[pct-l] RE; Mountain House repackaging

[joyce at beedie.com]

We repackage the Mountain House entrée sized foil packages (that say "serves 2")
into quart sized Ziploc freezer bags.  On the trail, we do freezer bag cooking
(dump boiling water straight into the bag.)  My husband gets 1.5 full MH packs
in each freezer bag which general runs about 1000+ calories (He's 6'2", 180
lbs.) and I get 1 full pack per bag  (about 600 calories, I'm 5'1", 107 lbs.)
 We put the bags into a cozy for about 10 minutes while they're rehydrating and
keep the bags in the cozy while eating so we don't burn our fingers.  The amount
of water recommended on the packages usually seems a bit too much for our taste
(too soupy) so we skimp a bit on adding water to the bags. Works fine.  Hardest
thing is remembering to fish out those little dehydrating packs when we're
re-packaging.  The freezer Ziplocs are sturdy and hold up fine; the much more
expensive vacuum Ziplocs are only slightly better.  Don't use the storage
Ziplocs, they're too thin.  We have re-packaged meals several months in advance
and shipped them ahead with no problem at all.  The shelf life in the package is
something like seven years, so I see no problem with preservation on a normal
thru-hike.   We typically use 7 to 8 flavors that we like throughout the hike
(there are many more available).  We eat a freezer bag dinner every night on the
trail and only trail bars from youbars.com (tailored for high calorie to weight
content and our taste preferences)  for breakfast and throughout the day (also
several flavors.)  We don't find we get toooooo tired of this regimen, even
after four months.   (But the occasional cheeseburger on resupplies sure tastes
good.)







Have fun out there!