Dehydrated meals recommendation

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 JonLongshanks 29 Apr 2022

Hi all,

Doing a long walk soon, carrying a good few days worth of food, and want to keep the weight down. I've had a few dehydrated meals before that weren't great & very expensive.
Does anyone have any recommendations for a brand that is calorific, tasty and doesn't cost an arm and a leg? Maybe...?

Cheers!

Jon

 Dave the Rave 29 Apr 2022
In reply to JonLongshanks:

Hi Jon

Two packets of super noodles weighs in at 1056 kca. Light and dead cheap. Add some Pepperoni or cheese and would be a 1500 kca meal for pence .

In reply to JonLongshanks:

Have a look at https://www.firepotfood.com/

Very tasty, waterproof / compostable packaging, made down in Dorset, all very natural ingredients. I highly rate it. 

 Pedro50 29 Apr 2022
In reply to JonLongshanks:

110g pack of Idahoan mash, 100g pack of tuna, grated parmesan cheese. Heaven.

 Fliss Freeborn 29 Apr 2022
In reply to JonLongshanks:

I'm just about to road-test a whole bunch of them for this very website. When are you off?  

 jezb1 29 Apr 2022
In reply to JonLongshanks:

I’m a big fan of these for convenience.

Whilst you can certainly DIY a lot cheaper I’m super lazy when it comes to food…

https://www.outside.co.uk/camping/camping-cooking-gear/camping-food-drink/e...

Post edited at 20:50
 hokkyokusei 29 Apr 2022
In reply to Dave the Rave:

> Two packets of super noodles weighs in at 1056 kca. Light and dead cheap. Add some Pepperoni or cheese and would be a 1500 kca meal for pence .

..or cous cous. And, while I don't like peparami, prefer chorizo), some meat and cheese. 

Also recommend miso, can be made into soup or stirred into noodles/cous cous for extra flavour.

For pudding, chocolate, or custard.

 Derry 29 Apr 2022
In reply to OneBeardedWalker:

> Very tasty, waterproof / compostable packaging, made down in Dorset, all very natural ingredients. I highly rate it. 

Seconded for Firepot. absolutely amazing for taste. I also like Summit to Eat (mainly for the name though).

 Derry 29 Apr 2022
In reply to Dave the Rave:

> Hi Jon

> Two packets of super noodles weighs in at 1056 kca. Light and dead cheap. Add some Pepperoni or cheese and would be a 1500 kca meal for pence .

happy to be corrected, but isn't a pack of super noodles around the 250kcal? A normal pack of dehy is circa 600. Plus the major advantage of not taking up much space in your pack compared to a dried noodle brick, or having the packaging split to find snapped curly things in amongst your pants. 

 Dave the Rave 29 Apr 2022
In reply to Derry:

Evening

250kca per half pack. I’ve never had a packet split or found it more bulky than an expensive dehydrated meal.

 Run_Ross_Run 30 Apr 2022
In reply to JonLongshanks:

Summit to Eat are really tasty. 👍 

 angry pirate 30 Apr 2022
In reply to Run_Ross_Run:

I agree. My two favourites from them are the chicken fajitas and the pasta Bolognese.

I often take golden syrup puddings from Tesco and heat them through in the water I'm using to make a brew. About the same weight and calories as the dehydrated puddings but a fraction of the cost.

 Bog ninja 30 Apr 2022
In reply to JonLongshanks:

My wife and I invested in a dehydrator, which is basically like a low temperature fan oven, to make homemade dehydrated food. My wife has some severe allergies so that ruled out the cheap and cheerful options from supermarkets. It cost around 160 pounds, by a brand called Excalibur, and it is great for having nice curries and chillis while camping 

OP JonLongshanks 01 May 2022
In reply to Fliss Freeborn:

I'm off on the 14th. 

Some good suggestions here. I like the look of Firepot and Expedition Foods, they have a proper portion size as well! (usually left hungry from the standard 600kcal ones...) At nearly £10 that does add up quick over a few weeks.

I've got some sort of dehydrator, have used it for making dried fruit mainly, not sure how I'd do a meal in it, perhaps spread thinly on some baking paper...

I've had good success with coucous and chorizo before, but think I'd get bored of it after a few days. Noodles don't quite 'fill the hole', but maybe I'm not eating enough of them!

Re. the tuna, is there somewhere it can be bought in packs rather than tins?

Cheers

Jon

 Olaf Prot 01 May 2022
In reply to Derry:

> .... to find snapped curly things in amongst your pants. 

