Wise Foods, dehydrated food storage: Review

[HurricaneDad]

I got a sample of their "Cheesy lasagna" from Joe at Wise Foods this past week. Today I took the opportunity to prepare it for the picky eaters in the house: wife and daughters.

The pickiest of the three said that it looked like throw up and tasted disgusting. She's 11 and hates everything that we put in front of her, currently.

The least picky one, who is 17, basically said "meh" when I had her sample it. Nothing positive, but not negative, either.

The wife, who I target things towards, said that it looked a lot like Hamburger Helper, which I have to agree with, if a little bit more "wet" than Hamburger Helper. She was a little apprehensive of the "red things" that were in the pot, but was satisfied when I told her that they were tomato bits. She didn't like the texture, especially of the TVP, but she has never liked TVP when I've presented it to her. The only exception is "bac'n bitz" on her salad.

The wife went on to say that, given the option between this stuff and starving, she'd rather starve... Or at least have a peanutbutter sammich. She'd not voluntarily eat this except in a disaster. Obviously, this makes Wise Foods a no-go at this point.

For my part, I thought that it was ok. Nothing to write home about, but not something to gag over. I didn't find it to be overly bland. The food was more runny than I would have liked, but not bad. The TVP was TVP, mostly flavorless., t The pasta hydrated up nicely, though, which was something that I was concerned about.

I think that tomorrow will be a foray into Mountain House beef stroganoff. We'll see how that goes.

[Sicone]

I tried my sample of Beef Stroganoff today. All I can say is meh. It was pretty bland. It had a very thick consistency. The opposite of your problem I has trouble swallowing it cause it was so viscous. Salt and hot sauce got it down. Not bad for a freebie but nothing to invest in.

[SeerSavant]

When it says Gourmet, I kinda draw back a little. I think I'll stick with Mountain House... I've tried a few different types, and for some reason, I like the Mountian house stuff.

Still, long term, nothing beats a good seed bank... Around 150 to 200 bucks and you can grow around an acre of food, enough to reseed and maintain a long term food supply, depending of course on weather and blights...

I consider the freeze dried food temporary at best, but I'd consider a good permaculture plan worth far more but best to have both...

Thanks for the review, though. It's appreciated.

[raptor]

Good review. Thanks for sharing.

[JasonS]

I got the beef stroganoff sample package and it was good. Very salty, but still tasty to me.

After having good luck with the sample I purchased a pale. Unfortunately, my experience with the pale was very poor for a number of reasons:
1. The packages are sealed in 4 person portions. I didn't notice this on the page and wasn't expecting this. Basically you can't sample any of the meals without eating four full servings. If I recall off hand there are really only 2 or so of each meal type. So after you sample one. You've basically eaten half your reserves for that meal type.
2. The meals require you to let them sit and cook. After adding boiling water I didn't wait long enough and the teriyaki meal tasted like uncooked pasta. Admittedly, I didn't follow the instructions perfectly.
3. I think there is a leak in my food. As soon as you open my pale there is an overwhelming smell of blueberry pancakes. I can't tell if a package is open but the smell makes me think one is. Which makes me question whether it will be good if I ever need it.
4. They bill them as "30 day supply". But it's really not. It's just the main meal. 250 calories per serving with three servings a day is only 750 calories. Thats not enough to survive on long term.

[TacAir]

I got the beef stroganoff sample package and it was good. Very salty, but still tasty to me.

After having good luck with the sample I purchased a pale. Unfortunately, my experience with the pale was very poor for a number of reasons:
1. The packages are sealed in 4 person portions. I didn't notice this on the page and wasn't expecting this. Basically you can't sample any of the meals without eating four full servings. If I recall off hand there are really only 2 or so of each meal type. So after you sample one. You've basically eaten half your reserves for that meal type.
2. The meals require you to let them sit and cook. After adding boiling water I didn't wait long enough and the teriyaki meal tasted like uncooked pasta. Admittedly, I didn't follow the instructions perfectly.
3. I think there is a leak in my food. As soon as you open my pale there is an overwhelming smell of blueberry pancakes. I can't tell if a package is open but the smell makes me think one is. Which makes me question whether it will be good if I ever need it.
4. They bill them as "30 day supply". But it's really not. It's just the main meal. 250 calories per serving with three servings a day is only 750 calories. Thats not enough to survive on long term.

