Mountain House Biscuits And Gravy

Hate away, but these are damn good

I try to keep abreast of what’s going on the world of commercial backpacking meals, and usually know of new cottage companies before my hiking friends do. A lot of backpackers don’t ever venture further than the old standby- Mountain House. You can find their meals everywhere from REI to WalMart, and over the years they’ve become an easy target for us food snobs for various reasons. But if we’re being honest, Mountain House has some old standards such as Chili Mac and Beef Stroganoff that any hiker is happy have waiting for them at the end of the day.

Although I don’t normally cook breakfast, I do periodically check out what’s being offered. And I’ve always been sort of surprised to see that not only did MH offer a freeze-dried biscuits and gravy meal (like how is that supposed to work, really?), it always seems to be highly rated by users.

This curiosity led me to select it as one of my breakfasts on my recent Pictured Rocks hike.

At 4.9 oz. for 620 calories, I figured it might be a good way to get powered into my morning.

When I repackaged it into a freezer bag, I was struck by how much it smelled like the real thing.

Still, I had a hard time imagining how it wouldn’t turn out to be nothing more than mush once rehydrated.

My fears were unfounded.

The morning I made this, I was surprised to find that not only did the sausage gravy come close to the real deal, but the biscuit chunks weren’t a gelatinous glop. They actually had texture, sometimes even a bit of crusty firmness….sort of like real biscuits. And it tasted incredible. I typically am not excited to eat breakfast while hiking even though I know I need to get some calories in me. Heck, I don’t even eat breakfast in real life unless it’s 2AM and I have some alcohol in me. But this tasted so good that I devoured it. I couldn’t believe it.

Yeah yeah, it has a lot of sodium, blah blah blah. Look, I’m always looking to up my nutrition in the woods. I strive to include fruits and vegetables, etc. But let’s get real, unless what I’m eating wrecks my GI tract, IDGAF about it’s sodium content and all that jazz. I just want something that tastes good and either stimulates a food craving, or quiets one. This meal does the trick. And the next time I’m doing a hike where I’m having hot breakfasts, this meal will be along for the ride.

Grade: A