Peak Refuel Meals
Posted: Wed Aug 09, 2023 10:07 pm
We are taking a 9-11 day (depending on pace) trip starting early September. We decided to sample 10 different Peak Refuel meals. We haven't been eating freeze dried food since about 2004. We either have done home dried or no cook meals. Since the trip is in September and days are shorter we thought a hot meal would be good idea.
We will use a common pot to boil water and have 4 sets of soaking jars with 1/4 closed cell foam insulation on the outside to keep the meal warm while rehydration. We ordered 30 meals for 3 of us. My brother is Vegan and is picking out his own food. Jars are easy to clean and don't require a long spoon since we aren't eating out of a bag. We will repack on the meals into ziplock bags just before the trip. The empty bags will serve to hold trash.The ziplock bags take up less space in the bear can verses the heavy packaging of the freeze dried meals.
I found all the food eatable with no detected aftertaste. I settled on 2 meals each of my top 5 choices. We have done no cook for all 3 of our JMT trips so I need to adjust down the afternoon grazing on the trail to have a desire to eat a hot meal at the end of the day.
We gave up on the old Moutain House meals years ago because nobody could stand the aftertaste. Home dried meals tasted better but they require simmering on the stove for about 5 minutes followed by about 30 minutes in a pot cozy to fully rehydrate. The Peak Refuel meals are less work and don't leave a messy pot. Each of us get to decide what we want to eat verses sharing a common pot of food.
We will use a common pot to boil water and have 4 sets of soaking jars with 1/4 closed cell foam insulation on the outside to keep the meal warm while rehydration. We ordered 30 meals for 3 of us. My brother is Vegan and is picking out his own food. Jars are easy to clean and don't require a long spoon since we aren't eating out of a bag. We will repack on the meals into ziplock bags just before the trip. The empty bags will serve to hold trash.The ziplock bags take up less space in the bear can verses the heavy packaging of the freeze dried meals.
I found all the food eatable with no detected aftertaste. I settled on 2 meals each of my top 5 choices. We have done no cook for all 3 of our JMT trips so I need to adjust down the afternoon grazing on the trail to have a desire to eat a hot meal at the end of the day.
We gave up on the old Moutain House meals years ago because nobody could stand the aftertaste. Home dried meals tasted better but they require simmering on the stove for about 5 minutes followed by about 30 minutes in a pot cozy to fully rehydrate. The Peak Refuel meals are less work and don't leave a messy pot. Each of us get to decide what we want to eat verses sharing a common pot of food.