Has anyone tried this? My brother’s birthday is coming up and he loves all things “survivalist”.
Chili mac is one of my favs. Eat it when I go backpacking.
I backpack and camp a lot and some of my family are preppers. I have tried all of these and they are pretty good. Mountain House is pretty much the brand leader in this type if food. Cans are good for 25 years. I use them for backpacking and for the cans I scoop out a few servings and then food saver them and eat out of the bag on the trail. Just got done doing this with a whole can of chili Mac for a few upcoming trips. I like to mix in freeze dried corn with it as well. The strawberries are good but a bit tart and crumble easily. I put them in my oatmeal (food saver the oatmeal, strawberries and sometimes FD peanut butter-just eat it out of the pouch!) I would recommend you short any of these 1/4 cup of water from the directions or they tend to be a bit soupy.
I like the pouches because they are simple and have the nice zip top. A full size male doing heavy activity will likely consume a full pouch in one serving so be aware. If it says it serves 2 that means one really hungry guy!
For the guy looking for the gift-a prepper would be happy to get these, particularly the cans for long term storage. The prices are pretty good on these as well.
Let me know if anyone has specific questions.
What’s the largest order I can place before I am reported to the Dept of Homeland Security?
Trick question, the answer is: any order.
The Chili Mac is decent, I haven’t tried any of the others offered.
Their granola with blueberries and milk is tasty as well.
Hi,
Do I understand that you open the can and vacuum seal smaller portions? Does that impact the shelf life and if so how?
Thanks.
I always bring the pouches backpacking with me. They’re the only ones I can eat because I’ve had allergy issues with other freeze-dried pouches (haven’t been able to figure out why). Over the years I’ve moved to the Pro-Pak versions which are a smaller serving size and vacuum packed. They pack a little easier, but are the same recipes. I found that the bigger pouches are generally too much for one meal (and I’m a big guy). You can eat one after a really grueling day, but more often I found myself forcing down the last 1/4 of the pouch. They are 2.5-3 servings each.
That being said, this is a good deal. ~$4.75 per pouch or $1.80/serving. I usually end up stopping by Dick’s or REI before a trip and buying the Pro-Pak for $3.25/serving ($6.50/pouch).
If I was going to buy MH in bulk, I’d probably go for the ‘Essential Assortment Bucket’ on Amazon for $60. About the same price per pouch as this deal, but the Chili Mac is the best MH flavor and it is not represented in this package.
Also, as someone mentioned earlier, you ALWAYS need to short the recommended water amount by 1/4c. (1.75 cups vs. 2 cups) to keep these from being soupy. I have no idea why MH has never addressed this. I’ve never had a pouch that came out better with the recommended water amount.
I always find this stuff after it sells out.
Restock the chili please!
Does the 18 pk come with a nice bucket like the 12 packs? See link below.
You could get this bucket which is slightly more expensive than the 18 pack - $5 per pouch or $1.875 per serving
Once you open the can, even if you vacuum seal the contents, you will def impact the shelf life by a lot. 25yrs in can but I do not know the shelf life in vacuum bag/freezer mode but way, way less. Your vacuum sealer directions/manual should give you a general idea of shelf life of vacuum sealed food.
you already have been reported just by looking.
the cans are nitrogen flushed and have an oxygen absorber in the can. you could repackage the cans in mylar with o2 absorbers, both are available online. but you wont get 25 years, the process MH does to get the 25 year shelf life is not easily reproducible at home.
Dang, missed the chili-mac. The best version there is is this Mountain House… IMHO avoid the sliced strawberry can as shipping always creates a ton of “dust” size stuff in the can, pouches of this is worse. Still a great product even with the shipping dust though.
I use quite a bit of MH products even at home when I want something different to eat and don’t want to spend an hour or so cooking it.
Here is Fl it is handy to have when power is out from storm damage. Got 40+ cases of different FD food just in case. Remember to have Water to fix it stock up there also.
These are much better than the Wise brand. I ordered some of the Wise and they are barely edible. They taste awful and come out the consistency of mucus. Most sporting good stores have a good variety of MH so you can try it out before you go and start buying bulk amounts.
Thinking about the eggs and the Banana. Anyone try these? Want to use the eggs as a back up when we run out and the banana in Pancakes or cereal
For years I used Mountain House for backpacking. They do have a lot of sodium though. I have a dehydrator and a vac sealer and make my own meals now. Chili Mac, Beef Stroganoff, Jambalaya etc. Trying to cut back on the sodium. They won’t last 25 years but they last long enough for my backpacking season. 
If I put them into the freezer they will last 2 years.
But if you don’t have a dehydrator I would use the Mountain House for sure.
If you want great eggs try the Ovaeasy egg crystals. they blow the MH out of the water. I buy it in the #10 can. In the can it has 6 individual packets. Each packet is 12 eggs. You can’t taste the difference between it and a real egg. IMO! They also have just egg whites.
FYI
Nutriom just recalled almost a quarter of a million pounds of their egg products (they make the Ovaeasy). See this: OvaEasy dried egg products recalled for possible salmonella - UPI.com