Freeze-Dried Food Review - ReadyHour

 ReadyHour freeze dried foods are bulk foods, meaning most packages of food contain serving sizes of at least 4. If you're feeding a family of four this is fine, but if you've less than that in your group you run the risk of some of the food going to waste. Most freeze dried meals don't provide left over storage options for later re-heating.

#1 - Mac and Cheese

Summed up in one word; blech!  I purchased the Ready Hour 72 emergency food pack which is what they consider to be their sampler pack (no free options offered). I cooked up this insufficient meal and gave it a go. Disclaimer: I followed the directions specifically. This particular meal differed from the others I'd sampled so far; you didn't pre-boil the water according to ReadyHour's instructions, and you use 4.5 cups to heat. You then boil the whole thing, cook for 15-20 minutes (mine cooked for 17 at a near boil), stirring all the while, then let sit 3 to 4. I did all of these religiously.

Specifics:

• Price: $27.49 for the whole kit.
• Serving size: 4 per bag
• Calories: 310 per serving.

Cons:

• Preparation; as indicated above the prep was different than most other dehydrated meals. I was wondering, while I cooked this, why didn't I just cook up a box of Kraft Mac & Cheese instead? In fact, aside from the claim that this meal will last in proper storage for 25 years, prep is really no different than Kraft or other store-bought Mac and Cheese.
• Taste and Texture: I let this pot sit for 5 minutes and it was still cheese-flavored noodle soup. I added some shredded sharp cheddar cheese to assist with the consistency.
• To me this is worth putting on this list again; store bought Mac & Cheese tastes better in addition to the preparation comment above.

Pros:

• Shelf life: Yeah, if I had this in my storage and 12 years down the road it was between this and starving, I'm sure the box of Kraft would be long gone so ReadyHour Mac and Cheese it is.
• Noodles: The noodles cooked up well, fluffy and didn't taste too bad.

Overall Rating: 3

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Freeze-Dried Food Review - ReadyWise (Formally Wise Food)

#2 - ReadyWise Cheesy Lazagna

Sampled 5/11/2021; Pasta's pretty easy for a dehydrated meal. Most pasta-based freeze-dried meals boil down to the seasoning (pun intended). This pack came in the ReadyWise Emergency Food Supply box I got for just under $30 and it came with a water filtration bottle (SWAG!) This was just one out of four meals included in the box.

The Lasagna, like the others included, is a meal for four, so, again, if you're alone during the disruption and need to tap this particular food you may be throwing some out if you don't have the container and facilities to store the left overs.

The Specifics:

• Price: $27.99 (online) for the box.
• Serving size: 4 per bag.
• Calories: 230 per serving (920 for the bag).

 

Cons:

• Again with the water! ...sort of. Four cups of boiling water were recommended. I cut that by about an eighth and it was still pretty soupy after 15 minutes. However, after I ate my first sampling and went back about 8 minutes later for more, the sauce had thickened up quite a bit. I think ReadyWise should probably increase the wait time from 12-15 minutes to a little longer.
• Taste; when it got colder. The sauce was pretty salty and when the meal cooled down the tomatoey sauce sort of congealed a bit. This texture coupled with the colder consistency was a little on the gross side. As long as the lasagna stated hot it was still pretty good.
• Some of the pasta noodles failed to hydrate all the way so there was a little crunch here and there as I ate, despite stirring and blending thoroughly during the prep process.

Pros

• Taste; as long as it was hot the pasta was pretty well flavored. I was going to sprinkle some parmesan cheese on it, but there was enough cheesy flavor that it was unnecessary.

Bonus Points:

• Swag: A water filtration bottle was included with the boxed kit.

Overall rating: 6

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#1 - ReadyWise Adventure Meal; Early Dawn Breakfast Skillet

Sampled 05/10/2021; I'm a sucker for breakfast foods in general so breakfast meals always catch my eye. This particular meal works best for camping or single-person use with only 2.5 servings and 470 calories for this volume in the bag. 

The specifics

• Price: $5.99 (Dicks Sporting Goods)
• Serving Size: 2.5 per container.
• Calories: 190 per serving, approximately 470 for the whole bag.

Cons

• Preparation: I can never seem to get the water right in these. ReadyWise instructs to use 2 cups of boiling water to hydrate, but even after the recommended 12-15 minute wait time the meal was still very soupy. I stirred again and waited another five minutes, but there was still a LOT of water left in the bag. This is not the first time I've had this issue. In fact I normally have to drain my meals of excess water before I start chowing down. Truthfully this is an issue with a lot of the dehydrated meals I've eaten, not just the ReadyWise brand.
• The meal had peppers and onions in it which remained pretty rubbery even after 20+ minutes of sitting in the hot water.
• The sausage pieces were few and far between. 

Pros

• Value: I was relatively impressed with the price. When I snagged this particular meal, the comparable Mountain House meal was $2 more expensive.
• Taste: the seasoning and the eggs were quite delicious. Even though the onions and peppers failed to hydrate very well, over all the meal was very edible and tasty. 

Bonus Points

• Packaging: If you check the images closely enough you can see that ReadyWise dropped some jokes and Camping Hack information onto their packaging. This could serve as a happy little diversion for kids if you're making the meal during a grid-down situation. 

Overall Rating: 8