Enertia Trail Foods Taste Test

“So what are the better tasting meals? Does anybody eat their meals?”

“Jeez, I was looking forward to trying it. How's married life going? And why are you still a Miss???”

“i told them i'd give it to them at the next TC...and when i tried to add some ingredients to it that year it turned out horrible.....i would never make it into a meal after that showing. Maybe i'll take it back and go simple again”

“I tried the new navy bean and TVP ham meal, not too good.”

“The last batch of enertia food I bought didn't turn me on. I'm so tired of backpacking food.”

“Yeah, birch, that's the Beartooth Beans one. Blah.”

“I only brought one Enertia meal on the Sierra trip. I had the same problem with it as I do most of them. The damn sauce won't break up without smashing it with a rock.

I have been taking more food from home that I am making.”

“I have that problem, too, sometimes, ewk. If I remember, and if the sauce is in a separate bag (usually is), I break up all the chunks as much as I can before adding it to the meal.

I forgot that I also tried 2 oz. package of their "potato dices." It was fine, and, as one might expect, not too flavorful on its own. I added salt, pepper, and some red pepper flakes and it was pretty good for a side dish.”

“bowlderman, try the spag sauce once and see how long it takes to break it up. It actually broke the rock one time...lol”

“I no longer carry "backpacking" food.
With a few exceptions it's all crap to me.

Sure my pack weight went back up, but I eat much better with no more nasty suprises.”

“Meals concocted from stuff off the grocery store shelves is the best.”

“Enertia Sucks!”

“Damn right Twigeater.”

“I have tried just about all of them, and these are my favorites:

EL Capitan 3 Bean Chili
Slickrock Beans
San Juan Stroganoff
Allegheny Alfredo Noodles
McKenzie Chowder
Ranier Rice

Ones to stay away from are:

Switchback Spaghetti
Beartooth Beans
Seirra Scramble (really I dont like any of the breakfast ones)
Parker Pass Potatoes (no flavor)
Max Patch Mac n Cheese is ok, but again, no flavor

I still think they are better than any packaged backpacking food I've had.”

“even Mary Janes ;)”

“I went back to my original post to start this thread and am cutting and pasting my reviews of everything that rated an 8 out of 10 or better. I kind of forgot about a couple of the meals that I liked. Time to go shopping!

Mackenzie Chowder
8/10; Liked the potatoes; added the pepper - could've used more pepper.

Parker Pass Potatoes
8/10; Very tasty. Added the salt & pepper. More water would be OK.

Slickrock Beans
8/10; Very tasty, and texture is hearty. used about a half cup more water than instructions say.

Rainier Rice
9/10; Excellent. Bland at first, added pepper - still bland. Added some crushed red pepper - perfect!

El Capitan 3 Bean Chili
10/10; Super! No additional spices needed.

Moosilauke Goulash
10/10; Best of the bunch - great! Spicy, even without the pepper. Nice texture.”

“I forgot about the goulash! That one is great!

And yes, Ewker. lol”

“I do like their chili”

“I had three of their newer ones lately.

Pinacle Pasta...it was okay, tasted like spicey macaroni...Mousilake Goulash was better

Glacier Garlic Noodles....great, I love it...tasted kinda like the fettucinni they have at Fazolis

Teton Teriake(sp.) This had a great flavor, it was mostly rice but I never eat rice on the trail so I like it.”

“okay...so I said earlier that I love the $3.99 enertia cheese cake. {never tried the blueberry, but that seams to be even better then the regular}

today I bought one of those instant packages of cheese cake. added the dried milk and made about 3 servings out of it.

To my surprise it tasted very similar to the enertia cheese cake. would save me some $$, so I may think about using that in the future.”

“Married life would be alot better if his job would keep him at home! I've only seen him a week since we got back from the honeymoon. I'll finally get to see him again on Sunday. :( *sigh*

As far as the name change on here... I need to do that”

“Is this better Tango?”

