The 2013 "No Mountain House Challenge"!

[ohhiitznik]

Its the only way to go, I've still got some leftover mountain house from two years ago, better use em up! Had some home cooked dehydrated food this year and it was much better than the MH meals. Won't give up the BP cheesecake though...

 

[HellsCanyon]

Its the only way to go, I've still got some leftover mountain house from two years ago, better use em up! Had some home cooked dehydrated food this year and it was much better than the MH meals. Won't give up the BP cheesecake though...

Try the S'mores...

This is a great idea and I'm definitely in to try some of it out! Always amazes me how easy it is to go drop $50+ on food and meals for a 3-4 day hunt! Food and fuel were easily my high expenses this year... I probably had over $400 just in food alone. Sure will make it easier on the conscious and bank account dropping the cost of food to $10-$20 for a weekend scouting trip or hunting trip.

Mike

 

[johnson taxidermy]

I tend to buy alot of dried foods, like soups and noodles and also packaged meats from Safeway. I have been working on making Pemmican,Salt dried fish,Hard tack and looking into cold smoking meat. Basically smoked, dried safe meat. I think the payoff in the end will be eating like a king on a servants budget. All this really comes from the original "ultra" light hunters, the mountain man.But this food is not super light but calories are high and the taste is second to none.

 

[Mckinnon]

I love the idea of this as the MH meals are very costly, now I need to get a dehydrator though. Any suggestions? I don't need or want anything super fancy or top of the line. I just wnat something quality that is effective...

 

[slim9300]

I love the idea of this as the MH meals are very costly, now I need to get a dehydrator though. Any suggestions? I don't need or want anything super fancy or top of the line. I just wnat something quality that is effective...

Exactly. Any suggestions guys?

BTW, thanks for the thread Aron. I have no idea why it seemed so difficult to make dehydrated meals until I watched your video. It's kind of sad how easy it is. I'm pumped to be able to eat something warm that tastes like real food.

 

[ohhiitznik]

I use the Excalibur brand. It works great and it dries everything evenly. No need to rotate trays and I can do huge batches of anything with mine. I have the 5 tray

 

[Lawnboi]

excalibur are the best. The trays dont crack like others do. The box dries evenly as well

 

[Tim M]

I have been making my own backpacking meals for a couple of years now and am very happy with how it has been working out, however I am running out of ideas for other meals and agree that if we could make a section for recipes on here it would be great.

 

[Goober]

I have an Excalibur dehdraytor and love it! I went through 2 or 3 of the American Harvest ones burning out the motors. The Excalibur is the way to go if you are going to do a lot of food. Dries more evenly, and faster, lasts longer and the temp is controllable.

 

[Mckinnon]

Sounds like a unanimous decision for excalibur. I just looked them up and the look reasonable. Thanks guys! I can't wait to see some recipes...

 

[slim9300]

I have been making my own backpacking meals for a couple of years now and am very happy with how it has been working out, however I am running out of ideas for other meals and agree that if we could make a section for recipes on here it would be great.

I agree. I am not much of a cook. I have two or three ideas, that's it.

Thanks for the dehydrator help guys!

 

[Wrongside]

Great thread idea! I'm not sure I'll ever totally phase out MH, but I sure could stand a bit more variety and nutrition in backpacking diet. I found myself eating more cold food, snacks foods, etc this year, just to avoid eating another MH...

 

[7mag.]

I just finished Back Pack Hunter's Bacon Cheese Pasta recipe from another thread. Not bad, much better than MH. Easy to make too.

 

[crazy_davey]

Great thread idea! I'm not sure I'll ever totally phase out MH,

You should phase out MH, it makes you smell terrible!

 

[Califhuntn]

Great thread. Aside from the small fortune you spent of those meals your heart will thank you for all of sodium you won't be consuming. That was the main reason I wanted to start making my own meals.

$2000/$8 each x 500 +/- Mg each meal. That's over 125,000 Mg of sodium. Wow.

 

[cmeier117]

This is a good idea! I am going to try this. I really like the ground beef that idea that Patrick does with Idahoan potatoes. Anyone tried to dehydrate sloppy joes?

 

[ben h]

What sort of a shelf life do you think is reasonably expected? How do you store them before use (freezer/cupboard)? Seems like a great idea and hopefully will save on farts too.

 

[BuckSnort]

First there was the manscaping thread, then we saw BigSurArcher in his Daisy Dukes.... By god if I see a picture of Aron wearing nothing but a "Kiss The Chef" Apron I'm finding a new hunting site....lol

Seriously though, I ditched the mountain house meals last year and started dehydrating.. I keep the meals in the freezer and always have a few days worth on hand..This keeps me from driving the hour it takes to town and then all the way back up the hill to go somewhere if I do a spur of the moment trip..

I found that by just dehydrating leftovers I can accumulate a good supply quickly...

 

[Craig Van Arsdale]

Im totally up for this! the thought of eating another mountain house makes me want to throw up. I gave up on them this year about half way through the season and started packing food that didn't require water and my stove. Started disliking the MH so much along with the fact the water gets hard to come by here as the season progresses i just gave up on it.

Aron, excuse my ignorance but using your crock pot recipe and then pasting it onto the trays in the dehydrator how do you keep the food from falling through the trays? Or are there different types of trays you can use.

 

[frans]

I'm on board! I'm looking for a deal on a dehydrator. Apart from the flavour, the obvious effect on your digestive system make the MH and other freeze-dried "less desirable"... there are only two or three flavours that are semi-palatable anyway. I've had days that I just munched more trailmix and drank hot chocolate, just tonavoid having another freeze-dried.

Frans