Tom Watson presents the pros and cons of prepackaged meal pouches.

Being self-reliant in the woods means having the energy to keep going, to fuel the fire. It means carrying food along that will sustain you throughout your activities. It also means packing foods that will be available should an emergency arise that calls upon you to depend on limited or alternate food sources.

The two types of meal pouches

In some cases, meals in pouches may be the way to go. Meals in pouches are basically of two types: 1) those pre-cooked and warmed by adding water to a chemical heat-generating pouch that warms the food to steaming hotness; and 2) dehydrated/freeze-dried foods reconstituted by adding boiling water to the dry mix.

A 2.5-ounce energy bar that fits in your pocket, with upwards of 300 calories per serving, offers ample nutrients with just a scant amount of salt (not enough, perhaps, if you are electrolyte depleted). By general comparison, a single serving of freeze-dried meat/pasta and sauce pouch weighs about 4 ounces in a package that must be taken afield in a daypack. These typically offer only a little more (sometimes less) calories and require boiling water and processing for the better part of 15 to 20 minutes to fully reconstitute or heat up the contents.

Pros and cons of quick meals in the backcountry

Convenience is definitely a factor—with conditions! Most pouch meals require boiling water or water/liquid to provide a heat source to either reconstitute water back into the food directly, or cause a chemical reaction that heats water that comes into contact with a pre-cooked food sealed with that pouch. You’ll either spend upwards of four to eight minutes boiling a cup or two of water and another 15 to 20 minutes waiting for it to do its magic, or wait nearly as long as steam begins to spout out from the chemical process.

This should all be considered, when compared against bringing and preserving food components from home and all the preparation time and pots/utensils needed to prepare a meal from scratch in your campsite kitchen. That timeframe probably equals the time it would take the water to boil. Therefore, it’s freshness vs. convenience regarding prep time. Once the water is boiling, it’s a matter of filling the pouch with the precise amount of water as instructed (knowing the fine line between being way too pasty or sloppy-soupy)—and waiting.

Once it’s hot, you’ve got to keep it hot

A big factor in the pouch method is heat retention. After even 15 minutes of sitting around “cooking,” boiling water loses heat fast—especially in winter. Some meals come out of their hot water bath tasting only lukewarm, like you were late coming to the table. Backpacker’s Pantry’s large pouch (double serving size) kept the food steaming hot—impressively noted based upon years of so-so warm container meals.

Make sure you can live on whatever you choose

Nutrition wise, pouches and bars were all within range of each other for the percentages of daily requirements—except when it came to sodium. Most bars were in the low single digits. Every pouch I checked out had figures ranging from 25 to nearly 40 percent of the maximum recommendations. Know that these products are often recommended for satisfying the more adventurous backcountry lifestyles. Replacing electrolytes is part of their appeal. That and the fact that sodium is often used to prolong usable ‘shelf life’ of some products upwards of 20 years or more! Both types provided about 15 percent of the daily protein and 10 to 20 percent-plus of carbs, while also providing a good source of fiber.

Eating wild can take some getting used to

Like many foods, some of these are more of an acquired taste. Fruits, tomatoes and strong herbs/spices highlight the rather flavorless pasta and rice that most depend upon for bulk. Still, pouch meals provide a warm meal alternative to a sometimes chewy, bland-tasting and cold snack bar.

The beauty of a pouch meal is that it’s as close to being ready to process as the closest pot of boiling water. They can be “cooked” and eaten right out of their containers. When prepared and transferred to a thermo-container, they provide a warm, rib-sticking meal almost anywhere, anytime. The chemical reaction heating process means you can prepare a hot meal in a hunting blind or even right in the cockpit of your kayak!

Quick food pouch meals are a convenient, often quite tasty addition to your food inventory in the backcountry. They can be called upon in times of an emergency, so pack some along in your survival kit, as well.

Find more great outdoor tips in the October issue of MidWest Outdoors, available the first full week of October at the newsstand or by subscribing on our website.