Test: rehydrate mountain house with cold water only

[freebird134]

I only pack a stove to boil water for mountain house dinners. Well, and a little instant coffee. Those dinners are about 1/5 of my daily calories and I've often worried about what would happen if my stove broke, we ran out of fuel, or some other reason we couldn't boil water.

I read on some backpacking and survivalist forums that you can rehydrate with just cold water, but I wanted to try it myself. It absolutely worked, but it doesn't taste very good. I'm not sure why. I usually love mountain house spaghetti, even when I've eaten it off the mountain. But this doesn't taste right. It's edible. I'd definitely be happy to have it if I was hungry. But cold rehydration tastes funny. However, I'm definitely less conferenced about taking extra fuel.



tl;dr: you can rehydrate and eat a mountain house mean with cold water, but it tastes bad.





Mountain House Spaghetti before water

Spaghetti after 1.5hrs...definitely edible:

After 2hrs. Texture better, taste is not:

 

[OG DramaLlama]

I ran out of fuel once. Ate the chili mac with cold water. The beans tasted about what I imagine jackrabbit poo tastes like. Not good but hunt continued on.


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[freebird134]

Turns out my 3yo thinks it's delicious. Then again, his favorite movie is Frozen, so his judgement can't be trusted.

 

[freebird134]

I ran out of fuel once. Ate the chili mac with cold water. The beans tasted about what I imagine jackrabbit poo tastes like. Not good but hunt continued on.

I've actually tasted snowshoe hare turds. Well, more like breathed it in while grinding it for diet analysis. Just had a pine scent to it.

 

[Tod osier]

You have been busy lately in your home lab. Maybe you should try the scientist gig full-time.

 

[freebird134]

You have been busy lately in your home lab. Maybe you should try the scientist gig full-time.

Haha. I have been. For like 17 years.

 

[Ghost]

I've actually tasted snowshoe hare turds. Well, more like breathed it in while grinding it for diet analysis. Just had a pine scent to it.

Thanks!!! I threw up in my mouth....a little.

 

[Tod osier]

Haha. I have been. For like 17 years.

I hear it is a good gig.

 

[freebird134]

I hear it is a good gig.

I have this suspicion we are a lot more closely linked than we realized. Pm sent....

 

[Stid2677]

I was out and had my stove fail. I added water and put the MH in a dry bag and stuck it in my shirt. After about a hour of hiking the bag was almost body temperature. Not great, but better than ice cold.

 

[Blockcaver]

I ate Mt House cold for years on 3 and 4 day solo backpack elk hunts. It is food and I was up there to hunt, not for the food and camp life. Tolerable and made for a super light pack for covering the Colorado high country.

 

[Jauwater]

I had to give up on Mountain House dehydrated foods years ago cause It doesn't sit right in my gut. I've tried it cold. May have been that very last time. Now just smelling certain flavors at camp turn my guts. Are yall able to put down them whole bags of Mountain House in a single sitting? I was always wasting them cause I never finished. Nowadays I never eat full meals in the back country when covering long mountainous terrain. Just small nibbles here, and there. Dad, and brothers nicknamed me Pony Boy on how little I'd get by on in the back country. They'd put down the Mountain House then be ready for more.

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[Antlers]

Thanks - I got a nice laugh out of the 3 yr old post. This is a question I had considered several times, but never tested myself - thanks for the experiment.

 

[freebird134]

Are yall able to put down them whole bags of Mountain House in a single sitting? I was always wasting them cause I never finished. Nowadays I never eat full meals in the back country when covering long mountainous terrain.

I eat them all, and it's usually very very filling, which is perfect for headed to bed. Being stuffed helps me sleep and stay warm. I could nibble like you on weekend hunts, but 10-15 days of straight backpack hunting and the calorie deficit would catch up to me if I didn't force myself to eat close to 3000 calories/day.

 

[406]

You can boil water with a super heated rock

***DO NOT USE RIVER ROCKS***
they will explode!

Build a small fire, place a couple jawbreaker sized rocks in the center.
Let fire burn out.
Use a Leatherman, your spoon, a couple sticks... whatever to grab rocks so you can rinse the dirt & Ash off and then drop into pot/cup of water. Almost an instant boil.

Never tried this in a mountain House type bag, the rock might go full China Syndrome and burn right through the bottom of the bag, but it's worth investigating.

***DO NOT USE RIVER ROCKS***

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[archer wapiti]

You can boil water with a super heated rock

***DO NOT USE RIVER ROCKS***
they will explode!

Build a small fire, place a couple jawbreaker sized rocks in the center.
Let fire burn out.
Use a Leatherman, your spoon, a couple sticks... whatever to grab rocks so you can rinse the dirt & Ash off and then drop into pot/cup of water. Almost an instant boil.

Never tried this in a mountain House type bag, the rock might go full China Syndrome and burn right through the bottom of the bag, but it's worth investigating.

***DO NOT USE RIVER ROCKS***

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What do you consider a river rock? Simply a wet rock taken from a river? A lot of non-river rocks are going to be wet enough that the water they hold inside them will cause them to explode when heated too rapidly.

 

[freebird134]

What do you consider a river rock?

I think if it explodes, it's a river rock.

 

[larryschwartz]

I was out and had my stove fail. I added water and put the MH in a dry bag and stuck it in my shirt. After about a hour of hiking the bag was almost body temperature. Not great, but better than ice cold.

Same concept but different application...Back in the day, my day at least...the 60's and 70's when I was a Boy Scout, we would make a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch on a fall or winter hike. Wrap it in aluminum foil and put it in your jacket or shirt close to your body. It would stay warm and would also act like a hand warmer for you.

 

[justin davis]

Yea been hydrating meals with cold water before! Just takes longer but works! I'm
Not picky when it comes to taste. On fires I emr my mREs cold too

 

[larryschwartz]

You can boil water with a super heated rock

***DO NOT USE RIVER ROCKS***
they will explode!

Build a small fire, place a couple jawbreaker sized rocks in the center.
Let fire burn out.
Use a Leatherman, your spoon, a couple sticks... whatever to grab rocks so you can rinse the dirt & Ash off and then drop into pot/cup of water. Almost an instant boil.

Never tried this in a mountain House type bag, the rock might go full China Syndrome and burn right through the bottom of the bag, but it's worth investigating.

***DO NOT USE RIVER ROCKS***

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Not just river rocks, but anything like quartz that is a crystal, will explode if you put it in or around a fire. That is why we never use quartz-like rocks for a fire circle. The reason is the same...crystalline rocks have moisture in the crystals which will boil and cause the rock to fracture or explode. River rocks also have absorbed water due to their more porous nature and the water will boil causing the same potentially dangerous result.