If you watch throughout the year, you can find Mtn House for 5-7$ a meal. Sierra trading post, walmart and a few other places. I eat them all and enjoy different meals from each. If I had to say which ones I like the taste of the best, I would say Mountain House followed closely by Peak. Peak's are nice when water is a concern. They use less on average than Mtn house.
It’s been a game changer for us. I’ve had ours less then a year and it has more then paid for itself in meals. When I’m cooking dinner I try to double or triple my meals then freeze dry left overs. I just made guacamole probably a gallon of left overs to freeze dry. It’s literally put the trays in press a button and it does all the work. They make a moisture meter I use to check things every now and then you have to put stuff in dry a bit longer. I’ve done everything from clam chowder to biscuits and gravy. All rehydrated well and tasted great.
I finally got a freeze dryer and it's very easy to make your own meals. If you're not planning on storing them for 20 yrs its even easier. I've done a lot of meals with hamburger or sausage in them and just drain the grease off and freeze dry and it's worked well. Whenever I'm making a meal like chicken and noodles or biscuits and gravy, I just make extra and freeze dry it. For the biscuits and gravy I keep the biscuits separate and add them after I re hydrate the gravy.
I chose harvest right they have been around the longest. I can’t complain I’m right about a year and it runs a lot. I dehydrated for a lot of years exactly as you say some things work others don’t. I specialized in chicken rocks that rehydrated as chicken rocks. If my freeze dryer broke down tomorrow I’d buy another right now. I do not regret that money spent at all. I have a buddy that bought one that complains he never uses it. I make extra large meals every meal and run it least once a week. If you don’t want to really go through the effort like my friend not worth it probably. For us it’s been a complete game changer for our meals.
