Mountain House Wraps filling

[hannonmc]

Treesuit,

Actually, I did have a measuring cup. The Snow Peak TI cook set that I have has measurements on the pots, so I can get a pretty accurate measure.

Note to self: Must actually compare the measurements to a real measuring cup to see how accurate they are.

The taste was more towards the tomatoe side of a BBQ than a smokey BBQ flavor. The veggies softened right up. Everyone who tried it made mention on how good it was and that it was hard to believe that it was "intant" food. I used store bought tortillas initially (which stood up quite well). The MRE tortillas from the FSIR, not so much... They are a little more brittle, but they certainly worked.

Everyone also enjoyed the pocket sandwiches from the FSIR. I found the Cheddar Bacon one to be very good, as was the Honey BBQ beef. Everyone commented on how soft the bread was and didn't taste like chemical.

I've been "grazing" on pieces of the FSIR since. Just had the cinnamon bun, which was very good. I've taken the basic FSIR from you and "pumped it up" with more things (beef steak instead of the beef and cheese, added some energy gels, a dark chocolate bar, etc...)

My initial impression was that I could certainly survive on it for 24hrs and do pretty well... I think I would crave a hot meal tho. I may consider adding an entree from an MRE into my other pack that I bought from you. But all in all, quite convenient to snack quickly with no prep. Good packing space for what you get in it.

[Treesuit]

Hannonmc,

That is a interesting take on the MH BBQ wrap filling, also I agree with you on the MRE tortillas. They tend to fall apart right out of the package after being folded for so long. I had the problem while doing my review of the chicken salad. I think for a next review I'll include store bought tortillas since I've had them before and they stand up to alot including a rucksack. They also make store bought tortillas in different flavors. Last night I was thinking that if your doing a BBQ filling a tomato/basil tortilla would have kicked that filling up a notch or two. But that's just me.

I've also seen on several camping stoves that most of them have smaller pots that do have measurements on the side, but your comment on whether it is the same as a kitchen measurement cup is something I never thought of. I just assumed both would be the same. Could you find out and publish the findings for us.

[hannonmc]

Not sure if a tomato / basil tortilla would be too much tomato or not... But would definitely be interesting trying in on another wrap. Like I said, even by itself, I found it quite flavorful.

I may need to try the buffalo chicken wrap here at the house to see if I like it too... The only thing, these may be hard to come by in the future...

My titanium cooking set has 2 pots and 1 cup. I used the cup for measuring 12oz of water (1 1/2 cups). So, I filled it to the 6oz mark twice. I repeated this procedure in the kitchen a few minutes ago and guess what... It is actually less than 12oz... Seems the measurements are on the short side. I can only imagine how much "soupier" the mix would have been if I used the full amount of water... So, definitely eyeball the amount of water as you are adding. I think that is a good thing with any of these types of meals. Normally more water is good to fully hydrate, maybe not so with this one...

[Bypah]

Have you guys tried to warm up the MRE tortillas on a heat source? Maybe that will help make them more pliable....

[hannonmc]

It was quite a warm day when I sued them. I don't think temp was the issue...

[Bypah]

The temp. outside is not the issue. usually tortillas either civilian or the MRE one are good and more "pliable" if you warm them up....
Next time try it...

[Treesuit]

Hey Guys,

Here is another great review of the MH products. It is a much simplier entree': it is the Granola with Milk and Blueberries. If this sounds familar, that's becuase it's the same thing as in the new breakfast MRE entree'. In fact if you take a look at the photo with the MH pouch and a MRE pouch you'll see its the same company. I figured it might not be much of a difference but given that we're discussing civilian foods, I figured it would be worth a try.

With the MH granola it says to use 1/2 cup of water, cold or hot depending on how fast or slow you want it to re-constituted. I put in 1/2 cup of hot water and zipped it right back up. I did this early in the a.m. before going to work and then had this for lunch. With the MRE version its a smaller pouch and it says to use less water but both say the entree' is good for one full serving. I guess it depends on if you eat the entree' as a stand alone or with some other food. Looking at the MRE version pouch, you would have to have some other side dish just to get filled up. With the MH one all I had was a cup of coffee and boy was I full.

With the MH house version I detected suttle differences. The blueberries were much more pronounced in flavour and bigger, the granola was chunkier (I guess you call it like that) an no outward appearance of any milk. Well, if there was I didn't see any. With the MRE versions I've had in the past it's always been the exact opposite of MH.

The most positive thing about MH is the zip closure top. It's great for sealing the entree' up and saving it for later, and there is a little bit of heat lost but not so much that the entree' will go cold by the time you open it up again. With the MRE version you don't get that, and if the top comes open and spills; well, then you have a blueberry colored and flavoured mess all over you.

IMHO, the MH version has a better way of packaging the entree' and storing it, not so much with the MRE. And the MH meal tasted way better than the MRE, I was really filled up by the time I was done.

[Bypah]

It looks similar to the Drytech / Norweigan breakfast rations...
I bet it tastes good. I tried to get some MH frome their main site and it directed me to some retailers. Those people are almost out of their products and their backlog is enormous!!!

[hannonmc]

I decided to try my other Mountain House Wrap filler for lunch today.

Buffalo Style Chicken / with Cream Cheese Sauce

Looking inside after opening it, I wasn't too sure how good this one was going to be.

Before adding hot water.

I added the water slowly this time and noticed that this particular one really needed all of the water. (I used a proper measuring cup this time around).

After 1 1/2 cup hot water.

After 9 mins, it had a decent consistency.

After 9 mins.

I placed in on a tortilla and prepared to taste.

On a tortilla.

This one didn't have nearly as good as a taste or smell as the Beef BBQ one did. There were certainly some spicey notes of tobasco in it and I tasted the "cream cheese sauce". overall, I really wasn't thrilled with it. I was out hiking and very hungry, I probably could have eaten it all. As it was, I ate just one wrap and threw the rest of the filler out. I think I was only able to get through that one wrap because I added some blue cheese with it.

I can't quite put my finger on why this meal wasn't good. Maybe it was the cream cheese sauce... Is sort of made the chicken taste a bit funny. The filling itself seemed "pilly"? It wasn't like it had dry pieces in it, everything rehydrated well. It just wasn't overly pleasent. By comparison, the BBQ wrap tasted like it could have been made from scratch. This one screamed freeze dried food.

So, YMMV. I won't be buying this one again tho.

[Treesuit]

Gee, that's too bad. It looks like it could be a really great meal item. Though the thought of cream cheese in with buffalo sauce makes me kind of think "who in the hell thought that one up?" IMHO, cream cheese has a place but NOT mixed in with buffalo style sauce.

I think I'll avoid this one as well.