Packit Gourmet

[Mountain Wildman]

Packit Gourmet foods are a cut above the rest, They are not the conglomeration of all ingredients in one envelope that you just add water to, They are seperated quality ingredients that give you an essentially home cooked type of meal. I admit that I have only tried their Strawberry Cheesecake Dessert so far but if it is typical of their products then I expect them all to be good, I will follow up this review after I've tried more of their products.

[papa john]

Last years hike in Montana, we carried the Packit Gourmet foods. We had never eaten so well in the back country! The one thing though is the amount of trash left over. For this years hike we are going to use PG foods again but will try to repack things in order to cut down on the amount of packaging.

We found that the 2 person portions are in fact enough for 2 people and in some cases more. We really enjoyed the banana pudding, Tortilla Soup, American Burger wraps and the YaYa Gumbo (you need a really big pot for this one). We carried way too many meals for our hike and ended up carrying several meals out uneaten.

Can't wait for this years hike in Glacier!!!

[jesse]

If your Uncle had t*ts he would be your Aunt.

and thats connected to the original post; How?

[bigcranky]

I just received my first order from Packit Gourmet, and am very happy with it. I did not order meals, though, I just got various ingredients. Quick service and reasonable cost.

The only downside is the shipping charge -- if you order only a few things, it can be higher than the order price. We got a lot of different things (some of which I wish I had ordered more, like the little packets of olive oil), so shipping was more reasonable compared to the total cost.

[nufsaid]

and thats connected to the original post; How?

"IF it is typical of their products then I expect them all to be good"

[Mountain Wildman]

and thats connected to the original post; How?

Amen Jesse,
I heard an old saying when I was younger and try to live by it:
If you can't say something nice then say nothing at all.

[nufsaid]

Jesse, do you hear me now?

[nufsaid]

Amen Jesse,
I heard an old saying when I was younger and try to live by it:
If you can't say something nice then say nothing at all.

Making sweeping endorsements may be more effective when having a bit more experience with the product. And this may turn out to be the best thing since sliced bread.t

[Mountain Wildman]

Fourth of July Camping Trip.

Austintacious Tortilla Soup:
After getting my campsite all set up I broke open my Packit Gourmet Austintacious Tortilla Soup for dinner, Like all of the Packit Gourmet meals it had several separate components which are mixed together to form the final product, Same as when preparing a meal at home. The soup was awesome, Chicken that had the appropriate texture and consistency, broth and medley of vegetables with a packet of True Lime Powder, a packet of Tobasco sauce and a small bag of tortilla chip pieces. Note: With the entire packet of tobasco sauce added it was belly warming to say the least. (Did not take pictures of this item) Sorry!!
Will I order this again? Yes.

Diner Deluxe Scrambled Eggs with Sausage Crumbles and Toasties:
As with other Packit Gourmet meals, This was excellent, The Scrambled Egg mixture which starts as a powder, cooks up like any other scrambled Egg breakfast I've prepared at home with regular hard shell eggs, which definitely surprised me since I have never heard anything good about powdered eggs, If this was served to me at a diner I would not blink an eye, The toasties were very very crunchy, and the final product was just like home cooking.
Packit Gourmet has an impressive product, period!!
Will I order this again? Yes


Bangers and Mash:
Once again, An awesome product by any standard, No other commercially packaged meal can come close to Packit Gourmet, Even a home prepared and Freeze Dried or Dehydrated meal would be hard pressed to surpass the taste and quality of these meals. The Bangers and mash was quite enjoyable, The potatoes in particular were fantastic, The vegetable medley was diverse and the broth supplied with the meal was good enough to drink staright up, I have never had true English Bangers and Mash so I certainly cannot make a comparison, I enjoyed the meal so much that I did my best to scrape every last bit of it out of my Frypan lid, I almost resorted to licking the last few remnants but restrained myself.
The only improvement Packit Gourmet could possibly make to this meal would be to include one larger sausage instead of the two smaller approximately 1/2" thick sausages which reminded me of SlimJims, But all in all it was very tasty.
Will I order this again? Yes


Banana Puddin:
This smooth, creamy and tasty dessert was easy to prepare, required no hot water and the one person serving was large enough for me to share with my campsite neighbors and we all had enough to appreciate the sweet and tasty delight. The Banana Pudding packet contained the powder and banana pieces, Both the Vanilla Toastees and Toasted Coconut portions were in their own little zip style bags, All of the Packit Gourmet meals I've tried were predominantly comprised of ingredients in small zip style bags.
I prepared the entire dessert in the large outer bag and squeezed out the three portions. No extra dishes to wash!!!! (No picture on this either, Next time.)
Will I order this again? Yes


