Dehydrated Meals

[nelsonob1]

Curious what members prefer for back country hunts? Brands, recipes, etc.

[Outcast]

Peak Refuel

[bdub]

Another vote for the Peak line. I could dam near live off their Breakfast Skillet meal.

[cowmanbob]

Peak refuel. There’s a sponsor here that has decent prices.

[Dewey Cox]

When my wife cooks chicken it usually ends up pretty dehydrated.

[nelsonob1]

Thx guys. I'll order some peak to try out.

[41thunder]

Peak

[Twisted Canuck]

Originally Posted by Outcast

Peak Refuel

Agree, took some of these along when we went to Wilmore. Quite impressed with flavor, quality ingredients, ease of use. A bit pricey, but, good.

[nelsonob1]

Anyone tried freeze drying their own? The equipment seems pricey but I'm intrigued by the concept.

I've ordered a selection of Peak and give it a try.

[MountainTi]

Readywise from Costco in the US. $65 American for 13 meals. Not as good as peak or mountain house but way more affordable

[Pathfinder76]

The only thing I can stomach after 10 days is Mountain House spaghetti.

[fordtruckin]

The Mountain House aren't half bad. I do like the Chili Mac and Beef Stroganoff.

[MountainTi]

Originally Posted by Pathfinder76

The only thing I can stomach after 10 days is Mountain House spaghetti.

Have you tried the bisquits and gravy? Makes a good breakfast but kinda want/need a nap afterwards

[calgarychef]

Cook some hamburger, drain the fat and dehydrate it. I use a cooking tray in front of a fan, I’m too cheap to buy a dehydrator.

Go to bulk barn and buy some dehydrated “soup vegetables” and some gravy mix.

You’ll have to experiment with amounts.

Put dried hamburger, (1/3 cup?) a small handful of veggies (1/4 cup?) the gravy mix (couple tablespoons) some dried mushrooms (from you spring picking) a bit of pepper, thyme, rosemary all in a bag. It’ll be a small bag, you’ll be surprised how small.

At camp boil it up with some water, you can’t just add water to this, it needs to boil. Now you have kind of a shepherds pie.

Serve with minit rice or instant mashed potatoes.

[Pathfinder76]

Originally Posted by MountainTi

Have you tried the bisquits and gravy? Makes a good breakfast but kinda want/need a nap afterwards

I have. They are pretty good.

[CNP]

Mountain House. Tried a bunch of others and always went back to Mountain House. Peak? Maybe I haven't tried them all?

[fishnguy]

Damn, those Peak meals are pricy! Never thought. Would add quite a bit to a hunt.

Edit: I was thinking to buy a few just to see what is about, but looking at those prices, I’ll wait for when (or if) I may actually need them, haha.

[nimrod]

Mountain House, Chicken stew, or beef stew, lasagna, spagetti with beef , i buy the number 10 cans 30 year shelf life, then vac pack into individual meals.

if you buy your own number 10 can, then buy the envelope, ill vac pack your meals, saves a lot of money doing it like this.

[nelsonob1]

Originally Posted by nimrod

Mountain House, Chicken stew, or beef stew, lasagna, spagetti with beef , i buy the number 10 cans 30 year shelf life, then vac pack into individual meals.

if you buy your own number 10 can, then buy the envelope, ill vac pack your meals, saves a lot of money doing it like this.

Thx Nimrod, that's a great suggestion. I just did the math and that makes it more accessible.

[Chowdowncowtown]

Originally Posted by calgarychef

Serve with minit rice or instant mashed potatoes.

I used to put the minute rice right in with everything else to cook at the same time when I made dried meals for backpacking.

Powdered coconut milk is a good ingredient if you enjoy curries and want to pack in some extra calories.

[calgarychef]

Originally Posted by Chowdowncowtown

I used to put the minute rice right in with everything else to cook at the same time when I made dried meals for backpacking.

Powdered coconut milk is a good ingredient if you enjoy curries and want to pack in some extra calories.

There’s also “creamed coconut” it comes in a bar that looks like soap.
It’s almost pure fat and tastes great.

[Pekan]

Originally Posted by nelsonob1

Anyone tried freeze drying their own? The equipment seems pricey but I'm intrigued by the concept.

I've ordered a selection of Peak and give it a try.

Peak is a game changer for sure. Chicken pesto pasta you could serve in a restaurant.

I used to dehydrate my own, probably will again, just don't spend as much time in the back country to make it worth while these days. Like someone else mentioned, cooked ground meat works well rehydrating, rice too. black beans for fibre, MEC used to sell powdered eggs that worked and tasted good.

The main differentiator is most commercial meals are freeze dried not dehydrated. Dehydrated meals tend to take longer to rehydrate. So there's a convenience factor as well.

There's a mountain guide out of Canmore area who makes and sells dehydrated meals that are more on the keto side of things. Plenty of veggies in them. Peak Stratagem is the company name, Brent Peters is the guide. They sell his meals at Gear Trade in Okotoks. I've had their egg breakfast and liked it.

my 2 cents for what it's worth.

[Smoky buck]

I have eaten them all and they all make poo but after a week of eating them a man really wants real food. Mountain house would be the main one just because of being available

A few flies and some line along with a sling shot helped make my meals better. Mountain house is way better with some fish or grouse/ptarmigan to go with it

I can promise you this every time I came out of the mountains I was looking for a big greasy burger not another meal from a bag

[Scott N]

Out of the different brands that I've tried, I also found the Peak Refuel to be my favorite.

[Rusty50]

make your favorite chili, dehydrate, and presto.

[thumper]

Where can you order Peak from ?

[MountainTi]

Originally Posted by thumper

Where can you order Peak from ?

You can order from Briden.
The cheapest I have seen it anywhere is Home Hardware in Sundre, strange as that may sound. Beats any other pricing I've seen by a couple bucks

[nelsonob1]

I just bought a box of 14 packs from Amazon to give it a try. $285 delivered in 3 days.

Originally Posted by thumper

Where can you order Peak from ?

d

[Thinkofsomethingkwik]

Peak has higher protein, but I found mountain house dried meals to be great. I'm also not super picky when it comes to food

[Outcast]

Another plus to the Peak meals is they can be up to half the water or more required in the field which depending on what you are doing and the availability of water can be important.