Sounds more like a nasty case of frostbite?

 willpitt07 01 May 2022
In reply to JonLongshanks:

You can get John West tuna packets from Sainsbury's 

 seanhendo123 01 May 2022
In reply to JonLongshanks:

Aldi pasta shots are my choice for hill food atm, add cheese and chorizo and they're excellent. Previously i've also used smash, cous cous, noodles, etc. Can mix it up by adding chorizo/tuna/mackeral, stock cubes and some spices can be good for flavour as well.....I refuse to pay for dehydrated meals at £5-10 a hit

Sean

 dread-i 01 May 2022
In reply to JonLongshanks:

Instant porridge for breakfast. You can also take drinking chocolate sachets. Mix with the porridge or have separately. Supermarket flavoured couscous and cuppa soup. Can be eaten separately or mixed together. Take a little chilli powder, as it weighs nothing and always livens things up. A veg stock cube can make 2 or 3 drinks. Instant custard and instant whip, because everyone likes pudding.

If you get a dehydrated, add water to the bag, camping meal, keep the bag and wash it out. You can then make your own meals, as above, to save carrying an extra pan or bowl. Bonus tip. Add the water stir and stick it in a jacket pocket whilst it hydrates. Hot meal and hot water bottle in one.

 Philip 01 May 2022
In reply to JonLongshanks:

As these packs are expensive, I tried some easy water-only cooking with my Explorer Scouts last week. I weighed out arborio rice, bouillon powder, dried porcini mushroom and optional air dried sausage and parmesan. Made a reasonably cheap and lightweight meal.

 Wingnut 01 May 2022
In reply to JonLongshanks:

Don't forget the snacks. Peanuts, for example, can be nibbled on out of your pockets throughout the day ...

1
 Siward 01 May 2022
In reply to JonLongshanks:

Ready brek, dried rice, cous cous with chorizo, sardines. Pasta. Absolutely no need for branded SAS foods.

There's a pic on my profile of a weeks' backpacking food. Can't link it these days but it's all I needed and more.. 

 mike123 01 May 2022
In reply to JonLongshanks: Aldi do a posh pasta and sauce that , unlike others . does not require the addition of dried milk , just add water and simmer . Saves the faf of opening them up and adding dried milk . I ve got one each of all the flavours in my usefull bivi box . I haven’t tried them yet but have high hopes . I keep meaning to cook one up at home incase they are rank . For the odd night expensive stuff is fine but for several nights a few cheap simple options are good . I think the posh ones I m talking about are a couple of quid . I usually take   A lump of Parmesan which I shave bits off with a Swiss Army knife . 

 Mike-W-99 01 May 2022
In reply to Philip:

> As these packs are expensive, I tried some easy water-only cooking with my Explorer Scouts last week. I weighed out arborio rice, bouillon powder, dried porcini mushroom and optional air dried sausage and parmesan. Made a reasonably cheap and lightweight meal.

Does that not need 20minutes or so of boiling? Sounds good though.

 Ceiriog Chris 01 May 2022
In reply to Bog ninja:

> My wife and I invested in a dehydrator, which is basically like a low temperature fan oven, to make homemade dehydrated food. My wife has some severe allergies so that ruled out the cheap and cheerful options from supermarkets. It cost around 160 pounds, by a brand called Excalibur, and it is great for having nice curries and chillis while camping 

There is a guy on you tube called Patrick Dickinson from Sheffield  who does just this, he made an interesting video about it and well worth watching, certainly a cheaper alternative to the manufactured ones, tastier as well by his account, also a lot easier than you'd think. 

 Toerag 03 May 2022
In reply to JonLongshanks:

Mugshots. They pack much smaller than supernoodles, don't pop like pot noodles do, and are small enough you can eat 2 packs in a sitting if you want.

 Becky E 03 May 2022
In reply to JonLongshanks:

Expedition Foods are good. The Mac & Cheese is tasty, as is the Chicken Curry. The Veg Curry is pretty spicey. Check the packet carefully for how much water to add, because they do vary alot between meals: I got it wrong once and ended up with very watery curry!

 Craigyboy13 04 May 2022
In reply to JonLongshanks:

summit to eat meals are amazing.

I wish I had found them years ago. and cheaper than most. top tip, buy a extra long Ti spoon. 

 midgen 04 May 2022
In reply to JonLongshanks:

The Huel hot n savoury options are good for camping. The prices of meals I've seen in outdoor stores is eye watering in comparison!

The Mac n cheese variety is a good, hot, filling feed after a day in the mountains.

 farmus21 04 May 2022
In reply to JonLongshanks:

I'd also check out Adventure Nutrition: https://www.adventurenutrition.co.uk/home.php

The curries in particular are good. They have various kcal options from 500 - 1000 and I think they have the best weight to cals ratio. 

I don't normally bother with the breakfasts, just pre-mix oats, peanut butter powder, sugar and dried fruit (cocoa powder etc also a good addition) in a big bag and measure out 'a scoop' each morning and add hot water, usually using the empty pouch from last night's dessert to save carrying a pot/tub. 


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