Wise food, mountain house, etc.

[Infidel]

So what do you guys like in terms of freeze dried foods? I have cases of mountain house that I got for a great price(8 full sealed buckets for $90), I also purchased the 72 hour emergency pack from wise food storage. figured for $20 lets check it out. I find the wise very cheap looking, nothing I would purchase again. its all oatmeal and pasta and packaging is very very cheap. I mean it makes MRE look state of the art. mountain house seems way more i guess you would say "quality". Anything else out there you guys like? and not MREs cause i know thats coming LOL.

[kickstand]

Mountain House is pretty good. I feel the same about Wise.
Just a reminder : don't buy Juice Boxes in quantity, unless you want wine/liquor boxes in a few years.

[airdrop]

The M House meals that I see on the shelf at the big box stores are dated to 2047 so this is a vast improvement from a year ago or so . Have eaten a few of my 2017 meals here lately to get rid of them and they've been good for the most part . So the big Question is where did you get it that cheap lol .

[Cwi555]

We make a lot of our own freeze dried LTS, but for prepackaged, it's 90% mountain house. We have things like red feather cheese/butter, canned bacon etc that comprise the other 10%.

The red feather and yoders products are cross overs in that they go 7-14 years. We consider them both MTS, and LTS.

Canned soups, dried fruit etc generally go 3-7 years depending upon packaging etc. These are MTS only. Even here there is cross overs between STS and MTS in that some of the pop top cans don't go more than 3 years.

If it can't go three or more years, it's classified as STS. These we only keep a few months of tops, and it has to be something we use frequently.

[W.Lynn]

Usually when I bring home any MH packages, I have to hide them - not because they're outstanding (a little salty,) but because I live with lazy people. Anything fast, easy, that roughly resembles food, is gone quickly.

I'm not fond of oatmeal, but I'll eat oat bran as hot cereal (it has a milder taste, and is much closer in texture to cream of wheat.) The RP avoids blueberries as though his life depended on it. I generally feel like I've swallowed a brick if I eat pasta, canned, dried, whatever. Fresh, Italian style pasta made of farro flour sometimes gets a pass, so I'd probably better stock some of that farro, and some einkorn. Mostly I buy single-ingredient foods, dehydrated or freeze-dried, in #10 cans or big pails from www.beprepared.com - though the instant pudding is pretty good, and there are baking mixes that are meant to be part of your regular rotation.

With food allergies and very strong aversions (think "not quite completely an allergy yet,") at my house, it's the sensible way to go.

[Celt]

In the end Mountain House, Backpackers Pantry both get my bid. Drawback is they don't last as long so Wise for that area if you want 20+ shelf life if stored properly. In my youth I did a lot of backpacking/mountaineering so freeze dried foods were generally the only option unless you wanted a pack you could not carry or was just plain unsafe to even attempt to carry over anything remotely resembling technical. These days I haul freeze dried meals on along with me on my off road trips. If I bring the family then not so much and we end up doing the dutch oven type meal. The biggest issue I see with freeze dried meals is after about a week to 10 days your mind will think about a cheeseburger or a really greasy slice of pepperoni pizza and it becomes all you can think about. Mental torture just thinking about such a mouthwatering treat and you are on the top of a mountain somewhere for the next few days. The Mountain House/Backpacker Pantry are really good and have enough to keep you going but for some reason at least I start craving other things. Many of my friends think I'm a freak of nature but I still eat and like MRE's so tossing something like that in with the other foods will give you a break from the freeze dried varieties.

[Infidel]

Mountain House is pretty good. I feel the same about Wise.
Just a reminder : don't buy Juice Boxes in quantity, unless you want wine/liquor boxes in a few years.

my family only drinks water, coffee, and alcohol

no juice or soda in the house

[Infidel]

The M House meals that I see on the shelf at the big box stores are dated to 2047 so this is a vast improvement from a year ago or so . Have eaten a few of my 2017 meals here lately to get rid of them and they've been good for the most part . So the big Question is where did you get it that cheap lol .

a prepper i know whos wife decided he is done with prepping LOL.

[Infidel]

We make a lot of our own freeze dried LTS, but for prepackaged, it's 90% mountain house. We have things like red feather cheese/butter, canned bacon etc that comprise the other 10%.

The red feather and yoders products are cross overs in that they go 7-14 years. We consider them both MTS, and LTS.

Canned soups, dried fruit etc generally go 3-7 years depending upon packaging etc. These are MTS only. Even here there is cross overs between STS and MTS in that some of the pop top cans don't go more than 3 years.

If it can't go three or more years, it's classified as STS. These we only keep a few months of tops, and it has to be something we use frequently.

eventually I would like to learn how to freeze dry my own stuff but right now Im still working on other things so my plate is full.

[Beowulf]

Bought a never used with directions small dehydrator at a yard sale for $2.00

[Sacajawea]

Excellent bargain Beowulf!

I stock single item cans too, W. Mostly to be able to cook from scratch - pretty much any meal I want. Rice is versatile across so many flavor zones, that I have a 5 gal sealed bucket of it - and some others I've put up. Since I've been trying to eat more keto lately, I'm shifting priorities in the inventory. Lots more protein will still add calories - but they're not the kind of calories that will lead to Type 2 issues - and most people are reporting energy increases and shrinking waistlines from shifting the balance of their overall food intake to proteins vs carbs. Something to keep in mind, is that you'll also need a lot of good fats. That's an issue with LTS, so for now, I'm leaning toward Crisco and lard.

I'm rebuilding my stock, since I literally couldn't bring it all when I moved. I know I had 10# of salt. Or more. Before I realized I had a whole ocean to make salt out of. Buy it while it's cheap and available people.

[Cwi555]

Crystallized cottonseed oil was the base of the original crisco. It was innvented by William Proctor, a candle maker, and James Gamble, a soap maker. It's original purpose was for candles. Later on they figured out they could turn liquid cottonseed oil into a thick solid fat by process of hydrogenation. Even though things like palm oil and soy oil replaced the original cottonseed oil, the use of hydrogenation continues to this day.

That process utilizes high heat in order to bond carbons with hydrogen aka saturation or hydrogenated oil. It also destroys most, if not all, of the vitamin E, omegas etc in the process. To add insult to injury, the base used is also gmo. Crisco is not what you want to use if you're trying to avoid heart disease and diabetes issues.

Edit;

Btw, the above is why we keep stocks of red feather and bega cheese/butter. They are mid term storage, but if we don't have a source of fat within 10 years of shtf, we are probably already dead.

[Betty Buckshot]

I did not like the Wise food. Mtn House is better and I found some Coleman brand once that were very good, but only 3-5 yr storage time. I buy single ingredient cans too from Augason and Honeyville. I liked the 'milk alternative' better than the non-fat dry milk. More quantiy, more nutrients, lower price (better taste also)

[Infidel]

i saw honeyville had dehydrated beef, i though about trying to find a place to buy a couple buckets

[Sacajawea]

Hmmm. The fats issue is a big one for long-term plans. What about coconut oil? Does that last any longer?

I can go through that crisco, baking. Yes, I keep a lot of butter on hand, too. Bacon grease, I hear can be canned. That might be another option.