When going hiking you will need to take food with you or source it at the location. If you are just camping for recreation and there are supermarkets nearby then it makes sense to go out and purchase food, either to eat back at the camping site or to consume on-site at a burger bar for example.
But if you are camping out in the wilderness, or are taking your camping seriously (if you’re staying in a tent but eating at Kentucky Fried Chicken then you’re not taking it seriously!) then you need a different way.
If you are a hunter or wilderness expert then, taking into account on the local bylaws and availability of local wildlife, you may be able to nourish yourself by catching animals. For most of us, however, the better way is to simply take food with you. That way you know you’ll have sufficient food to eat, and will keep the authenticity of your tenting holiday.
The problem is that food is broadly speaking both big and heavy, so if you’re carrying everything in a backpack this can prove to be a problem.
Freeze dried foods, however, are the complete solution to this problem. During the freeze drying process the great bulk of the moisture is taken away from the meal, greatly bringing down the weight and size while retaining most of the flavour and nutritional value. The foods are then sealed in hermetically sealed pouches which may be stashed away for many years in most cases.
To reconstitute the food you just need to add boiling water and stir for a short while. This obviously mean that you will either need to take enough water with you (which would be a little impractical in itself due to it’s size and weight) or locate a source of clean water at or near your campground. You also want a camping stove or fire starting items in order to boil the water.
Freeze dried meals do not imply that the food has to be a tastless mush. The freeze drying procedure keeps most of the taste and nutritional value of the original meal, and once rehyrated it tastes, smells and looks like it did previously even keeping the same texture. Nor are the meals tedious, with plenty of scrumptious popular dishes such as Freeze Dried Vegatble Tikka
When it comes to extended meal storage, emergency preparation and recreational activities like camping, hiking, backpacking and hunting, Mountain House is the No1 choice. That’s because Mountain House is widely considered as the best tasting freeze dried meals, and are convenient, easy to cook and have a long shelf life of around 5 years.
