Dehydrated Meal Pouches

I found some in New Zealand that are much better.  they actually taste of food.

I don't know if you can get them in the UK

https://realmeals.co.nz/?v=1d4014d4506e

Mrs and I have used a few - either both of us when lightweight camping / no civilisation for miles, and me bike packing.  I've also chucked one in the suitcase when travelling/ working overseas - as a back up if I get there mega late and everywhere is shut (try finding somewhere to eat in a small village in Switzerland on a Sunday evening !!)

I've had a few of the Firepot, and they're OK (OK, but defo had better). Their toasted banana porridge in a morning is however  rather pleasant.  Trebly so after bivvying out the night and another day riding to come !

For the savory meals, they 2 we've found best so far have been from 'Summit to Eat', and Ayo (not the car model from Toyota!!).

Ayo do a Mexican scrambled eggs which was rather enjoyable we both agreed.  We've ordered more of those ! 

And the Summit To Eat Beef + Potato Stew also fine.  

Mrs has had veggie/ GF meals  from both and liked them from these 2 companies, much more than firepot.

We bought ours online from Base Camp Foods (they're in Melbourne - the Derbyshire one not Queensland).

I usually use firepot, or whatever work gives me that's vegan. They are...ok. Free calories is probably the most positive I can be about them!

Tentmeals are the same 'lightweight food' concept....but different https://tentmeals.co.uk/

It's much more natural ingredients but if you are a spag bol or hot pot kid of guy at home it might come as a bit of a shock to the system. Its all veggie and nearly all of them are vegan. The big downside is you have decant into something to add the water. This A - makes a mess the usual meals don't and b can be an issue when properly cold (I've lost count of the number of the firepot style meals I've eaten where the 'brew' in their sachet inside my jacket to keep it warm. Not cheap either, but none of them are.

This summer I'll be making my own with the dehydrator I've got at work based on the tentmeal ingredients list but in bags I can add the water into like a firepot.

Firepot Chili con Carne is good. After that I bought a few others but haven't got round to trying them, the pulled pork is one.

I guessed the normal size would be too small after an active day so I got the XL and I think I was right.

Used alpchef and firepot, carry them for when nowt else is available. They're passable, have a decent amount of calories but you'll need a pudding if you're exerting a lot during the day. I'd far rather them than quick noodles  or the like. Firepot breakfast ones are, for me, the best of the lot, baked apple porridge is pretty good, as is the banana one. Mate had the pulled pork one, couldn't find any pulled pork. It's worth investigating in an insulated pouch for making/eating them.

The Wayfarer ones are quite nice IMO, although they're not dehydrated, which means they're a lot heavier than the Firepot ones and also that the pouch itself has to fit into your pot,if you want the least mess. 

Have a look at the DofE thread, meal packs are a regular topic.

I found the wayfarer one virtually inedible

I had one Chilli-con-carne* once that tasted of vomit, it was the only thing I had left, so chucked some salted peanuts in it and got it down. 

Have tried a few fireboat options - all meh. 

I tend to stay away from the the savoury meals now and just get the breakfast options as they seem harder to mess us. Adventure Food Expedition Breakfast is my favourite, 

* I think it was wayfarer but might have been expedition foods. 

When I get stuck out in the sticks at work I find the Soba Noodle pots and Perfect Mash pots really tasty and could decant these into bags to reheat in a washed out Firepot pouch, but they are both only a shade over 200 calories.

The problem is you're always going to be limited by the calories per gram of carbs, protein and a bit of fat. Pretty much any dehydrated meal is going to be in the 5cal/gram range.  The only difference is that noodles are mostly air unless you get straight ones.  Thick rice noodles will be better, they just take a bit longer to cook (10min or so, but that can be on the lowest simmer or in a insulated pot-cosy).

Plastic miniatures bottles filled with soy/siracha/powdered ginger mix for flavor.  

Depends what/when you eat.  I generally try to eat as I go to keep myself fueled up on a  long day.  By dinnertime I'm not generally hungry anyway after forcing my digestive system to munch through 2000calories of flapjack. Dinner is just a morale booster rather than serious fueling.  

There's also the packing issue, unless the event is entirely self sufficient (not just self supported) where are you going to buy this stuff en-route? Carrying several days worth of pouches defeats their point. After a day and a half or so you'd be lighter just buying actual fresh ingredients at the last stop before each meal.

I’ve heard (but not tried) that the Real Turmat ones are tasty. 

Huel 'Hot and Savoury', the Mexican Chilli flavour is perfectly edible. It's not as good as homemade Chilli, but as you say it's ready in 5 mins and is 400 calories for two scoops. I keep some in my desk drawer for when I don't have leftovers.

It is also pretty good for keeping me feeling full, with no worries about post-work gym or not eating tea until around 6 or 7 

Vaguely related, Mrs is a coeliac (gluten free), so we’ve started using some of these products (ready to eat cold snacks that travel) as our rambling/cycling backups when we’re somewhere and can’t get gf food.

rio mare snackpot

john west on the go pots

we think these taste ok and keep/travel

I use Tent Meals, I think they're the best tasting, good vegan and veggie options (that aren't just full of mushrooms and peppers) and no excessive plastics.

Thanks some good options to check out that I'd not considered. Huel is still up there as a likely fave option and I'll be able to use up the rest of the pack at work on when I'm stuck out all night in the van.

@thisisnotaspoon Its just an emergency spare meal really, for when there is no where convenient to get proper food and load up with pasties etc

Flavoured couscous pouches can be had in various flavours. They take 5 mins to re-hydrate. You can add things to them to make them more interesting (pouches of olives, cheese etc). I tend to pick up a few eggs and boil them, then I use the water to rehydrate the couscous. 350-380 calories per bag (100g, or 110g bags), before you add anything else to them.

