Riverwalker’s Survival Food Test - Part Two - LRP’s from the Freeze Dry Guy

Since meal time is pretty much a family affair at the Riverwalker household, everyone got a chance to participate in the taste test of the LRP’s from the Freeze Dry Guy. Most everyone has their own favorites when it comes to food. The variety of the LRP’s that were being tested gave everyone a chance to pick their own sample for the taste test. This is extremely important because taste matters, even in a survival situation.

The first thing that should be mentioned is that all the meals can be prepared in the pouch. All the pouches held water without leaking and the serving can be eaten straight from the pouch. The pouches also need to be cut open before you can add the required amount of water (16 ounces). The pouches effectively resisted all my efforts to tear them open by hand. As an added bonus, the inside of the pouches are fairly shiny and the empty pouch could be used as an improvised signaling device in an emergency, as trail markers when hiking or an emergency water container that folds flat for storage in your backpack or BOB.

The Taste and Texture Results

Lil’ RW, my grandson, volunteered quickly to check out the ice cream sandwich which came with the LRP’s. The pouch containing the ice cream sandwich opened easily by hand. It was also packaged in a separate paper wrapper. Lil’ RW’s first question about it was “Why isn’t it cold?” After a lengthy explanation and several more questions, he did manage to wolf down about 3/4’s of it before a picture could be taken for this post. He also stated that it was “crunchy” and tasted OK but he liked “cold” ice cream better. After sampling the leftover piece myself, it was indeed fairly “crunchy” but it did have a pleasant and very “creamy” taste.  If your kids are “picky eaters”, you may need to consider an alternative other than this for a dessert item.

Lil’ RW votes for “cold” ice cream. Riverwalker also votes for "cold" ice cream.

The Beef Stew pouch (4.94 ounces and 530 calories) was chosen for my portion of the taste test. Beef stew is also one of my favorite food items. The first thing that caught my attention was the smell. It smelled really good. There was a big temptation on my part to stick a spoon in the bag and start eating it right then and there. Instead, it was necessary to wait the necessary ten minutes for it to rehydrate while stirring occasionally. It was well worth the wait!

There were plenty of meat chunks in the beef stew and the texture of the vegetables was really good. There was a generous serving in the package and Mrs. RW had a bowl of the beef stew also. She really liked the taste of the sauce and thought the meat chunks were quite tender. Overall, it was as good as most of the canned beef stew that’s available and a lot better than some. The only thing that was added to my serving was some black pepper. The amount of salt in the beef stew was more than ample to suit my tastes. Any additional salt would have made it too salty.

The flavor was much better than expected and the beef stew pouch gets high marks in both the taste and texture category from Riverwalker.

Mrs. RW chose the Mexican Style Rice and Chicken pouch (5.39 ounces and 630 calories) for her portion of the taste test. She’s a big fan of Mexican style foods and there was enough for both of us to have a generous portion. The seasonings and peppers in the pouch were adequate and the serving shouldn’t be too spicy for the average person. There was also no need to add pepper to my portion. Mrs. RW said the rice and chicken was delicious but thought the rice could have been a little tenderer. The beans were very tender and tasted quite good. She even saved some for lunch tomorrow. She also told me to leave the leftover portion of her pouch alone or suffer the consequences. 


**EDIT**
Mrs. RW finally ate her leftovers and said that it was just as good when warmed up.

The Mexican Style Rice and Chicken pouch gets high marks in the taste and texture category from Mrs. RW.

Mrs. RW also took the Granola with Milk and Bananas pouch to work for her morning snack. She also claimed the Turkey Tetrazzini for her lunch the day after tomorrow. She’s already been convinced after her part of the taste test that they are going to be good. Good thing this was just a sample pack or there might be some difficulty in getting her to prepare a regular meal. Mrs. RW really likes the “no cook” part of this survival food test.

RW, Jr. chose the Oriental Style Chicken and Rice pouch (5.29 ounces and 530 calories) for his portion of the taste test. He hasn’t finished his evaluation of the Oriental Style Chicken and Rice. The post will be updated when he’s completed his part of the review.


**EDIT**


RW, Jr. finally finished his part of the taste test. He said it was a very generous portion but that you need to make sure to use enough water to properly rehydrate the food package. It was also considerably more than one person could eat at one time. He said it tasted good and he would have no problem using this product on one of his backpacking trips. He also indicated that you would need something sharp to open the package because he couldn't open the package by hand.

Compact, lightweight, with quick and easy preparation and a wide variety of choices combined with excellent taste makes LRP’s from the Freeze Dry Guy an excellent choice for your BOB or for your regular long term food storage. They are also a "no cook" food item.

Mrs. RW gives LRP’s from the Freeze Dry Guy her "NO COOK" stamp of approval.

You can read Part One of my survival food test here:

Riverwalker’s Survival Food Test - Part One - LRP’s from the Freeze Dry Guy

Got LRP’s ?

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker