Ready Meal Reviews

[Stringmaker]

I shall be going on a 2-day fully self-catered luxury stay in the East Sussex woods in mid-July.

I am now in the process of testing some ready scoff, as I like the whole "meal in a bag" idea, and for a short stay like that I can carry them okay. I did a forum search but I don't think anyone has done a direct comparison? I therefore offer my services as the BCUK al fresco restaurant critic.

I have today bought a selection of Wayfayrer delights; mainly because I work close to a retailer and you have to start somewhere. I have:

All Day Breakfast
Chile Con Carne
Beans and Potato
Treacle Pud

What I plan to do is rate each offering according to the same criteria:

Price
What it looks like when ready (i.e. do you actually want to eat it!)
Portion size
Taste
Any unfortunate side effects (see the "Arctic Pants of Fire" story...)

I shall be posting a photo of each dish so you can judge for yourselves!

First up for tea tonight will be the beans and potato I think; watch this space.

 

[dwardo]

Will be watching, nice one.
Often take a ton of cooking stuff to the woods and spend half my time messing about preparing food rather than playing, mainly due to the fact i cant stand most ready meals.

 

[spandit]

The "Look What We Found" meals seem to get good reviews but I prefer to make & vacuum pack my own

 

[Stringmaker]

The "Look What We Found" meals seem to get good reviews but I prefer to make & vacuum pack my own

Those are also on my list but from their website they don't have as broad a range as Wayfayrer. (I checked again and they do, just not the kind of junk that I like)

I forgot to mention that I am lazy so any pre-work is out.

If anybody has other brands they know of then post in here and I'll see if I can do a Masterchef on them.

"Boiling in the bag doesn't get any tougher than that!"

 

[The Lord Poncho]

Good luck with the treacle pudding- if it's anything like the ration pack version, then your review should make amusing reading!

 

[Stringmaker]

Thanks for the heads up on the treacle pud; its a dirty job but someone has got to do it...

 

[RachelUK]

Have you tried the Mountain House stuff? You just add water to it. I keep them for emergencies and "it's too late to faff about with making something" camp arrivals. It's ok, but like most dehydrated stuff it can be a bit bland.

 

[Stringmaker]

Have you tried the Mountain House stuff? You just add water to it. I keep them for emergencies and "it's too late to faff about with making something" camp arrivals. It's ok, but like most dehydrated stuff it can be a bit bland.

I hadn't heard of them.

I did think of including dehydrated meals in my research but opted to stick with the wet stuff i.e. heat 'n go.

Thanks for the tip though, I may try them later anyway.

 

[Terr]

I rate Mountain House highly considering it's dehydrated. Over in the States they've got tonnes of variety and it tastes a little better (lots of salt) but over here it can be bland.

Of all the dehydrated stuff I've tried MH is better by miles. The lasagne and spag bol are great. Curry and sweet 'n' sour chicken is ok too. Take some little packets of salt and it's not a bad meal at all. Much lighter than wet packs.

Stay well away from Pack 'n' Go (Be Well expeditions.) Our troops are definitely tough ones to crack if they can stand to eat more than a mouthful of those dry meals. I'd rate it a 0/10 if I could.

I personally don't bother with special breakfasts. A simply sachet of Oats so simple works great with water and a handful of trail mix. Filling and lots of energy for very little work.

 

[ArkAngel]

also check out expedition foods

http://www.expeditionfoods.com/online-shop/

Pricey stuff but very tasty and high in energy if you are doing plenty of walking. It's worth sampling various ones first as their Chicken Korma is a personal favourite.

++no association with the company etc, just a happy customer++

 

[widu13]

Don't dismiss Rat Packs. They are cheaper that the mainstream wet meal providers, yet are made by some of them, taste good with some "interesting" courses/desserts but are very filling and versatile. They do NOT cause you to lose control of your bowels!

 

[ArkAngel]

the beans and bacon used to be a nice one for Wayfayrer.

My only criticism was that boil in the bag stuff needs a bigger pan than the dehydrated stuff. When out walking with SWMBO to fit 2 in the pot at the same time required a 2L pan i found where with dehydrated stuff a small billy can will suffice.

 

[PropThePolecat]

The "Look What We Found" meals seem to get good reviews but I prefer to make & vacuum pack my own

I recently bought a whole box of them, tried almost every single variety of ready meals.

They're nice and chunky but unfortunately they taste very bland. They're in need of a healthy dose of spices before they taste of anything.

My other gripe is that they are way too small. They used to come in 300 gram pouches, which they now changed to 270 gram. Do not count on a single pouch for dinner when on trips. I need a proper serving on the side of rice, potatoes or bread before im full. On my last hike i had their Lamb Hotpot. I was still hungry, so i had to open up another pouch of Risotto before i was full.

I do not think ill buying them again, mainly because of the lack of taste and considerable weight on multiday hikes.

EDIT:

I had the Chicken Tikka at home the other day...piping hot and served in a bowl, it was just as good as the homemade stuff. I think the fact, that ive eaten them lukewarm in the field, did nothing to bring the taste up in them.

I think i WILL be buying them again.

 

[Shewie]

I recently bought a whole box of them, tried almost every single variety of ready meals.

They're nice and chunky but unfortunately they taste very bland. They're in need of a healthy dose of spices before they taste of anything.

My other gripe is that they are way too small. They used to come in 300 gram pouches, which they now changed to 270 gram. Do not count on a single pouch for dinner when on trips. I need a proper serving on the side of rice, potatoes or bread before im full. On my last hike i had their Lamb Hotpot. I was still hungry, so i had to open up another pouch of Risotto before i was full.

I do not think ill buying them again, mainly because of the lack of taste and considerable weight on multiday hikes.

They also lack in calories so need bulking up with extras

 

[rik_uk3]

In this day of boil in the bag meals many folk forget cans of food, pouched 'All day breakfast' £3.50, can of All day breakfast £1.50. Nothing to stop you taking the lid off and simmering the can in boiling water.

 

[widu13]

No need to take the lid off Rik, more chance of the food ruining the water. We used to pierce two holes in the top and use the water to make a brew.

 

[rik_uk3]

No need to take the lid off Rik, more chance of the food ruining the water. We used to pierce two holes in the top and use the water to make a brew.

I agree, but in this age of health & safety you got to cover your bum, somebody has a can explode and you get sued lol.

 

[widu13]

Damned Elf n Safety

 

[Stringmaker]

Thanks for the extra information folks; I'm a bit of a noob to camping/trail foods so it's all good.


As promised, here is my first exhaustive review of a Wayfayrer dish. I am writing this less than 1 hour after consumption, so the taste test is still fresh,

On the menu for lunch today was..........Chile Con Carne and Treacle Pudding (in separate bags of course)

As you all probably know, this brand can be eaten hot or cold, but I went for the heated route. As someone else has also observed, if you try and go for the boiling in the bag option then you need a big pan and a fair volume of water, so I just dumped it in the pan and warmed it direct. That said, I did just try a tiny bit cold and it was fine.

Here is the chile ready to eat:

Each main meal pouch was £3.99 from my source, so it isn't the cheapest way of eating by far but as I said, I like the convenience and the range from Wayfayrer. Just for scale, the internal diameter of that bowl is 5 inches, and it is 1 inch deep so you get a reasonable size portion.

So, it passed the "does it look like I want to eat it" test; what did it actually taste like?

The answer was.....................seriously seriously nice. It had a good texture to it, with lots of kidney beans and a thick sauce. There was just enough of a spicy aftertaste to it without getting into the realms of curry spicy, so in the context of a scoff in the woods it was perfect. I did eat it with a small wholemeal pitta bread just to add some more carbs and to have something to mop up with. To be honest I think adding rice would be a bit too much (for me anyway).

Overall verdict 10/10. For my palate there was nothing about this not to like and I will definitely take one with me when I camp.

Now for the pud! Again it can be eaten hot or cold but let's be frank here; cold treacle pud? I don't think so...

Here is the ready to eat view:

You get a decent dollop of pud here and my first impression was that I would need an oak spoon with a scandi grand on it to cut the thing as it is very dense! There is certainly no padding out with air; you do get a good hit of pud and thus a good size portion.

Once heated and ready to go, it smells very nice. If you are a pudding fan with a sweet tooth (me!) then you will like this as much as I did. Joking aside, it does cut okay with a plastic Spork and the texture is like a good pudding should be.

This was £3.50, so the total for one meal was £7.49. Not cheap but you also do get a fair sized meal so you pays your money etc.

Overall for the whole meal I was very impressed and will definitely be adding both these dishes to future camps. I have yet to try the all day breakfast and the beans and bacon, but on the evidence so far I am looking forwards to both.

More to come in due course; thanks for reading.

 

[ged]

Thanks for the heads up on the treacle pud; its a dirty job but someone has got to do it...

That made me chuckle!


Thanks very much for the review, but I don't know how anyone can make treacle pud without making at least a pint of custard!