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I buy MH meals that will sever two people! I then divide those into single servings and put them in ziplock bags!
How long do you think it would be safe to eat these meals once removed from their original packaging?
A couple of weeks easy, If they are well sealed maybe a month, but I defy you to call half a MH a meal. Half of one of those things is about 200-250 calories at best. A snickers bar is 250.
MDSection12
02-04-2014, 20:19
That's why I stopped eating MH meals... They'll sever two people!
That's why I stopped eating MH meals... They'll sever two people!
that explains your name!
Tuckahoe
02-04-2014, 20:27
The main issue will simply be how well you can protect the product from moisture. I'd agree with bfayer. Mountain House only says that once opened, #10 cans should be used within a week.
http://www.mountainhouse.com/M/shelf_lif.html
My longest hike to date was 12 days! Up until the last two days of my trip I was rarely able to eat all the food I carried. Not because it wasn't palatable but I was just not hungry! I usually allow 2000 cal / day! So 1/2 of a two serving MH meal is more than enough for me!
daddytwosticks
02-05-2014, 08:30
I do the same thing with my MH meals. Right before a hike, I'll open them up and divide in half. Use double bags like Ziplock. If I don't bring both halves for a hike, I'll store the unused bag in my freezer. I've done this successfully over many years of section hiking. I've had these bags last for upwards of two or three months in the freezer with no ill effects. I do put that dessicant-thingy back in the unused bag that gets stored in the freezer. :)
pipsissewa
02-05-2014, 08:35
I do the same thing with my MH meals. Right before a hike, I'll open them up and divide in half. Use double bags like Ziplock. If I don't bring both halves for a hike, I'll store the unused bag in my freezer. I've done this successfully over many years of section hiking. I've had these bags last for upwards of two or three months in the freezer with no ill effects. I do put that dessicant-thingy back in the unused bag that gets stored in the freezer. :)
I'm pretty sure the Mountain House meals will outlast the freezer using this method! :D
Starchild
02-05-2014, 08:54
I've divided up MH and left the unused portion in the freezer, maybe for a month or more, I wouldn't expect anything to happen there, too little moisture. On my thru I used MH 1/2 as supplements to cheaper foods such as instant rice, partly due to cost, but partly due to variety and wanting to have it not so mono-flavored and it does work well like that. I think I have stored 1/2 a mountain house in my food bag for over a week at one point without any issue.
Seatbelt
02-05-2014, 08:58
Something I have done while out on the trail; eat half before i go to bed, the other half next morning.
Stir Fry
02-05-2014, 11:38
I've decided packs and cans used a year later without problem.
peakbagger
02-05-2014, 12:30
I have kept meals like these in ziplock bags for months with no issues. I expect a vacuum sealer would be even better.
With regard to mountain house meals, very few hikers would consider their two servings meals good for two hikers. The serving size is based on a sedentary adult not an active hiker.
Years ago I ran into two folks doing a late fall 4 week hike in late September/early October. It was fairly cool out. One of the two has planned all the meals and assumed the serving sizes were correct. We caught them at the end of the hike. One of them had lost 30 pounds, we stayed with them at Bears Den and camped with them the next night. They were amazed at how much food we were cooking for a meal. The subject of freeze dried meals came up and me an my partner joked about the serving sizes printed on backpacking meals. By the looks of the guy who lost 30 pounds I think he was ready to beat up his partner as his partner had believed the serving sizes and they had been slowing starving for the length of the trip.
4eyedbuzzard
02-05-2014, 12:43
I have divided them up and they keep damn near forever if you keep them sealed and dry - I don't find half of one to be enough food, but eating the whole thing is just too much of the same stuff. Half a MH plus something else like portion of instant mashed potatoes or mac and cheese or ??? is better. But I honestly don't like the taste or texture of MH that much compared to other options, which are less expensive anyway.
daddytwosticks
02-05-2014, 17:30
As a section hiker who's appetite always gets suppressed while hiking, half of the MH meal is OK for me. If I were to thru or do a really long section hike, I'd probably be eating the whole package really soon. :)
Thanks for your help! Good to know it won't be a problem!
Tuckahoe
02-06-2014, 09:17
hey nu2hike, are you familiar with Packit Gourmet? http://www.packitgourmet.com/
I personally believe that PG offers the best commercially produced trail food, so much better than Mountian House, and they offer many of the products in either single serve or double serve portions.
colorado_rob
02-06-2014, 09:28
I've used FD meals up to a year past the time I baggied them up, never seemed to be a problem; they tasted just as bad as they did fresh out of the foil pack! Seriously, no problem whatsoever.
I baggie my FD meals (a variety of brands) for another reason, basically to save carried weight. Those packages weigh 0.8 ounces each, whereas a zip lock weighs 0.2 ounces. Don't laugh, it adds up when you have, say, a week's supply of food, plus the "empty" foil pack is hard to clean completely out and you wind up carrying that uneaten rehydrated food until your next trash stop (for the baggies, turn them inside out and lick clean). Mountain House comes in various sizes, like single, double and "pro packs", for one particular size, I turn two packages into 3 meals; I shoot for 500-600 calories per baggied meal.