Mountain House #10 Can Pilot Crackers (70 crackers)

Full Overview

With Mountain House products on hand and a one-burner stove or candle to heat water (cold water can be used in a pinch), you can still enjoy a hot, satisfying meal in less than 10 minutes. #10 Cans have the longest shelf life available...up to 25 years! Each can is coated with a protective enamel inside and out for double protection, including the lid. The cans contents are protected until you are ready to open and use them. After opening, we recommend using the contents with 2 to 3 weeks for best results and taste; using the convenient resealable plastic lid between uses. Treat any leftover food as you would fresh food. Mountain House freeze-dried foods are packed in airtight NITROGEN PACKED #10 cans or pouches. Up to 98% of the residual oxygen has been removed. Our unique canning process uses both vacuum oxygen removal and nitrogen flushing.

Technical Details

- The longest shelf life available...up to 25 years!
- A hot, satisfying meal in less than 10 minutes.
- No cooking is needed, just add hot water

OK, first off, I really am a Chef. I have cooked in 4-star restaurants and greasy spoon dives in my 20+ year career. That having been said, these meals are actually far better than I expected them to be for something that will supposedly last 25 years. Sounds crazy I know, but it's true. However, if you're not sure if you will like them or not, I would suggest buying the single serving size pouches (also available on Amazon) and trying them out. That's what I did, and was not disappointed. Flavors are pretty good overall, I particularly like the beef stroganoff. It actually has a nice sour-creamy flavor, and the noodles and beef chunks are very flavorful. I'm not saying it's "just like Mom used to make", but after working a long shift, I'm more than happy to break one of these out and eat it.
Some textures may not be appealing to some people. I kind of had a problem with the eggs, but I got over it. They just seemed...wrong(?), somehow. Also, it is very important to use HOT water and let the meals sit for the required amount of time, or some bits may not fully rehydrate and still have a "spongy" texture. I guarantee, if you use cold or lukewarm water, you will be cursing me forever for recommending this stuff to you. Please don't do that! ZombieChef wants to help you!
I can highly recommend these to anyone who is looking for food for backpacking, camping, or to have in your home, car, or Bug-Out Bag in case of floods, hurricanes or the Zombie Apocalypse. My personal favorites are: Beef Stew, Beef Stroganoff, and Chicken and Noodles. Oh, and one more thing, try to save room for dessert!

I do have one small issue with this product but it is a very tiny one. Read on to find out about that because I want to list the PROS of these strawberries first.

Since buying these, we have ordered several more for storage in case of an emergency. We went through the first container and tested it two ways:

1. Eating it dry and straight from the container
2. Adding water so that the strawberries were closer in taste and texture to real strawberries and could be mixed into oatmeal or as a topping on other products.

In both cases, these strawberries were very tasty and each serving has 60% of the daily value for Vitamin C (although I don't know if this is for someone needing 2000 calories a day or less; they don't provide that info). For anyone with health problems, these have no fat of any kind, avoiding any issues with saturated, trans fat and cholesterol.They do have 2 grams of fiber, not terribly significant as well as 6 grams of sugar (but actual strawberries have natural sugar, too)

They are so delicious that we found ourselves often reaching for a handful as a snack and our kids loved them, too. Because they are dried, they have a crunchy texture. If you have a finicky eater and wonder if he is getting enough nutrition, you might be lucky enough to find that these are accepted. If so, you can ditch much of the junk food and let them snack on these (although it would be expensive to use them as a main snack food).

If you plan to go camping, you get at least 16 servings per container, although serving size is rather small.

In an emergency, you'd either need bottled water or an excellent water filtration system but only IF you wanted a softer texture. They don't need to have water to be used - as is. In an emergency, you could easily stretch these to more than 16 servings, especially if used to top oatmeal or dry cereal or if you added a sprinkling to dry cereal.

For camping, the container is VERY lightweight, easy to bring along. If you wanted to use these as a snack food while taking a short hike from you camping ground, they would be best in a bag. The container is too large to be reasonable in a backpack for a short hike - or even an all day hike.

Since these are high in Vitamin C, they are a nice alternative to Vitamin C tablets. So you get the Vitamin C benefits of strawberries, significant per serving, after you've gone through any fruit you bought before camping or have at home when an emergency happens. In fact, I'd make a case for leaving fresh fruit at home when camping. Use this product instead.

They also work well when added to kids' lunches or when taken to work in a small container for an alternative to candy bars or chips in the snack machines.

Add water and you'll have a bit more bulk.

