Prepared freeze dried food experience tldr -Readywise sucks

Posted by chuckisduck@reddit | preppers | View on Reddit | 40 comments

I had 5 plastic totes and 2 72 hours of emergency food from Readywise and decided to open up the 62 paper boxes and consolidate it in a tote. Smelled food and noticed 2 packets were not sealed correctly (one was stale oat meal, other rancid tortilla).

Spent the next few days trying to get Readywise to replace the two bags. Crickets and even getting someone on the phone and chat, they said I have to email.

Luckily, the totes were from Costco, so returned those and went to #10 cans with a mix from Mountain House, Auguston Farms and LDS Pantry, since one is really close to me.

Shout out to Auguston Farms for replacing two can damaged without questions (was a $1k order).

Getting my parents to return their Readywise to Costco

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JRHLowdown3@reddit

A lot of new companies have sprung up since 2005 with the new "prepper" fade.

Stick with the older established brands- OFD/Mt. House, Rainy Day (who packs for a large percentage of the industry who re-labels their product), etc.

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SWGardener@reddit

Rainy day is nice because you can get some things in smaller size cans if wanted.

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JRHLowdown3@reddit

One of the few companies that offer #2 1/2 cans IIRC.

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gwhh@reddit

Auguston Farms does such GREAT customer care!!

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NotAmusedDad@reddit

Auguson has been my go-to for years. That said, I got a harvest Right a couple of years ago, and have not purchased any commercially prepared freeze-dried foods since that time. It's just so much cheaper to buy gi a, then into mylar it goes for long-term storage.

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chuckisduck@reddit (OP)

Do you dehydrate or freeze dry your own? I know freeze drying is the best for keeping nutritional value. I am glad you have a good system down.

I could see myself doing that in retirement and sending the products to family, but right now the time vs money for me is that my time is much more of constricted right now.

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NotAmusedDad@reddit

I do both, depending on what the food is.

I used the book "store this, not that" as a starting point because the reality is that some foods actually do better dehydrated rather than freeze-dried, and it's not just a cost issue.

That said, freeze drawing saved TONS of money over getting number 10 cans worth... I think, for instance, I could freeze dry raspberries for less than a fifth of what they cost in the can. And buying them Frozen from the store meant s the freeze setting cycle could proceed a lot quicker

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chuckisduck@reddit (OP)

What else is better to dehydrate besides jerky? Just the sublimation process alone will keep less chemical and physical changed vs dehydration.

I did a comparable on costs of doing my own vs #10 cans (with maxing out specials and discounts) and would have to have 9 months of food stored before it became more cost effective for the DIY route (I also ignored energy cost and time as well). I wanted 6 months backup (space limited by wife) so I went with just ordering.

I will probably make the switch when I retire as it will be enjoyable or if I run low on projects in the future.

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IndianOcn@reddit

So glad Costco made the return easy and Mountain House worked out better for you.

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No_Staff594@reddit

Mountain house, humanitarian aid MREs, and bulk sugar/salt/flour/beans from Costco is what we use for affordable long term food storage. We love mountain house so much

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GigabitISDN@reddit

Can't go wrong with Augason Farms. Mountain House is good but I think some of the others have closed that gap enough that MH isn't really worth the price premium anymore.

I also received two dented cans from AF on my last order several years ago. They shipped out replacements and told me to keep what we had. Not bad at all.

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dittybopper_05H@reddit

I saw Rancid Tortilla open up for the Fabulous Thunderbirds back in the early 1990's.

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SonsOfValhallaGaming@reddit

I will say to anyone willing to listen, plastic food totes are okay, but not ideal for real prepping. I know there are SOME brands that some people say are reliable, but as someone who's seen time and time again an emergency arsie and ''that guy'' with the totes suddenly bartering with anyone who will pay him mind for food because his totes were compromised somehow, I just can't endorse it.

Like all forms of food prep, do your research, test your gear, retest, retest, retest. Everything looks great on paper or looks good on a spreadsheet until you actually need it. For me, MRE's used to be a huge one for me, but I've started canning and jarring my own food, through dehydration or freeze drying. I used to like Mountain House , but the price point is only for those who can afford to do so. Not the most budget friendly option.

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etherlinkage@reddit

Thank you for sharing your experience. This reinforces my move towards Mountain House along with bulk staples in mylar.

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emorymom@reddit

The only problem with MH meals is that a can will be like 2 days’ worth of calories. They leave enough in the can to add the water, stir, etc.

So for example, if you want breakfast scramble you are better off cost and SPACE wise buying the ingredients for a scramble in separate ingredient cans. Powdered eggs, freeze dried sausage, cheese, onion, bell peppers — are all available in ingredient cans from various brands.

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etherlinkage@reddit

Right on. Thank you.

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chuckisduck@reddit (OP)

I think those are good and actually something you want to eat.

I wish I could get the family into doing the deep pantry but spending $3k on #10s is what works here and cycling the drums of water I keep.

