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Mountain House has the best flavor and texture of the big brands. Auburg Farms has good quality at more reasonable prices, but they don't have individual meals, their stuff comes in #10 size cans.
Their onions and other products are very good quality, but once the can is opened, the clock starts.
Easy to store good quantities, cheaper per meal, and if you use freeze dried a lot in your daily cooking, Auburg is a serious contender.
Do you mean Augason Farms? I have a few #10 cans of shredded potatoes (hash browns) I got on some Amazon sale. I've never tried them but glad to hear they are good quality.
I do have some stuff I bought in buckets that contain individual pouches of freeze dried foods but regardless of brand it seems the best value per serving is always the #10 cans (and the cans are rodent resistant). While its true the clock starts ticking once opened you can extend their life by tossing in an oxygen absorber inside the can and resealing it. You can also keep them fairly indefinitely in a deep freezer that way.
My strategy is that if I need the food, and I'm not feeding enough people to make it through a #10 can eating spaghetti (or whatever) once a day for 2-3 days I'll just eat it 2 or 3 times a day and get through the can quickly. That's why it's good to have variety.
My wife thought it was weird that I opened a can of MH lasagna, made a serving in a mug, and then put it in the freezer. I ate off it until it was gone. Didn't take long, but I LIKE their food. If you want to take their lasagna to the next level, cut up a mozzarella cheese stick per large serving and put it in there to melt while the food rehydrates. Yum!
I like everything about Mountain House except for the price, which is a tad steep. They are hard to store long term because they are too easy to grab for a weekend out camping/hiking/quick meal etc. .
I bought my own freeze drier last year and I'm excited to play around with it more this year. By the time you do all the work to make a delicious freeze dried meal and buy all the supplies to do it, it makes the MH seem like not such a bad deal price wise.
I've been tempted to try the augason farm brand stuff off Amazon as the prices are very very tempting. However anytime I've tried to stray away from the almighty Mountain House, I've always been dissatisfied.
Do you mean Augason Farms? I have a few #10 cans of shredded potatoes (hash browns) I got on some Amazon sale. I've never tried them but glad to hear they are good quality.
I do have some stuff I bought in buckets that contain individual pouches of freeze dried foods but regardless of brand it seems the best value per serving is always the #10 cans (and the cans are rodent resistant). While its true the clock starts ticking once opened you can extend their life by tossing in an oxygen absorber inside the can and resealing it. You can also keep them fairly indefinitely in a deep freezer that way.
My strategy is that if I need the food, and I'm not feeding enough people to make it through a #10 can eating spaghetti (or whatever) once a day for 2-3 days I'll just eat it 2 or 3 times a day and get through the can quickly. That's why it's good to have variety.
My wife thought it was weird that I opened a can of MH lasagna, made a serving in a mug, and then put it in the freezer. I ate off it until it was gone. Didn't take long, but I LIKE their food. If you want to take their lasagna to the next level, cut up a mozzarella cheese stick per large serving and put it in there to melt while the food rehydrates. Yum!
Yeah, that's them. I can never remember that name for some reason.
I dehydrate a lot of produce from my garden, I even but extra from the local Hutterite colonies, but always use more dried onions and green peppers. I haven't figured out how to dry potatoes either, so I get some cans of Augusson. They really bridge the gap.
"I bought my own freeze drier last year and I'm excited to play around with it more this year. By the time you do all the work to make a delicious freeze dried meal and buy all the supplies to do it, it makes the MH seem like not such a bad deal price wise. "
Did you get the Harvest Right model? I've looked into it but it's expensive to buy and operate and the feedback from owners is that they are a maintenance nightmare. I was wondering if there was another option?
I almost forgot to mention, the company who owns Mountain House has another freeze dried food company called Summit To Eat. They are for the European market and and have bolder, more flavorful meals. I tried one of their Indian dishes and it blew my mind. It was like eating at an authentic Indian restaurant. I bought it from a place in Germany who ships worldwide but here is the manufacturer web site:
I almost forgot to mention, the company who owns Mountain House has another freeze dried food company called Summit To Eat. They are for the European market and and have bolder, more flavorful meals. I tried one of their Indian dishes and it blew my mind. It was like eating at an authentic Indian restaurant. I bought it from a place in Germany who ships worldwide but here is the manufacturer web site:
Mountain House is available at Costco online at an impressive price. The "Asian Inspired" kit has yellow chicken curry, pad thai, and other flavors that had been hard to find domestically.
I don't know if they sell out of it frequently or what because the availability changes every couple of days. The price of a 6-pack of #10 cans is about $100 less than amazon.
I recently stumbled across this place. They sell freeze dried raw food, among other things, so that one can cook things like steaks the way they like. Most of the meats don't look to be a great value, but the filet mignon comes out roughly the same price per pound (once reconstituted) as buying fresh filet mignon from Safeway. https://freezedrywholesalers.com/collections/raw-foods
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