The 2013 "No Mountain House Challenge"!

[gulicemo]

FYI Excalibur 4 tray on sale at Cabelas for 140.

 

[Sawtoothsteve]

Waring pro on sale at Costco for $40.

 

[Steve in nm]

I have about 25 Meals done so far and have used a few shed hunting and i sure like my home made meals better than mountain house.
Steve

 

[crumy]

Ok.. have a question. How long can you expect the dehydrated meals to keep before needing to cook them?

**Meaning the ones you are creating.

 

[slim9300]

Ok.. have a question. How long can you expect the dehydrated meals to keep before needing to cook them?

**Meaning the ones you are creating.

I have the same question. I have no idea but I have been throwing in a small descant pack into the few I have made. I plan on making my Sept. meals a week or two before the season. Lets hope they are still edible.

 

[Aron Snyder]

I have the same question. I have no idea but I have been throwing in a small descant pack into the few I have made. I plan on making my Sept. meals a week or two before the season. Lets hope they are still edible.

3-4 months for sure. I freeze mine, so a lot longer when you do that.

 

[unm1136]

3-4 months for sure. I freeze mine, so a lot longer when you do that.

I frreze mine, too. I have some hamburger and beans and habanero rice that I cooked and dried last year (13+ months) that is just fine. I will be looking into vacuum packaging in the next year or two. I am leery of what I dry, I like to go low fat to avoid the fats oxidizing and going rancid. A teaspoon or so of oil added to the water when reconstituting will add fats to the diet if you think you need it. A 10-15 day season will not cause protien starvation, and I like a slice of salami or cheese right before bedtime with a cup of hot tea to get ready for bed to keep warm in the hammock.

pat

 

[crumy]

I am going to try this. I have several bags of MH but I just hate all the sodium and what the meals do to me. I have been looking at options. Seems like the only approach is to try this. Should be very interesting. Looks like you can pretty much dehydrate anything. I guess I never thought about doing stews and stuff like that.

Should be an interesting adventure.

 

[Ray]

Since my work schedule does not allow for making anything in the month/weeks before I head to the hills, I have made most of my stuff over the winter. Based on various dehydrating sources most dried veggies can last for 3 to 4 months sitting on the counter or a year or more in the freezer. If you vac bag them then longer in the freezer.

I have recently dried out some of my paleo caribou chili colorado to see how that went. One 8oz "meal" volume dried down to 2.3oz - 0.3oz of that is the small freezer ziploc.

I have also made up some of that breakfast hash that was posted on here somewhere, but used sweet potatoes and no cheese. That has a decent amount of fat absorbed into the potatoes and eggs, but does not dry out with a fat residue as much as raw sausage does. After cooling off its bagged and stuck in the freezer. I doubt if it will turn rancid over a 10 day hunt.

For additional calories you can't beat fat. It helps if you are fat adapted by living on a low carb diet already such as a keto-adapted Atkins or paleo. Other than olive oil you can use coconut oil. Its a solid below 76 degrees. Its also a MCT oil that is heart healthy.

 

[ScottR_EHJ]

I am ready to start my own food, have been trying to get rid of the mountain houses in the gear room.

 

[docdb]

I applaud you guys! If my wife offered, or if a buddy was into dehydrating, cooking I'd be all in. But I'm the kind of person that if no one else were at this house, I'd eat peanut butter, turkey/cheese sandwiches, zone bars, tuna fish and drink milk. Don't get me wrong, I love a nice meal, but its not a priority.
I tried the HawkVittles, but they weren't for me, always watery. I prefer MH by a factor of 10 at least. Pasta Primavera with a foil of tuna, mmmmmmmmm
I try to buy in bulk and on sale, but for ease of use, and zero prep time, I'm a MH guy.
Don

 

[Heather Stomper]

Here's a couple of links to some stuff my wife and I have used and continue to use year round.
The first is for "Patrick's Wild Casserole" This appeared over on the Kifaru forums several years ago. It is one of those things that continually evolves based on the ingredients you have on hand. This weekend I made up a big batch and dried it using half homemade venison sausage and half buffalo ground meat from the buffalo Tracy killed year before last. I just had a big bowl for dinner tonite!

http://www.kifaruforums.net/showthread.php?t=8210&highlight=Patricks+Wild+Casserole

Next up are what we call Evan Bars. This is the creation of Evan Hill over at Hill People Gear. This was Evan's answer to not buying commercial granola bars, power bars, etc.

http://www.hillpeoplegear.com/FreeResources/GranolaBarRecipe/tabid/687/Default.aspx

We also dry leftovers such as ham and bean soup or stews. For the soups I will puree' in a blender, spread the paste on the dehydrator sheets and dry until crumbly. This is something you can then warm up in a freezer bag or your mug. Again, healthier, less sodium and a great pick-me-up on a cold, wet NW day.

 

[trk3263]

I recently did Ham and Bean soup but didn't purée like I normally do. I think that is the key because my ham dried out to much and was not as good as I planned.
Thanks for the continued growing recipes!