I prep in case of the PNW earthquake/volcano disaster.

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etherlinkage@reddit

I see nothing wrong with your approach. We all have needs and expectations that are slightly different. We don’t really eat much of what we store, mostly because we eat so few carbs. Some disagree with that approach, but it works for my wife and I just fine. There are many roads to Rome.

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chuckisduck@reddit (OP)

100% everyone's needs are different. I think my difficulty is that the wife does not like any clutter (besides her clothes, which I had to extend the closet for).

Luckily smaller things like power outages, someone snooping in the backyard (luckily just a drunk teen wanting to see the lake), heat waves and a very frozen spell all have happened when I am home and was able to have solutions (getting the last Costco gen and homemade interlock and trading Ammo for a AC during a really bad 2020 heatwave). This allowed me upgrade our NG lines. Install a proper interlock, build a sound shed for the gen and get additional portable ACs to keep in the house. I can't get her to agree get solar or a large propane tank or let me build a second shed.

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BaldyCarrotTop@reddit

You are not the first person I've heard complain about Ready Wise. For that reason I avoid any and all of these long term food buckets sold for survival use.. Most of them seen to be hoping that they will never be opened. Too much like buying a pig in a poke.

Mountain House, on the other hand, expects that its products will be used regularly. And they are. It's easy to know what you are getting.

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b00m3r10@reddit

Peak refuel is also really good! Expensive though..

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Foygroup@reddit

I have some from Peak. Yes they are expensive, but if you want variety it’s not bad to shift from Mountain House to Peak. Their desserts like brownie bites are awesome.

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6894@reddit

Costco also has the Auguston farms bucket on their website. Just a heads up.

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Pomegranateman@reddit

Mountain house for freeze dried meals. Pricey but good, try some and stock up on what you like.

For 10 to 30 year storage I trust LDS pantry #10 cans. The only place I know that regularly tests after 10+ years and posts results. Can get at local LDS pantry or their online site for nominal delivery. Not a LDS member and have never had them try to convert me.

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Charming_Spinach_362@reddit

I bought several cans from LDS. Very impressed.

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chuckisduck@reddit (OP)

I took my daughter to the LDS Pantry, only 4 miles away but only open 4 hours a week. They were super nice and helpful. They actually undercounted some cans, so I told them. It's hard to be dishonest with them.

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Granadafan@reddit

I was going to buy the ReadyWise bucket from Costco until I watched a few food review videos on YouTube. The consensus was that ReadyWise tasted bland and like mush. No thanks.

I was sickened into buying the 72 hour MREs from 4Patriots. I tasted one and that was terrible as well. I gave the rest away and bought the Mountain House n

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Oldebookworm@reddit

Were they really bad? I’ve got a couple of those 72 hour pouches as well as individual meat pouches

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chuckisduck@reddit (OP)

If you want MREs, Kings Surplus is great for MREs that are at their inspection date.

I have two cases and replace them every 2 years. Either give the food away to homeless or camping.

I did serve them as snacks for my running club once (hash house harriers) and almost got awarded worst trail of the year

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gapirate@reddit

I seen some Ready wised buckets on sale at Tractor Supply for $40 over the weekend I have a couple already figured would spend my money else where

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Farpoint_Farms@reddit

Yup. Ready wise, and wise are really low end empty calories. They prey on new to the market prepper types. Want good long term food? Look to mountain house, and beprepared as well as emergency essentials. They all sell #10 cans of dehydrated and freeze dried foods that last a long time and don't taste like crap. We eat from our stores regularly to rotate stock and I've never been disappointed. I got a trial pack from ready wise and it was so bad. Soup that was low quality, a bag that had already lost its seal, and off tasting oats. Nope!

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8Deer-JaguarClaw@reddit

Even if the sealing is perfect, the food itself is rather dreadful. The few that I have tried were bland, and in one case the instructions provided were wildly inaccurate as far as how much water was required (it called for way too much water).

ReadyWise is a no-go for me and my family. Mountain House, Auguson Farms, Backpacker's Pantry are all solid.

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chuckisduck@reddit (OP)

I may try some of the Backpackers next summer camping. I was just trying to aim for 20+year food.

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Beertruck85@reddit

Mountain House has been my go to for years now.

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chuckisduck@reddit (OP)

It is much better and have some.

I knew Readywise sucked but at $55 a tote, thinking these would be ok in emergency only... just very surprised that several packets were bad and they didn't even bother with replacing them even with receipts. They were from Walmart, so can't return the cheaper ones but the totes went back to Costco.

A lesson in buy once and cry once...lucky things are on sale now :-)

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Beertruck85@reddit

Im really glad you got the message out. Long term storage is no joke so its sad to see the company won't take care of their customers.

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chuckisduck@reddit (OP)

Thanks, I would not have said anything if they replaced it, as others have said about 20% attrition rate in the readywise bags in old posts.

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