Mountain House foods have consistently ranked at the top of every consumer taste test I’ve read. Two nights ago I fed their Beef Stroganoff with Noodles to my husband for dinner, and he was perfectly happy. Even asked for seconds from my Mountain House emergency meals bucket.
If you combine truly delicious freeze-dried meals in a ready-to-go emergency bucket, you have a real winner. Introduced just a couple of months ago, they have become a top-selling product.
Although the buckets are new, Mountain House has been selling freeze-dried food for over 30 years. The company has been committed to three things: taste, convenience, and proven long-term shelf life of their foods.
How do Mountain House meals taste?
I’ve tasted numerous freeze-dried entrees from various companies, from Macaroni and Cheese to Vegetable Risotto, and I can tell you, they are not all equal when it comes to taste. Since most of us buy these entrees in preparation for some type of crisis, we need to be assured that when we need the food, it will taste good! A crisis is no time to discover that a case of #10 cans of Entree a la King causes you to break out in hives and your 7 year-old won’t touch it.
My family and I sampled all the varieties that came in the “29 Serving Bug Out Bucket“, and here are our verdicts:
- Granola with blueberries: Dried milk is already in the pouch, so you only need to add cold water, stir, and eat. I think this is a delicious breakfast and could serve two moderately hungry people or one teenage boy. My 11 year-old wasn’t crazy about this, but he can be picky at times.
- Beef Stroganoff: Yummy, creamy sauce with beef, mushrooms, and noodles. This is what I served my husband for dinner.
- Beef Stew: This stew is full of veggies with a flavorful sauce. Not bad, but not my favorite.
- Chicken with Noodles: Both my kids liked this dish. It was simple but had a lot of flavor.
- Chicken Teriyaki: Lots of flavor in this dish. My son ate the entire bag. I got one, maybe two spoonfuls.
- Lasagna with meat: Really, really good! Surprisingly good, in fact, with a rich, Italian flavor.
The meals were all tasty and filling, and I appreciate the fact that all Mountain House ingredients are grown and raised here in the U.S. Although they aren’t organic, they are high-quality foods that you would find in the typical American grocery store. All these entrees contain real meat and chicken and not TVP (textured vegetable protein). I sometimes use TVP in my cooking but it’s not my preference.
If you’re unfamiliar with freeze-dried food, rest assured that they retain nearly all their original nutrients, including enzymes. Once the food, if properly stored, gets beyond the 20 year mark or so, the vitamin potency will have been reduced but overall, the food will still be nutritious. This is just one reason why freeze-dried food is used to such a great extent in the military.
By the way, if you’re either new to freeze-dried food or have never tasted these Mountain House varieties, this bucket is a good opportunity to sample them before investing money in larger quantities, and you’ll really like the clear bucket that allows you to see what is inside, whether it’s the Mountain House meals or whatever other emergency supplies you decide to add.
Mountain House meals are convenient and easy
What could be easier than adding 2 cups of boiling water to a heavy duty mylar pouch, sealing it, and letting it sit for 8-10 minutes? When I prepare these meals, I add the water and then stir everything together a few times, making sure that all the dry ingredients that have settled at the bottom of the pouch are completely moistened.
Speaking of water, whenever you store freeze-dried food, whether in the form of individual ingredients or entrees, be sure to store additional water. In fact, setting aside an extra case of water along with this bucket would be a good idea. Add to that, a portable stove with extra fuel, and you will be fully set for an emergency!
Since the meals are freeze-dried, the bucket is very lightweight. The buckets weighs only 6 pounds. A child could certainly be assigned to grab one or two buckets during a family emergency evacuation drill without a problem.
Mountain House meals have a long shelf-life
Mountain House has long set the standard when it comes to the shelf life of its foods. Oxygen is one of the 5 enemies of food storage, and Mountain House manages to remove 98% of it from their pouches.
To insure the longest possible shelf life, always store food in dark, dry, and cool locations and be sure to keep an eye out for pests. Mice and rats have been known to chew through even super-heavy duty buckets and lids!
These Mountain House food buckets are a product that combines convenience and good food with a reliably long shelf life, and when you’re storing food for an emergency, that’s exactly the combination you need.
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My family has been trying several different brands and styles of food and Mountain House has always ranked highly. We have actually been buying the small 2-3 person individual meals for trying out to see what we like. May I suggest the Sweet and Sour Pork?! That one has ranked the highest out of all their meals for us. Tastes like you are eating high quality Chinese food, very yummy. We also like the Stroganoff.
We are big fans of meat. We raise our own beef so we can be pretty picky. Any meal that has had beef in it has been very good.
Seventy five bones seems like a lot to spend something just to “see if you like it.” But it is cheaper to buy it that way than piecemeal. I’ve just never been impressed with their protein content. Always hungry not long after eating.
Check the prices, from what I’ve seen it may be cheaper to “make” a bucket of mountain house meals than to buy it already made. I agree with the taste test, Mountain houses are consistnely good, other brands, not so much.
I would also like to tell everyone that Mountain House makes a flameless heating kit that heats four two person meals. It uses a similiar chemical reaction as MRE heaters. I have a couple just in case.
Just currious – have you ever tried Augason Farms?
Yes, I have. Their foods are about the same as most of the other major brands, such as Honeyville and Shelf Reliance. I wrote a review of some of their breakfast foods a while back. You’ll find it on my Reviews page.
Mountain House foods are really great. I taste tested them by going to camping stores and buying assorted pouches. Then I got some #10 cans. (The pouches only last seven years however.)
One thing that should be considered when buying this product (as well as most other freeze dried meals) is the high salt content. Anyone planning on living on just freeze dried meals will be intaking massive amounts of salt.I read a blog about a person who tried to lived off only mountain house meals. By around the 3rd week it became inedible to them.
I think these foods are good for short term emergencies or as an addition to the more typical food pantry items. After living off rice and beans for a week it will be very nice to pull out some lasagna or teryaki chicken.
But they do taste great, super easy to prepare, and they have an amazing shelf life.
I like MH freeze dried ice cream. We got some just to try and were pleasantly surprised!
Mountain House has increased the shelf life of the pouches. See below attachment:
http://www.mountainhouse.com/shelf_lif.cfm
I think I will also check them out. Have your also looked at efoodsdirect ?
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