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Reviews > Food > Packaged Meals > AlpineAire Assorted Meals 2007 > Test Report by Jo Ann Moffi
Product Information Manufacturer: TyRy, Inc. Year of Manufacture: 2007 URL: www.TYRY.com MSRP: In US $: Pepper Steak with Rice: $6.75 Mountain Chili: $8.99 Chicken Dijon: $6.75 Bandito Scramble: $5.23 Chocolate Mudslide Pie: $4.50 Listed Weight: Pepper Steak with Rice: 170 g (6 oz) Mountain Chili: 170 g (6 oz) Chicken Dijon: 206 g (7.25 oz) Bandito Scramble: 99 g (3.5 oz) Chocolate Mudslide Pie:162 g (5.75 oz) Actual Weight: Pepper Steak with Rice: 203 g (7.2 oz) Mountain Chili: 194 g (6.8 oz) Chicken Dijon: 242 g (8.6 oz) Bandito Scramble: 126 g (4.4 oz) Chocolate Mudslide Pie: 196 g (6.9 oz) *Please note: my weights are done with the food in the packages. This may explain the discrepancy between the weights listed by the manufacturer and my actual measurements. INITIAL REPORT Item Received: April 30, 2007 My package from AlpineAire Foods contained one pouch of each of the following foods: Pepper Steak with Rice Mountain Chili Chicken Dijon Bandito Scramble Chocolate Mudslide Pie Each of the pouches are in a generic AlpineAire Foods labeled package with individual stickers pasted on the front indicating what each pouch contains on the front and another label with the Nutritional Facts of the food on the back.
Each of the labels on the back of the packages includes the Instructions on preparing the food and the ingredient listing in addition to the Nutritional Facts. The Nutritional Facts also includes a sampling of the vitamin and mineral analysis and how the Percent of Daily Values compare on a 2000 calorie diet. I'm not going to go into the minute detail of each Nutrition Fact label here as it is readily available on the manufacturer's website. The calories per meal seem to be a bit on the skimpy side for someone who may have hiked 12 - 16 km (7.5 - 10 mi) in one day. I can see that I will have to supplement my meals with additional food to replenish the calories I burn during a day's worth of backpacking. The packaging of the foods seem to be a bit more than necessary for what each pouch contains. When I slide the food all the way down in the package, I can fold each one more than halfway over with the excess packaging. I'm certainly not a gram weenie when it comes to backpacking, but this still seems wasteful. There is also a considerable amount of the package - about 6.35 cm (2.5 in) - that is above the resealable portion of the packaging that is just going to be torn off and thrown away. Interestingly, all but the Bandito Scramble are 'No Cooking Required' foods. Once the water is added to the mix, the Bandito Scramble needs to be cooked the same way as fresh eggs. The rest of the foods are 'add water and let stand 12-15 minutes' preparations. All of the foods carry a warning to remove the oxygen absorber prior to adding water. I have not tried out any of the foods, but the instructions seem pretty straight forward and should be easy enough to follow. LONG TERM REPORT: August 12, 2007 Chicken Dijon: The AlpineAire Foods website describes the Chicken Dijon entree as 'A creamy Dijon Sauce with Fresh Dill Blends, Brown Rice, and White Chicken Meat.' The ingredient list includes (in addition to various spices and flavourings):
Chocolate Mudslide Pie: The AlpineAire website describes the Chocolate Mudslide Pie as 'A rich chocolate pudding with chocolate cookie crumb crust and a peanut brittle topping.' The ingredient list includes:
Pepper Steak with Rice: The AlpineAire website describes the Pepper Steak with Rice as 'Beef slices with rice and sweet peppers.' The ingredient list includes (in addition to various spices and flavourings):
Mountain Chili: The AplineAire website describes this entree as 'A savory blend of pinto beans, corn, mushrooms, & spices.' The ingredient list includes (in addition to various spices and flavourings):
Bandito Scramble: The AlpineAire website describes this breakfast as 'Eggs, potatoes, our special cheese blend, mild chilies & other treats will liven up your morning.' The ingredient list includes (in addition to various spices and flavourings):
Final Thoughts With the exception of the Chicken Dijon, the AlpineAire Foods were tasty. I would consider using them in the future on backpacking trips where complete prepackaged meals would be preferred over my usual food planning and dehydrating. They would be especially handy for a short notice backpacking trip where I didn't have time to prepare my meals in advance. As for the amount of food and the fullness feeling after consuming the meals, I would definitely take one package per person per meal or have other food items available to consume with the AlpineAire meals in their recommended serving sizes. I am not a hard core mileage backpacker, but I feel I need more calories than each serving provides. During the test period, I snacked while on the trail and when I took breaks. I still think the packaging is excessive. I prepared all but the Chocolate Mud Slide Pie and the Bandito Scramble in the package as I believe was intended. There was still plenty of packaging above the food line once I added the required water. I must not be a very tidy eater either as I managed to get food on the sides of my hand when reaching in the package to eat. The shape of the bottom of the package also makes it a bit difficult to get all the food out of the corners. In future if I use AlpineAire Foods, I would probably prepare the meal in a bowl or pot to eliminate these issues. This concludes this test series. Thank you to TyRy, Inc. and BackpackGearTest for the privilege of testing this food. Read more reviews of AlpineAire gear Read more gear reviews by Jo Ann Moffi Reviews > Food > Packaged Meals > AlpineAire Assorted Meals 2007 > Test Report by Jo Ann Moffi |