 

[justin davis]

Homemade dehydrated meals are the way to go! Been rocking homemade meals for a few years. Had these two on a recent backpack trip


[/URL[URL=http://s22.photobucket.com/user/jdcamo/media/DSC01717_zpse7ad4432.jpg.html]

 

[Jessepkurt]

Powdered milk. Vanilla whey protein blueberry granola. Vac seal together. Just add water.

 

[Craig Van Arsdale]

I made the investment so I'm set up now just need to start experimenting.

 

[Hunt'nFish]

Awesome thread Aron! A heck of a challenge.
Although I'm not a diehard UL backpacker I have been dehydrating stuff for decades.
As teens back in the 70's Brother & I made dehydrated duck jerky (using liquid smoke) by the 5gal buckets.

And as a high-country horse family, Mom was always drying "saddle bag meals" for us.
Makes me wonder who as the first outdoorsman to dry chili mac. And like you & Pat, stews were always a given. Some others I've played with are: Turkey & noodle soup, Taco Soup, Stroganoff and various oriental rice dishes (brocolli beef, sweet & sour chicken, Kung-po, Orange chicken, etc.) Basically, just like you, we just dry left overs from large dinners. This helps form a variety of meals.

We store our meals in gas vac jars long term. (Foodsaver has a jar vac port)
And we've used meals a couple years old and didn't think they were foul at all.

For field use I've started using zip top FoodSaver bags w/ the stand-up bottoms.
They hold up well to the boiling water temps, and this allows meals to be portioned into individual bags, Vac'd down & sealed to save space. Then once in the field... cut open, boiling water added, zipped shut and slipped into a DIY meal cozy. Later, after consumption, garbage can be collected into the zip bag and sealed for transport out.

Another tip for dehydrating.........
I'll ladel out the chunks w/ a holey spoon onto drier trays and then use a sauce pan to reduce the liquid down further before adding to seperate dryer trays. Seperating chucks from liquid, like in the case of stew & soups, allows you to create a boullion powder w/ excess liquid that can be used seperately if need be. It also helps in the drying process as some driers have hotter trays and you can put the liquid trays there to help speed up drying times.

I use a very old American Harvest Gardenmaster w/ 8trays.
Built long before the cheap China crap they sell today. Never had an issue and been going strong for 20+years.

Also, like you, I use a lot of Ramen and oddly, even after living off the stuff during my college years, I still like it. I like to boil, dice & dry good ol hot dogs, carrots, onion & celery to add to my Ramen in the field. I also like to add a bit of soy sauce, vinegar & crushed red pepper to convert it into hot & sour soup. (think I might have to start using that Sealed Drinking Straw Container Tip for this) Even w/o other meals, I could live off Ramen for at least a week! he, he, he. In fact, for those not interested in drying meals who still want to nix the costly BP & MH meals ..... many times I'll just toss 6 dogs in a bag w/ some extra salt, skip the drying and eat on that for the first 3days. Ramen also goes well w/ canned chicken that they're now packaging in foil bag form. In fact you can whip up a pretty good chinese meal using that bag chicken.

Also I have a book called "Lip Smack'n Backpack'n" that has lots of other UL meals, recipes, and snack ideas that are quick easy and don't require boiling water & using fuel to consume. And I think you'll agree that carrying less fuel means a lighter starting pack weight.
Anyway very good thread.
Hunt'nFish

 

[MLHSN]

Dear God, Aron. After the military, I don't know how you could handle $2k worth of mountain house. After the 100's to 1000's of MRE's I ate, one salty shelf stable meal from Mountain House gives me stomach cramps. The only freeze dried meals I can handle are from Packet Gourmet. They aren't any easier on the pocket book though.

I'll definitely tune into the drying suggestions. I should get my wife on this thread and maybe I can finagle her into do some drying for me. I tried bulk dried vegetables for a while but for some reason it gave me viscious heartburn. Maybe drying my own would make a difference?

Some of the foods I don't mind eating on the trail that are quite a bit cheaper:

1. Idaho Buttery dried mashed potatoes. High in calories and light.
2. If I'm going to have a campfire, I'll cut a steak into strips and season. Then I'll freeze it and wrap in a sweatshirt to keep cool. It usually thaws by night time and I'll skewer them over the fire. It's one of my favorite treats but HEAVY.
3. Chocolate peanut butter packets and an energy bagel. Not light but if you compare calories to weight it evens out. So many times we worry about light and get some freeze dried food that are only 200 calories. My small packet of peanut butter is 300 calories alone.
4. The one Mountain House I'll take is the breakfast scambled eggs. I then add a shredded cheese stick and bacon bits. Roll it up in a tortilla and you have a high calorie meal. Add a salsa packet from Taco Bell.
5. Get some mayonnaise packets, ketchup, and relish packets, add to dried hamburger and roll in tortillas. More high calories.
6. Get the same packets but make chicken salad with a small plastic package (not cans). and make a chicken salad wrap.

Looking forward to hearing more dried food tips and I'm always onboard for a Mountain House embargo!

 

[manbearpig]

This thread is awesome, keep the creations and ideas coming people.

 

[cmeier117]

My wife makes a super tasty sloppy joe mixture. Wonder if dehydrating that and mixing in with Idahoan potatoes would be good?