I was wondering who their supplier was - they are a reseller. Wise is (pretty much) a very small - maybe even one man operation - out of Centerville, UT. At least, near as I can tell.


I tried to order some of the samples over the phone - the guy answered on his cell phone -- from Disneyland (CA) - he was on vacation with his family. Which is cool. Just not a good business indicator.

I am going to stick with some of the more established dealers, ones with track records (Epicenter, Nitropac, Rainy day).

Thanks for posting the review, I'll scratch this vendor off my list. Maybe if he is able to grow the outfit, it might be worth a reconsideration then.

[sotik]

The wife went on to say that, given the option between this stuff and starving, she'd rather starve...

Adults when starving to death will actually eat things they never would eat normally. Right now the idea of eating a cows testicles might be disgusting, after 5 days of starving to the point your body is breaking down your muscles fibers and eating your organs slowly killing you to feed you, then you might think differently.

And I do not know about you but I would rather have a food stuck of dehydrated foods when that day came instead of having to actually eat cow testicles. At that point in time Meh would turn into OMG best thing I ever ate!

[JRR]

Cow testicles?

[navarre1095]

Got my sample yesterday. The packaging looks good. I'm taking the Chuckspawn out camping this weekend. I'll try it then.

[JTNieman]

Talked with Joe, too. Here's the email I sent him in reply, when he followed up with a few emails.

Joe,

Thanks for following up. The chicken pasta you sent me actually had some negative gastric effects. It tasted great and cooked up quite well on my MSR hiking stove. I saved the latter half of it to test again. However, my main focus is going to be more for larger quantities of meal components; vegetables, meat (and meat substitutes mostly), fruits, etc. Freeze dried, dehydrated; whatever. Hoping for 10 year shelf life or better, but I rotate things out pretty well.

I'll be looking into your site, still, for bulk items though.


Dude, that stuff gave me the RUNS. I was all gurgly in my belly for hours, and it ran through me like <insert disgusting diarrhea metaphor here>, I tell you what.

[CipherNameRaVeN]

Dude, that stuff gave me the RUNS. I was all gurgly in my belly for hours, and it ran through me like <insert disgusting diarrhea metaphor here>, I tell you what.

I am glad I did not try my sample yet. I definitely would not want to eat something like this during an emergency. This seems more like a liability in such situations.

[JTNieman]

Additionally, I had no issues with cooking it... Added boiling water and in a minute or two, tops, it was perfect. It really was a good meal, the veggies tasted like veggies, the sauce was tasty, the noodles were tender and everything was quite fine. Just gave me a bit of a gastric issue.

Also, 4 "servings" yes... but take note that one "serving" can vary from 118 to 320 calories, a serving is not a -meal- by any stretch of imagination. Don't assume a "serving" is a meal. That's like Rule #1 when shopping for food.

[ZombieGranny]

An entire meal for me is 2 slices of pizza, for a teenage boy it is a pizza - large size.
A small plate for me, 3 plates full for that teen age boy... and so forth.

Keep in mind how much you actually eat.
Write it all down for a week and see exactly what it is you DO eat.
If you look at it and it's too much, cut down. We slowly cut our food consumption by half in the space of a year.
Doubled the amount of time our preps will last, and we're much healthier for it.

[TacAir]

An entire meal for me is 2 slices of pizza, for a teenage boy it is a pizza - large size.
A small plate for me, 3 plates full for that teen age boy... and so forth.

Keep in mind how much you actually eat.
Write it all down for a week and see exactly what it is you DO eat.
If you look at it and it's too much, cut down. We slowly cut our food consumption by half in the space of a year.
Doubled the amount of time our preps will last, and we're much healthier for it.

Excellent point!

