Freeze-dried Expedition Meals

Campers Pantry Expedition Meals are Australian-made freeze-dried meals: add boiling water to the pouch, wait, eat out of it. Light to carry and long shelf-life, so they live in the pack between trips.

What it is and when to use it

The difference between a hot meal at the end of a long day and another muesli bar in the dark. Pour in boiling water, wait a few minutes, eat out of the pouch, carry the pouch out. No pot to scrub, no washing-up water to find, nothing to cool down before you can move on.

Hikers, paddlers, four-wheel drivers, and anybody whose dinner has to survive a week at the bottom of a pack. Australian-made, which counts when the alternative is cooked to somebody else's idea of what dinner tastes like.

Taste and texture

Freeze-drying runs at low temperature, which is why it keeps the flavour and texture that dehydrating cooks out - these rehydrate into food with recognisable pieces in it rather than a uniform mush. Made from fresh ingredients, so the nutrients survive the process too.

The range leans towards food people actually eat at home: Penne Bolognese, Chicken Cacciatore, Creamy Chicken Pasta, Tuna Pasta Bake, Red and Green Thai Chicken Curry, Indian Chicken Pilaf, Spicy Mexican Beans, Cauliflower and Pea Dahl, and Vegetarian Pasta Medley. Three of the ten are vegetarian.

Sizing

Portion size is the decision worth getting right. Single serve is 100 g dry and 400 g prepared; XL is 125 g dry and 500 g prepared. After a genuinely big day the single serve is a light dinner - if you are walking hard, take the XL.

How to take it

Boiling water to the line, stir, seal, wait. Because you eat from the pouch, your whole camp kitchen can be a stove, a mug and a spoon.