“okay...i got 2 packages of spagetti, 2 cheese cakes...2 cous cous gulash packages [okay...self invented], 1 pack of pesto nudels [add chicken or tuna if needed] 2 packs of alfredo [add chicken or tune] wohoooohooo...i wanna try, but i worked hard on them. LOL too good to eat at home.”

“Mrs. Opie, I like it! Absence makes the heart grow fonder...Yeah right!”

“I can't believe you don't like the speghetti embear. That is my favorite! Add some dried hamburger meat and it's a great meal!”

“Yeah, and abstinence makes the...err nevermind.”

“Anyone know what the shelf life is for this stuff. I have some at home that has been sitting since last year.

Still good if the vaccuum hasn't broken?”

“IMO still good”

“I hate to ask this, but waht does IMO stand for?”

“In My Opinion”

“yea, i'd say only a year should be more than fine...is there nothing on the package?”

“I've got some Enertia meals-- alfredo or something like that-- the packaging says it expired in February... Do you think it's still okay to eat it?”

“doesn't most dates on packages mean that is the last day they can sell it?”

“maybe i shouldn't be giving food advice...after all, i only got a 9 out of 14 on SC's scat or snack quiz LOL”

“I would eat it.

I had their Switchback Spaghetti this last week. Awful stuff... very bland. I’ll never buy that again. Ungh!

I love the El Captain Three Bean Chili. It’s my favorite of their meals.

I also had the “Cherokee Cinnamon Rice” which was excellent, but the ingredients were something you could make at home. Instant rice, cinnamon, papaya chunks, dried pineapple chunks, and butter powder (otherwise known as “butt powder” on other threads). I added sugar.
last edited: 9/14/05 9:43:58 AM”

“my partner and i have had some sitting around for 2 years now. hopefully it will last another year or so. maybe it is like granola and lasts forever”

“ewker, that's on fresh foods...date on canned and other type foods are when they're "supposed" to last to...i'm not sure about dehydrated backpack foods though, i never use them”

“I have always read that if it says "sell by" then that means that you can still have it afterwards.

If it says "Best when used by" that's also the same deal.

But I thought when it said "Expires on" that means you shouldn't eat it... However, I'm wondering if anyone else has tried the foods after the expiration? They were in my house, in the pantry--I bought them a little while before they expired...”

“I had their Switchback Spaghetti this last week. Awful stuff... very bland. I’ll never buy that again. Ungh!
pitts
9:43:01 AM
9/14/0

bland!!! Most people i know think it is to spicy. Maybe they changed the sauce since the last time I had it. I do know to break the sauce up you had to have a rock to do it”

“I will perform a test of the edibility of it and return it to you parcel post, no charge.”

“when you send it back to her, will it be scat or snack
(and now we've come full circle)”

“Ewker: It was like paste... and I am sure I mixed in everything that was in the bag. I _may_ try it again based on your comments, however. I was hopeful and was disappointed.

Oh, and the sauce was a PITA to break up just like you said.
last edited: 9/14/05 10:21:09 AM”

“LOL... Don't need any scat here. thanks.

We decided not to test it "on the road", just in case of problems... :-) I figure that it's basically a glorified Mac & Cheese, how bad could it get?”

“I've posted this before...

I had some Enertia meals that were a few yrs old and I ate 2 of them. They just didn't taste "the same". I mean, they were edible, but I didn't enjoy the meal like I did when they were fresh.

Not exactly a scientific test, but there ya go.”

“MDS: Makes sense to me, I'd think the flavor would go off in a couple years, but don't think it would be bad for you.”

“The French custom of hanging pheasants in a cool porch until they just turn green is an exceptable practice. I don't know what the next color after green is. But as long as it hasn't gone past green eat it!”

“The Brits hang it by the neck until it falls.

Not sure what color it is by then.”

“I got some fresh stuff in the mail yesterday from Binks.

All is good!”

“i thought the french just dropped their pheasants on the groud and ran away ;)”

“Moosilauke Goulash. Very good, and tastes like a spicy spaghetti.”