Market Pasta Puttanesca:
I saved the best for last!!!
The Packit Gourmet Market Pasta Puttanesca was amazing, fantastic, out of this world good!!! I am surprised that it has not been selected by Backpacker Magazine as an "Editors Choice" or "Best Of " As with the other meals I've tried, this one was supplied in individual packages and mixed at the time of preparation. The meal's outer zip style bag is thick and sturdy, not your every day zip bag. The Extra Virgin Olive Oil was organic and in a sealed packet, The pasta was a typical dry spaghetti with some small black flakes in it which at first I thought, something got into my meal, but the bag was not breached so I went with it, the tomato sauce powder had several spices already in it along with the natural clay desiccant which is in all of their powdered ingredient packages, the vegetable bag had a desiccant as well and quite a variety of dried veggies, Lastly, a Kraft grated parmesan cheese packet. This was probably the best spaghetti meal I have ever eaten, And I have eaten many, At home, relatives and true Italian restaurants, they can't touch this meal, It is good enough to make at home for dinner any night of the week, I have already started another order with Packit Gourmet and I will be ordering a few of these, If I was planning on mail drops for my Thru-Hike next year, I would have at least two or three of these pasta meals included for each mail drop. But, Don't take my word for it, try it yourself.
I almost didn't order this because I figured it was just another spaghetti dinner, I was wrong!!! It was Superb!!!
Will I order this again? Absolutely!!

I always try to buy the best because through years of experience I have found that you do get what you pay for. In my opinion, Packit Gourmet is a winner, I will be open minded and try any other quality meals I stumble across but for now, it's an easy choice.

[Kerosene]

Looks tasty but heavy (13 ounces for 2 servings). The dinners I perused (http://www.packitgourmet.com/) called for 15 minutes of cooking time, so clearly they're probably dehydrated but not freeze-dried. I'm going to try a few items for my next hike.

[Mountain Wildman]

Looks tasty but heavy (13 ounces for 2 servings). The dinners I perused (http://www.packitgourmet.com/) called for 15 minutes of cooking time, so clearly they're probably dehydrated but not freeze-dried. I'm going to try a few items for my next hike.

It's a little fuzzy but I believe it is 1 serving at 15 ounces, Worth the weight to carry and oh so good, not an average spaghetti dinner, I am ordering three more but going for the 2 serving size. The Market Pasta Puttanesca was definitely my favorite meal but they were all good.

[skinewmexico]

Hard for me to get over my anti-Austin bias, but I have ordered a few items from Packit. Mostly veggies for FBC meals, but they were good.

[lamarr]

What size pot will hold the solo meals? The .9 liter seems to be the "go to" for solo's but just checking.

[Mountain Wildman]

What size pot will hold the solo meals? The .9 liter seems to be the "go to" for solo's but just checking.

The indivivual meals should fit in a .9, I use an Evernew Titanium Non-Stick 1.9 because I like room in the pot and the deluxe mac and cheese meals need more room for the elbows to plump up.

[Mountain Wildman]

Hard for me to get over my anti-Austin bias, but I have ordered a few items from Packit. Mostly veggies for FBC meals, but they were good.

Being that I am a Connecticut Yankee and have never traveled far from the East Coast, Texas is Texas to me. But I obviously don't know the finer points of the cities and towns.

[rasudduth]

I love their stuff, I found out about them from Dicentra from a talk she gave at ALDHA-West a few years ago. If you are looking to make your own similar (not exact though) meals she gives you some instructions about how to make them own meals that are just as yummy with a lot of ingredients from local stores and/or dehydrate them yourself. That being said, I have ordered a ton of meals from Packit Gourmet and have loved all of them, I tend to buy the just add cold or hot water meals. The banana pudding is the best!

[Big Dawg]

which, if any, PG dinners do best using the FBC method?

[Hikes with a stick]

How will these meals do at around 9K to 10K feet? I am thinking about getting the rustic frybread and pancakes for my upcoming rocky mountain trip, but not if they are going to flop at the altitude...

[Mountain Wildman]

I admit I am new to hiking, I have camped in many areas of the Northeast but always ate regular food, I am just now delving into "add water to bag" meals. I have never heard of the "FBC method" and I have not tested the Packit Gourmet meals at any serious altitude. Sorry I cannot answer your questions, I would suggest that you e-mail Packit Gourmet directly and if you have a chance post back here their response.
I am definitely not a novice, but not an expert either. I benefitted in my gear research from the many campers and hikers that have posted gear and food reviews here and other sites so I felt it only right that I do the same for others.
MW

[skinewmexico]

Just takes a little more time at altitude.