Thirteen year old Chili Mac with Beef...

X

x39

Joined
Dec 27, 1999
Messages
1,296
While sorting through some gear I came across a pouch of Mountain House Chili Mac with Beef that I'd labeled "1992". I thought it might be interesting to see how the stuff had fared after all these years, so I prepared it. Suffice it to say, it wouldn't have been a happy night in the debris hut if this was all that was on the menu. Rotate your foodstuffs.
 
x39 said:
While sorting through some gear I came across a pouch of Mountain House Chili Mac with Beef that I'd labeled "1992". I thought it might be interesting to see how the stuff had fared after all these years, so I prepared it. Suffice it to say, it wouldn't have been a happy night in the debris hut if this was all that was on the menu. Rotate your foodstuffs.
Click to expand...

I find that freezed dried crap no matter how new still crap :barf: . Dehydrated is much better tasting to me than freeze dried. Better yet homemade dehydrated is the bomb!

Skam
 
Funny, I don't mind those freeze-dried/dehydrated meals. Some are blander than others, but I don't find any of them repulsive. It seems dehydrating is the way to go on starches and veggies, and freeze-drying for meat.

That said, I am looking into buying myself a food dehydrater to expand my menu ooption for hiking and climbing, and save $$$ buying the premade stuff. Does anyone use these? I ask because I wonder how well dehydrating meals that contain meat will work.

Will
 
x39 said:
While sorting through some gear I came across a pouch of Mountain House Chili Mac with Beef that I'd labeled "1992". I thought it might be interesting to see how the stuff had fared after all these years, so I prepared it. Suffice it to say, it wouldn't have been a happy night in the debris hut if this was all that was on the menu. Rotate your foodstuffs.
Click to expand...

I am surprized that a dried meal that would go bad that quickly.

Will
 
Will said:
Funny, I don't mind those freeze-dried/dehydrated meals. Some are blander than others, but I don't find any of them repulsive. It seems dehydrating is the way to go on starches and veggies, and freeze-drying for meat.

That said, I am looking into buying myself a food dehydrater to expand my menu ooption for hiking and climbing, and save $$$ buying the premade stuff. Does anyone use these? I ask because I wonder how well dehydrating meals that contain meat will work.

Will
Click to expand...

Wait till you make your favorite beef stew or whatever at home and dehydrate it yourself then reconsitute it on the trail. You will NEVER go back to freeze dried agian ;) I recommend the Harvestfoodworks dehydrator as it has been a good performer for me 10 yrs on and its expandable upward with more trays.
Good piece of gear, makes amazing jerky too. MMMMM

Skam
 
Robbie Roberson said:
X39, Well what did it taste like ?
Click to expand...
Robbie, the only thing that comes to mind is that it was sort of like eating something that tastes like an electrical short smells. Sort of an acrid taste. It was bad enough that I spit out the first mouthful, and was left with a bad after taste for some while afterward. I don't know if maybe the foil pouch it was in may have had a small puncture or leak, if it did it wasn't visible to the bare eye.
 
X39, I think you ID'd the problem. Some time ago, I saw a "safe life" chart for freeze-dried meals that had one set of time periods for "never carried" and another - much shorter -- for "carried." When I ran into the compabny rep, I asked why the difference. He said that the aluminum foil was liable to get "pinholes" if the package had been carried. Then, he said, any meat in the meal would turn rancid "pretty fast."
 
I agree...., the packaged freeze-dried food is only good for a couple years.

My #10 cans of freeze-dried food, though, is good for years and years. I have Mountain House cans I bought in 1982 are still quite edible. Well..., except for the 12 cans of pilot crackers..., but those weren't freeze-dried, either. Those were just crackers which weren't any more than "dried". They were rancid, and I threw them away four years back.
 
Thomas, this particular pouch of food had lived for quite some time in an ammo can behind the seat of my truck, so it did get bounced around some. I'm glad this is a lesson I got to learn the easy way.
 
dehydrated and vacuum packed food keeps forever. Nothing like doing up 5-6lbs of jerky, sealing it in 1lb packages and tossing them in your bag. Good fresh meat, cheaper and a WHOLE lot better than your storebought crap.
 
skammer said:
Wait till you make your favorite beef stew or whatever at home and dehydrate it yourself then reconsitute it on the trail. You will NEVER go back to freeze dried agian ;) I recommend the Harvestfoodworks dehydrator as it has been a good performer for me 10 yrs on and its expandable upward with more trays.
Good piece of gear, makes amazing jerky too. MMMMM

Skam
Click to expand...

I coudn't find a Harvest Food Works one, but this is the closest one I could find to your description: http://www.rei.com/online/store/Pro...15&parent_category_rn=5777366&vcat=REI_SEARCH

Is that what you have (maybe bought out my another company?)

Will
 
Thats the one Will, looks like Nesco bought out the company.

Great dehydrator and fast too.

I have 8 trays stacked on mine, i think you can go up to 12.

Worth the money.

Skam
 
Last year I was cleaning out my old pack & found some coffee bags that I bought for a backpacking trip in 1982. Brewed one of them up, NASTY!!!! I guess the shelf life on them was somewhat less than 22 years.
Gene :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top