Best tasting emergency food

[Corbin Dallas]

I?ve tried a lot of different meals as emergency food and I wonder what other members think of the food they have stocked up.

I store about 200gal of water I can use and we keep about 6 standard LP gas around for cooking.


However, we have yet to find an emergency food that actually tastes good.

MREs, Ready Made, Mountain House, and a few others are substance but not great.

What have you tried that is your absolute go to?

[Hairball]

I have tried a number of them, and Mountain House or Augason Farms are not bad. Not great but I figure if I have to eat that and my 10# cans of stuff I bought at the Mormon pantry, I have more to worry about than a mediocre meal. There are better options, but they don't last near as long.

[sealocan]

I haven't tried all of them but I have tried Mountain House (I like their lasagna the best) and it was good enough for an emergency food

I'm also heard mountain House has better flavor than most of the other emergency/freeze dried meals and I do know that unlike a lot of emergency meals that go on sale Mountain House uses real meat (at least in the packages that state that they do) instead of the soy based vegetable protein that a lot of the lower cost / always on sale companies use but of course those cheaper companies are not bragging about that, so you need to read the fine print of their ingredients.

[FreshTapCoke]

Originally Posted by sealocan

I haven't tried all of them but I have tried Mountain House (I like their lasagna the best) and it was good enough for an emergency food

I've had much worse lasagna at sit down restaurants than Mountain House.

We've tried about five or six different dehydrated emergency food brands and 1 has come close/on par in terms of flavor but none have in terms of texture. We've tried almost everything they offer and have stocked up on the ones we enjoy eating. Every once in a while we'll have a pouch of Mountain House or another brand for dinner for fun.

[bv141]

Originally Posted by Corbin Dallas

I store about 200gal of water I can use and we keep about 6 standard LP gas around for cooking.

NOT trying to drift the thread, but I have 2 solar ovens that I can use to boil water for dehydrated food (8 months a year in CA), instead of using the LP gas first.

My goal is to reserve the valuable fuels for urgent needs, within an emergency.

Just a thought.

[bv141]

Originally Posted by Corbin Dallas

I?ve tried a lot of different meals as emergency food and I wonder what other members think of the food they have stocked up.

I store about 200gal of water I can use and we keep about 6 standard LP gas around for cooking.

These guys claim Ready Refuel is the best.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuyEq2I7YXM

[finsfan21]

Since we won't be bugging out, Lots of canned foods. I think they taste better.

[sigstroker]

Originally Posted by Corbin Dallas

I?ve tried a lot of different meals as emergency food and I wonder what other members think of the food they have stocked up.

I store about 200gal of water I can use and we keep about 6 standard LP gas around for cooking.


However, we have yet to find an emergency food that actually tastes good.

MREs, Ready Made, Mountain House, and a few others are substance but not great.

What have you tried that is your absolute go to?

Define "emergency food". I've got a bunch of Dinty Moore that tastes pretty good.

[XDJYo]

In a bugging in situation, I think you're better off keeping cans of actual food (chili, spam, beans etc) and bags of staples like rice/beans than going with the expensive freeze dried stuff.

As for which bag foods, I do have to admit that I do like MH stuff. I've seen tests of other comparable brands, but they do not look anything close to what they say they are. As long as I have either soy sauce or Siracha/Tabasco, I think MH will be good to go. I personally have eaten my fair share of their breakfast scramble. Good stuff for a quick meal on a camp trip. Oh, and I do like that they don't have artificial this that and the other thing in their list of ingredients.

[WOODY2]

Go shoot and cook a rabbit then reconsider your opinion. Not that rabbit is bad but consider the whole experience.

[baih777]

MRE is the worst.
Our military deserves better
During COVID I ate one MRE a week for three months. Yuk.

I like mountain house and Augerson. Salt and pepper helps.

Midway has mountain house on sale right now.

[G-forceJunkie]

Are we talking "snowed in for a week" emergency or "The Walking Dead" emergency? In a serious EMERGENCY! how many michelin stars your food has will probably be pretty far down you list of things to worry about. For a "couple of weeks emergency" you should be able to store enough of your normal foods, canned foods, etc to eat normaly.

[XDJYo]

Originally Posted by baih777

MRE is the worst.
Our military deserves better
During COVID I ate one MRE a week for three months. Yuk.

I like mountain house and Augerson. Salt and pepper helps.

Midway has mountain house on sale right now.

Cool! 20% off!

[borderguy]

Mountain House has 50% off on some of their #10 cans this month.


https://mountainhouse.com/collection...rice-ascending

[Gun Kraft]

I'm not a fan of #10 cans. I'd like them better if they didn't have so much empty space in them, and I like the fact you can rehydrate/serve meals in the pouches. Since the price is about the same the space saving and convenience make pouches my go-to.

[Neuvik]

I prefer canned chow or just mylar bags of your own stuff which you would cook in a fashion you want. I have the pre-made stuff, mountain house, MRE, FEMA-MREs. Those are just convenient for the package. Bugging in cooking will be primary with those being the last resort or to be taken on treks.