Now here is my only issue and it is a small one: Open the container and you are likely to find it is half full. The dried strawberries settle. This makes it look like they've shorted you. But we weighed and measured each portion and there were indeed 16 full portions inside.

Nutritional Content and Serving Size: 1/2 cup; Total Calories: 35; Vitamin C: 60% of daily requirements, From Fat: 0; Total Fat: 0 grams; Saturated Fat: 0 grams; Transfat Acid: 0 grams; Cholesterol: 0 milligrams; Sodium: 0 milligrams; Carbos: 10 grams; Dietary Fiber: 2 grams; Sugars: 6 grams; Protein: 0 grams

When you can get this on sale and with free shipping it's a great deal. It is easy to preapare and is very hearty.

When the zombies attack you'll be glad you stored some of this.

The Mountain House Beef Stew is excellent considering that it is vacuum packed in nitrogen and sealed in #10 cans with a shelf life of 30 years. Other reviewers have covered the outstanding taste and quality. I have another consideration.

Americans spend a fortune on home-owner's and auto insurance every year. Some more than others. However, when it comes to the basics necessary for survival, most pay little attention if any at all.

"WHY WORRY ABOUT FOOD, WATER, LIGHT AND HEAT INSURANCE?
THE GOVERNMENT WILL MAKE CERTAIN THAT ALL AMERICANS WILL
HAVE ADEQUATE FOOD, WATER, LIGHT AND HEAT, RIGHT?"

HOW MUCH ARE YOU WILLING TO GAMBLE ON THIS STATEMENT?

Unlike other types of insurance, the money spent insuring an adequate food supply will not be lost. Ten years from now, considering inflation, freeze-dried food purchased in 2011 can be enjoyed at a fraction of the cost that you'd pay at a grocery store in 2021. So, even if an emergency situation never happens, you are still saving money. This can't be said for money spent on homeowner's and auto insurance.

For an extensive menu of available freeze-dried foods, you might also search Saratoga Farms, Emergency Essentials and Provident Pantry.

Don't get caught with your pantry down.

Ha! Yeah, how do they?
I actually like Mountain House's Freeze Dried Lasagna, I would have rated it 5 stars, except it isn't exactly lasagna. Its more like an "Italian Pasta and cheese stew". Its a bit messy, but really Darn Tasty! You get alot of Mini-Lasagna noodles in a sweet tomato sauce, with real cheese chunks. Trust me it tastes alot better than I made it sound! The Stuff in the #10 cans keep for about 35 years! And it doesn't get any easier to prepare, Add water, wait!

A GOOD HIGH QUALITY PRODUCT. WE USE IT AS PART OF OUR DISASTER PREPAREDNESS KIT.AS USUAL THERE WILL BE SOME DETRACTORS OUT THERE THAT WILL COMPARE IT TO SOME GOURMET STANDARD & BAD MOUTH IT. BUT IN TIMES OF EMERGENCY THIS PRODUCT IS ONE OF THE BEST OVERALL.I HIGHLY RECCOMEND IT TO BE INCLUDED IN YOUR PREPAREDNESS OR CAMPING KIT.

Mountain House stuff is the best I have found in emergency and long-storage foods. I had never tried these and was afraid they would taste like cardboard - but was pleasantly surprised. The flavor reminds me of town house crackers. They are like thick round crackers but not salty. In fact, they have a slight sweet taste but it's barely noticable. Good with deviled ham, cheese, butter, peanut butter, jelly, etc. They go well with most meals, IMHO, but I prefer something salty with some dishes, like chili. Excellent addition to emergency foods.

We've purchased these products to add to our emergency food supply. They are the best fit for us since they are lightweight and have about a 30 year shelf life, so there's no real worries about rotating our 'stock' to use up expiring items. We figured, in our senior years, if they haven't been used, we'll have easy meals to keep us going in our RV! (we hope we get there!)

This is a great product--it lasts forever and tastes pretty good--and it is very easy to prepare. The only drawback is that when opened it has to be consumed fairly quickly (according to the manufacturer) or it loses nutritional value--so you have to eat a lot of it fast!

I bought several cans of these from an outdoor store for my month-long trip through Alaska, including 2 weeks alone on the Yukon River. I re-packed the cans in zip-lock bags for easier packing, but these were filling, delicious, and I was able to eat it every day without getting tired of it. I kept a couple cans in reserve at home, and 7 years later it's still good. Easy to make, and some flavors come in individual cook-packets so you don't even need to have any kind of dishes or cook pans except for heating the water. Great deal, even at these prices - I'm back to stock up with more.