Fine egg noodles (dry) are good too, but you need to add some dried/pasted flavouring to them to make them interesting. Eastern soup sachets, or miso is good. Add some quorn maybe (the ready to eat chicken substitute).  Two nests is about 125g dry, and about 390 calories before you add anything to them.

I've made a 'cozy' for both my Ti mug, and plastic mug - out of foil-covered bubble wrap insulation. Double thickess. Stuff stays warm in there for ages - effectively, it keeps cooking in there if sealed well.

My meals tend to get prepped/measured out at home, and put in microwavable freezer bags. Perfect for no-mess rehydrating outdoors. Heck, the bags are also good for decanting your typical "pot/mug" meals to save space.

For couscous, I place the meal into my cozy with the top of the bag pulled over the lip... add the boiling water and seal immediately. 5 mins later, it's ready.

For noodles, boil the whole lot (with water) in the mug for a few mins... then decant back in to the bag/cozy combo and seal. The remaining few mins in cozy does the job, as long as it stays hot.

You can also get quick cook pasta and rice (some are flavoured) -  again boil the whole lot it in the mug for a few mins, then decant back into the bag/cozy combo with the water.

For MEGA motivation in the morning (you need two metal mugs) you can steam bake muffins. Take the larger mug, place three stones at the bottom and put some water in it. The second, smaller mug slides in and sits on the stones... the water goes up the sides slightly. In a sealed microwavable freezer bag, have pre-mixed chocolate brownie mix in there. Put that in the second (inner) mug. Put a lid on the outer mug. Simmer for 30-40 mins. A slow meths burner is best - I have it all setup and ready to go the night before... I wake up early, light it with a match, and get back into my sleeping bag. The smell (once it's done) wakes me up. 

I use (mostly) Real Turmat for when I need emergency food. I carry a load in the van during winter with the cooking and emergency gear.

Honestly, it's not that bad. The meals are pretty varied, have about 5-600 kcal and don't weight a huge amount either. They're Norwegian I think, certainly used by the Swedish military.

I've 'liberated' products from many of these companies over the years, left in bothies. There's a reason people leave these expensive, calorie-deficient meals behind, and it's not altruism - it's because they taste ****ing awful. You're better experimenting with stuff freely available in supermarkets and small stores, like orzo pasta or savoury rice, supplemented with chopped sun dried tomatoes, small nalgene tubs of various spices, tubs of tuna, Matthesons sausages (don't require refrigeration), etc. Throw in pot cosy cooking to reduce fuel consumption and you're on a winner.

I have used the decathlon own brand stuff, taste just as bad as the others...it's edible.

I just carry huel with me now when I go on business trips. Much easier than the vagaries of hotel foods 

I carry a huel shake in powder form for breakfast I'm one of the hot and savoury powdered meals for the evening. The Thai green curry or the Madras are both very good. Any of them can be improved with a little bit of season all. They also have the advantage that there's only 400 calories in each one. Some of the adventure foods I found were around 800 calories as they're designed for people who are trekking up a mountain.... When you've been sitting in meetings all day, you probably don't need 800 to 1000 calories 🙂

Except this thread was started by someone asking for suggestions about meal options for taking into the mountains, not sitting on his arse in a business meeting.

Nobody else do bacon rolls with a frying pan then?

Expedition Foods pouches have been good (by which i mean edible...maybe even slightly enjoyable(?)

I've tried the hot pot and carbonara ones.

Posted by: tuboflard

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I’ve heard (but not tried) that the Real Turmat ones are tasty

I was given some of those a while back and they were actually pretty good. They're brought in by the guys who do Fjallraven, Hamwag and Primus - all the same group - and while it'd be expensive to use them all the time, they're not cheap, for occasional, one-offs they're tasty, by freeze-dried standards at least, and reasonably calorie dense.

For 'non-special' stuff, couscous, noodles, chorizo, spices, random things - go heavy on flavours at altitude is my advice, everything tastes deadened, which is why airline food is so disappointing - I quite often just cope with, say, cans of fish for the first day to mix in with dried carbs like pasta, couscous, ramen etc.

Me and a mate from the northern Lakes sometimes do a full-on deluxe wild camp night complete with real food like steak, pudding dessert with custard, a wine box bladder of red and a fire log. More mild camping than wild camping in the culinary sense, but a really mellow way to spend an evening. Plus the load on the walk-out is a lot less - win!

The rice in firepots can definitely be a bit gritty, so I am interested in branching away from them.

Related. Ainsley Harriet dried soups, especially the Thai chicken and lemongrass. A real morale booster that you can have whilst waiting for the dried meal to hidrate. 

They also have the advantage that there's only 400 calories in each one

The nice thing is that at £2.80 a serving I can double up without guilt 🙂

I'm all up for cooking some real meals when not on an ultra event, we occasionally do breakfast rides where we will meet on top of a hill and cook a full fry up, each person taking care of the essential fry up components.

The Decathlon ones are not bad, the chicken curry passed muster last year. I wouldn't want to eat them every day.

Really my main secret has been making Decent Instant Porridge in bulk before going. Oats, suitable amounts of Nestle Nido (surprisingly realistic powdered milk, gets very thick), sugar, cinnamon. Mix up, bung in ziplock bag. Boil. Much nicer than instant oats packets, cheaper, easier to flavour.

Maybe opt for flameless ration heaters. A bit easier than messing about with a stove.

Menu choice. You can pretty much live on the chocolate pudding.