Taste test

For dinner tonight DD (my most enthusiastic camping/canoeing partner) and I “taste tested” some Backpackers Pantry products we had. Why? Because we could! Wife is out with the “girls” and DS is at a sleep-over.


BEEF STROGANOFF: 2 serving pkg. use by date:05.09.08
taste: not bad
quantity: sufficient for 2 if not real hungry, about right if after a long wilderness day.
Texture: following the directions yields stroganoff soup

Rec.: buy again yes, next time use 25% less water.


THAI SPICY PEANUT SAUCE: 2 serving pkg. use by date:05.28.09
taste: verrrry spicy, unfortunately no other flavor
quantity: sufficient for 2 if not real hungry, about right if after a long wilderness day.
Texture: following the directions: worse than al dente. Needed 20 min. to “cook”, not 10, then ok.

Rec.: leave it on the shelf unless the alternative is to starve.

Just another exciting night at the ranch.

the best luck i've had with those is anything with rice..you
can always add more to fill them out..
chile mac and beef will sting sunburned lips!!

I like a lot of hot/spicy foods and the Thai Spicy Peanut to me tasted under-spiced so it fell back on the peanut taste. Having said that, I'd rather have had a peanut butter sandwich if I'd craved peanuts all that much.

So far I've liked a good portion of the Backpacker's Pantry meals with the exception of that one.

I agree with the observation about how much water you use in the stroganoff, but would add that the same goes for a couple of their other meals as well. I wonder if that's how it stretches out to the advertised 2 meals. The meals didn't seem to be undercooked in that the noodles or rice hadn't had a chance to absorb enough water for them to be tender, they just seemed soupy. Even so, I can't say that they weren't pretty good overall.

I really like the diversity of Backpacker's Pantry too.

The Beef Strog. is a good one. Can't eat that one al dente. Got let the noodles get soft.

I like the sweeter ones, like Hawaiian Chicken. So much of what I snack on during the day is salty, (jerky, nuts) that is almost tastes like a desert to my tastebuds.

My one warning is when trying new meals, which I enthusiasticly recommend, read the package to make sure the instructions don't involve a bunch of mixing.

Thanks for the reviews.