Mountain House Noodles and Chicken Review

[tthompso]

I ordered a #10 can of Mountain House Noodles and Chicken from The Ready Store and cracked it open to see what the world of freeze dried food stuffs was like.




As you can see above, the preparation couldn't be easier, boil an equal amount of water and then add product.
And like it says on the can, it is packed by weight not volume, so don't freak out when the can looks 1/4th empty. When I opened it up I thought it looked like Top Ramen in a can.



So I boiled up 3/4 of a cup of water, turned the heat off, added 3/4 cup of the chicken noodle mix, stirred and waited.



It smelled great which was good sign number one. Since it looked like Top Ramen I was expecting it to taste similar and it did, mostly. The noodles were a little tough even after a decent soak. I don't mind chewy noodles, and maybe adding more water to the mix would fix it. The chicken reconstituted and was... well, chicken-y, the noodles while chewy were not bad and the sauce was thick and flavorful.

I see a lot of mixed to bad reviews of some Mountain House products online, but I like the stuff. Since most complaints seem centered around the eggs and bacon maybe I'll try that next!

[sag45]

Hello, I noticed that both theepicenter and beprepared sites have the #10 cans on sale. They are pretty much the same price and if you go to the Mountain House site they are higher buying direct. I was thinking of just having a can for - JUST BECAUSE! What I did want to ask is how did you open the can? Was there anything special about opening it. I assume they are vacuum packed with N2 or otherwise. I will have to look at some more pictures before buying a can to see if I'd like to eat it in 30 years. The Mountain House site only has small pics, so later I will go to the individual pouches somewhere to see a bigger pic. I would also think you could heat directly from that can if you had to or is it made out of plastic?
thanks

[tthompso]

This is just like a metal coffee can. I opened it using an old fashioned can opener and there was no "whoosh" noise when punctured. I have no idea how Mountain House removes the air or what their preservation method is. Let me know what the 30 year version tastes like! If you have an REI or some other sort of outdoor goods store nearby you can probably go pick up smaller individual packs to try.

[housil]

This is just like a metal coffee can. I opened it using an old fashioned can opener and there was no "whoosh" noise when punctured. I have no idea how Mountain House removes the air or what their preservation method is. Let me know what the 30 year version tastes like! If you have an REI or some other sort of outdoor goods store nearby you can probably go pick up smaller individual packs to try.

They can either use oxygen-absorbers like in MREs. No oxygen = no spoil
They can also replace the air inside the package with some oxygenless gas like in meat packages at the supermarkets.

[tthompso]

I've been keeping an eye out for the oxygen absorber packet, don't want to cook it up on accident! So far it's still hiding. By the way, the can says to eat the product within one week of opening. It has been well over a week since I opened it and I just keep sealing with the plastic top that came with the can. Still tastes good to me. Anyone have any experience with these things longevity once they're open?

[Biltong]

I read the same reviews about the Mountain House Eggs and Bacon. So when I ordered I basically bought one of each item to try. I tried the Eggs and Bacon this weekend. Overall it tasted just fine. It is what it is, taste wise I liked it better than the MRE Omelet. There was too much water left over that had to be poured out after heating and this is according to instructions. A sieve would be needed to get all the excess water out. Supposedly these are used for backpackers/campers. My concern would be dumping out the excess water in Bear country.

[aquarius]

The Mountain House eggs & bacon tasted fine to me. Well, not as in a real restaurant, but remember this is emergecy food!
In fact all other mountain House items I've tried, tasted from okay to good.
I like the stuff!

[kman]

I don't have a source to quote, but from what I've read, all the Mountain House cans are "nitrogen packed" - so they replace the oxygen with nitrogen and so don't have to use oxygen absorbers.

The Mountain House pouches, on the other hand, are different - they do sometimes use oxygen absorbers in those.

[Biltong]

I don't have a source to quote, but from what I've read, all the Mountain House cans are "nitrogen packed" - so they replace the oxygen with nitrogen and so don't have to use oxygen absorbers.

The Mountain House pouches, on the other hand, are different - they do sometimes use oxygen absorbers in those.

The individual Bacon and Eggs pack had the absorber in it.