard to cook.
Get this instead, along with some peanut butter (and Ok, if you like honey, get some of that, why not?) and plenty of water. No cooking, it's not bad tasting at all, and most kids will have no problem with it.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 17
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