Kit testing!

Finally took the plunge and decided to test out one of the freeze dried meals. This one:

As you can see 'Chicken Tikka' from Expedition Foods (they are based in North Yorkshire so they must be good!). Basically you boil some water, pour into the bag, stir, close up the bag and leave for 5-8 minutes, then tuck in! And the verdict?

Well, it looks like a bag of sick. No, it really does! But it actually tasted quite good. Texture was OK, even felt like pieces of chicken (very small pieces obviously) and it was quite spicy.

The technical info: the bag weighs 136g and contains 700 calories. So, just about one third of the minimum I'll need to carry for each day.

Will now try out more flavours and some breakfast meals, but this really was 'OK'.


COOKING

Well, the Tibetan stove, MSR Titan kettle and spork all perfomed very well. I used a single fuel tab and the water was very near boiling - simmering rather than rolling, but more than hot enough to rehydrate the food and make it palatable. This was the set up:










And this is all you need for a gourmet meal in the desert (this and some fresh naan breads, a few poppadoms, mango chutney, real rice, an ice cold beer......).



Some more technical info for those interested.

The Kettle weighs 126g and holds up to 800ml (brim full). The stove weighs 10g, a pack of 24 fuel tabs in box weigh 172g and the spork 16g.

The lighter is a cheap disposable one, 16g and the knife is a Leatherman (that I may or may not take) and weighs 48g.

Admittedly this was all done inside, so no winds to contend with, or uneven ground, but the water boilded fairly quickly and the whole process was very easy.