Back Country Cuisine – Classic Ration Pack
Back Country Cuisine should be fairly well known to most people who have spent some time in the outdoors. A Invercargil based company, BCC has been providing Trampers, Kayakers and really anyhow who needs light weight sustenance.
BCC Freeze-dries their food. Freeze-drying is a little bit different from Dehydrating in that the food is frozen first, then the ice crystals are removed. This means that the food doesn’t shrink as much, and also, rehydrates quicker, as there remains lots of little holes for the water to get back into once added back in. Similar to the Portion Pack system, all the food is individually packed, and is quite a goody bag then you first open it up. One thing I have found with BCC is that I will often want the ‘2 serving’ size meals to myself. I don’t think this is from lack of food, more due to a large appetite on my part.
However, the porridge from the morning filled me up and the Beef Curry again was a good feed at lunch. The snack pack kept me nibbling away during the day, and for dinner, I have had it before, and continue to really enjoy the Roast Lamb. The Mashed Potatoes are aweseome!
Freeze Dried (or Dehydrated) food is never quite the same as ‘fresh’ – and this is certainly noticed in the case of BCC food. You trade off the weight savings with a little bit of texture and taste. Sometimes this is worth it, sometimes I am happy to have a couple of extra KGs and a slightly nicer meal. Depends how long you are out for, and how much other weight you have on you.
I tend be carrying around stupid weights of camera gear, so shaving of weight anywhere else is welcome – however if I am leaving the extra lenses at home, I am more likely to make the weight up in food.
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