It’s been a long time since I have written anything about backpacking food. I touched on the subject last year and a follow up is long overdue.  In this post I am going to focus on what seems to be the staple food for many backpackers, the freeze dried meal. You see them at every camping store and they are obviously popular so if you haven’t tried them, here is my two cents on these products.

Lets first look at the pros of freeze dried food. I know some of you will doubt that there is actually an advantage to eating these there are a couple. Freeze dried meals are lightweight, that is for certain. A Mountain House Lasagna with Meat Sauce for 4 people only weighs 9.6 onces.  It makes sense, everything in the package is dry so it should be light weight.  They also don’t spoil. The other advantage is the ease of cooking; all you need to do is boil water. The Jetboil stove and MSR Reactor stove even make the process of boiling water quicker and easier.  (Two minutes to boil water!)

Now for the down side. The taste is less than desirable. It’s unreasonable to expect home cooked taste from food you could keep in a bomb shelter. You can find some decent meals out there and a lot depends on your personal taste and priorities of what you enjoy on your backpacking trip. For some folks, food is fuel and fuel only but for others food enhances the backpacking experience. For those folks, they should stay away from the dried eggs! The other draw back to freeze dried food is the price. That same Mountain House Lasagna I mentioned before is $9.90 on sale and single serve pack of Mountain House Granola with blueberries is $4.05.

Bottom line is that freeze dried food works but whether you take them along on your backpacking trip is a matter of your budget and personal taste. Do I use them? I choose not to because I am a “trail foodie” for lack of a better term so I am picky about taste and I will carry a little extra weight rather than sacrifice taste. Furthermore, I definitely do not serve these on any of the backcountry tours I lead.

Until next time; bon appetit!