I would add to track how much is thrown out or set aside as 'leftovers' for the next day - or never in too many cases.

I have done menu planning (for several years) for a large youth camp and make a point of 'garbage monitoring'. The goal is to cut waste - and reduce the food budget. While it is only for 160 folks or so, it has made a diffeence in both menu items choices and food budget. It makes sense to do the same for your family.

Then again, how many (of us anyway) make a menu, shop to the menu and then follow a planned menu? IMO - a real key skill for food storage rotation and long term planning... YMMV

[Gengar]

I grow allot of cayenne and jalapeño peppers. With enough heat, you can't taste the food.

[huntingohio]

Cow testicles?

HELL YEAH
saute em up in bulls milk n much

[ElevenBravo]

Mountain Oysters Google it...

Anyway... I was lucky my first, and thus far only, experience has been with Mountain House. Ive *never* been dissatisfied with price, flavor, or anything else!

Andrew

[Benbrutal]

Mountain House is having one of the two annual sales of 25% off, available at safecastle.com. I just ordered about a grand's worth of "just in case" sort of food. I really like their stroganoff.

[sspilla]

We tried the pasta alfredo. With additional pepper and cheese it was tolerable but it had an unfortunate -- for lack of a better phrase -- Already Been Chewed consistency about it. For the most part we will be sticking with No. 10 cans of staples and rice based entrees.

[ODA 226]

Cow testicles?

Yeah! "Mountain Oysters"!

[greenbeetle]

[/quote]
I was wondering who their supplier was - they are a reseller. Wise is (pretty much) a very small - maybe even one man operation - out of Centerville, UT. At least, near as I can tell.


I tried to order some of the samples over the phone - the guy answered on his cell phone -- from Disneyland (CA) - he was on vacation with his family. Which is cool. Just not a good business indicator.

I am going to stick with some of the more established dealers, ones with track records (Epicenter, Nitropac, Rainy day).

Thanks for posting the review, I'll scratch this vendor off my list. Maybe if he is able to grow the outfit, it might be worth a reconsideration then.[/quote]


I'm not sure how small they are. They've had reps selling at gun shows here in Oklahoma and Texas and had a small booth at SHOT this year. I bet the company is more than a one man operation at this point.

[Coloranger]

Cow testicles?

Yeah! "Mountain Oysters"!

emphases on "COW".......

Now Rocky Mtn Oysters... from BULL testicles arn't half bad....

[Shadebringer]

Hey guys, I keep seeing where you all have gotten free samples to test this stuff...from where, everyone I have talked to wanted me to buy a case or bucket just to try it. While I understand their approach, if I end up not able to use it, then the remainder will just get tossed and my money has been wasted. If you guys can let me know where it is possible to get free samples of Mountain House and Wise I would greatly appreciate it!

[Honeypot]

Hey guys, I keep seeing where you all have gotten free samples to test this stuff...from where, everyone I have talked to wanted me to buy a case or bucket just to try it. While I understand their approach, if I end up not able to use it, then the remainder will just get tossed and my money has been wasted. If you guys can let me know where it is possible to get free samples of Mountain House and Wise I would greatly appreciate it!

TANSTAAFL!

Typically, the total real cost of "free" samples is significantly higher than just buying a sampler pack.

For Wise, CheaperThanDirt has two sampler packs:
4 variety pack for $19.97 (shipping is not included)
6 variety pack for $29.97 (shipping is not included)
If you buy from CTD, search this forum for other good deals on food items.

TheEpiCenter carries individual samples (only three varieties), for $4.50 each, including shipping (search the page for "sample").


For Mountain House, check out your local Walmart's camping section.
Many stores carry about two to six varieties.

REI is much better, variety wise. Membership is so cheap, and they have so much good gear, it makes sense for a serious prepper to join. They regularly have decent sales. You just missed their big Mountain House pouch sale.
They usually have a 10% off deal when you buy 12 regularly priced freeze dried items. I'm not sure if you get the 10% rebate, as well (logically, I assume so, but haven't tried it).