[Corbin Dallas]

Originally Posted by borderguy

Mountain House has 50% off on some of their #10 cans this month.


https://mountainhouse.com/collection...rice-ascending

Thank you!

I can see getting these 10# cans and splitting up portions into vacuum sealed bags.

[madland]

Originally Posted by bv141

NOT trying to drift the thread, but I have 2 solar ovens that I can use to boil water for dehydrated food (8 months a year in CA), instead of using the LP gas first.

My goal is to reserve the valuable fuels for urgent needs, within an emergency.

Just a thought.

Another backup to the backup is a $99 microwave from Target that will run off the Jackery to cook some meals. Re-charge with the solar panels. Rinse. Repeat.

[bv141]

Originally Posted by baih777

MRE is the worst.

In my summer stints as a seasonal summer Firefighter (starting mid-80s),
we called MREs: 'Meals Rejected by Ethiopians'

The Ethiopian famine was 1983 to 1985.

[TheChief]

Originally Posted by bv141

In my summer stints as a seasonal summer Firefighter (starting mid-80s),
we called MREs: 'Meals Rejected by Ethiopians'

The Ethiopian famine was 1983 to 1985.

Former Infantry here...yeah, humor was dark for sure for the 18-26 year old crowd. PC wasn't a think nor was thinking much beyond yourself

Meals Ready to be Ejected/Evacuated

Meals Rarely Edible was another.

All that being said, you learn to make them palatable. Loved my Ranger Cookies, and those Tabasco minis.

The Modern MREs are soooo much better than what we had in the 90's. I picked up the 2012 A and B menu cases and loved them. Though my family turned up their noses at them during some campouts.

[baih777]

Originally Posted by bv141

In my summer stints as a seasonal summer Firefighter (starting mid-80s),
we called MREs: 'Meals Rejected by Ethiopians'

The Ethiopian famine was 1983 to 1985.

LOL

[baih777]

Originally Posted by borderguy

Mountain House has 50% off on some of their #10 cans this month.


https://mountainhouse.com/collection...rice-ascending

Thank you

[baih777]

Originally Posted by sigstroker

Define "emergency food". I've got a bunch of Dinty Moore that tastes pretty good.

Watch the exp dates on those dirty moore .
Last year I opened a can only 6 months past due date. It stunk really bad.

[baih777]

I use a marker now and write the exp dates really big .
Especially canned food.
Now when canned food is on the last month of expiring. I take it out of the cabinet and leave it on the counter to remind me to eat it.

[CouchOperator]

Meatballs in marinara MRE

[Quiet]

IMO...
Mountain House
Use condiments (salt, pepper, tobasco sauce, tapatio, sriracha, gochujang, etc) to make them taste better.

[DaveInOroValley]

Another vote for many of the Augason Farm products as well as Mountain House. Augason Farms has some very unique products such as powdered butter and number ten cans of black bean burger mix that all have a 25 year shelf life.

I also have many weeks of Patriot freezed dried as well as Augason Farm Buckets that contain a ton of food.

[user120312]

I regularly use Augason Farms products as part of my diet to condition myself for reality in case of SHTF...

Products routinely used-
Red/Green bell pepper, Celery, Butter powder, Shredded Colby cheese, Whole Egg powder.

I have freeze dried beef and chicken from Mountain House and Nutristore but haven't used them. I tried the Mountain House scrambled egg product but doubt I would buy it again.

Most of my pantry consists of dry and canned goods that would normally be used in everyday life. As an experiment, the last time I went to the store was about six months ago.

I've switched to mostly seafood, nuts and beans as protein sources, with some chicken, pork and turkey. I haven't had beef for over a year now. Reason? In SHTF, seafood and poultry will be the most abundant. Big ocean next door and neighbors raise chickens. Few to none raise pork or beef and local sources are out of reach in SHTF.

So far, I have no complaints about the quality or consistency of Augason Farms. Some of the product, the egg and butter powder in particular, have proved to have a solid post-opened shelf life, a year or more by my experiment. However, they are stored at moderate humidity, 50-60%, and low temperature, usually 60-70 degrees max. That's one advantage to living near the ocean. It stays cool year round, generally. IMO that helps food products last longer.

[OlderThanDirt]

I have a combination of canned food, Mountain House, Augason Farm, MREs... I don't really worry about taste given that if I am actually eating the stuff it means I am on a strict caloric diet. This will be after I have consumed three freezers worth of food like bison tenderloin, bacon, elk, bacon, venison, bacon, wild boar, bacon, chicken, bacon, scallops wrapped in bacon, shrimp wrapped in cheese and bacon, etc.

[Corbin Dallas]

The wife and I have been trying emergency meals that require boiling water. (Readywise/Mountain house so far)

Something that has come to my attention between these two brands.

For the same volume of food, Mountain House needs 1.5 cups of water whereas ReadyWise needs 2 cups of water.

I know this isn't a big deal for when water flows freely, but IMO, 1/2 cup of water per meal is a big deal when you have to store or tote water along.

Just my observation. YMMV