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Boundary Waters Quetico Forum :: BWCA Food and Recipes :: Camp Chow
 
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Frenchy19
06/24/2016 09:55AM
 
Okay, recently returned from a solo, and had some of the Camp Chow. The cheddar/wild rice soup was good, the chili was okay (really more like a soup), the rest, not so good.


Had the mac, cheese and ham, and the noodles and ham did not rehydrate when prepared as per directions. The beef stroganoff had way too many gigantic shitake mushrooms, and they when eating them, it was like chewing on balloons. Nasty! Will not ever eat these again.
 
ducks
08/05/2016 05:24PM
 
When my daughter and I had cheddar wild rice soup on our last trip I cut down the amount of water based on my experience w/ the chili. The 2 serving size called for 4 cups of water and I only did 3. I wish I would have only done 2. I thought it tasted very good but was too watery for eating straight out of the bag.

 
Papinator
08/03/2016 06:25AM
 
So far, Matt and I love the camp chow. I am bringing 6 dinners and a few soups on a 5-6 day SHT hike coming up... generally I've found when I'm really active during the day, anything tastes good, even hard noodles hahahaha! But I generally re-hydrate in boiling water for almost double the time on any of my de-hyrdated meals. I'll have to post my thoughts on these upcoming meals!
 
Wally13
05/15/2016 02:40AM
 

Ordered some Camp Chow for my 2016 Quetico trip. Reviews for Camp Chow have been excellent.
 
Frenchy19
05/14/2016 04:52PM
 
Placed an order today. Mixing it with some items I got from Packit Gourmet. Buying the stuff sure adds up, but I find the older I get, the lazier I become with regard to food prep.
 
jswamp
05/14/2016 06:59PM
 
used some on our last trip and found it better than any of the other brands I have used. (only used a dessert and soup - but both were fantastic.
 
MattM
05/14/2016 08:59AM
 
Very good stuff. I have taken it on my last three trips. I am bringing them on my Frost River trip later this month.


I particularly like the wild rice with pork casserole (I add one cut up Andouille sausage to it) and the mac and cheese (foil chicken sprinkled with homemade Cajun seasoning added).


Highly recommend these products.





 
ducks
05/13/2016 06:26PM
 
quote boonie: "I wondered how you liked it. The singles seem to be about the right size for me."


They were perfect for me. I'm bringing 2 serving size ones for my daddy/daughter trip with my older daughter this summer.
 
Mocha
05/13/2016 06:33PM
 
it is really tasty and filling. there is one outfitter that uses almost exclusively Camp Chow.
 
boonie
05/13/2016 06:31AM
 
I wondered how you liked it. The singles seem to be about the right size for me.
 
ducks
05/12/2016 09:09PM
 
Seriously.... IMO this stuff is amazing. It's made by the fine people at the Trail Center and we know how much many members love the food there. On my solo I just completed I had Camp Chow for my 3 suppers and absolutely loved it. Best part.... all I had to do was boil water and dump in the bag. I had chili, chicken alfredo couscous, and pork wild rice casserole. I talked to Sarah at the Trail Center when I had my post trip meal and she said the chili is exactly what you get in the restaurant and a single serving of it in Camp Chow is less than $3.00. Camp Chow is going with me on every future trip.

camp chow


 
Frenchy19
05/12/2016 09:20PM
 
Great testimonial! I will try some on my upcoming solo.
 
Basspro69
05/12/2016 09:22PM
 
Yep its awesome stuff !
 
ParkerMag
07/13/2016 07:46AM
 
We love their fry breads especially.
 
Wally13
07/12/2016 03:37PM
 

I just returned from a 10 day solo in Quetico and I have to agree with Frenchy19 on his review of Camp Chow.


The noodles in the mac and cheese and beef stroganoff and chicken alfredo did not rehydrate. I wanted to minimize cleanup so I tried the "cook in the bag method"... I put required amount of hot water in the bag and let sit for the required minutes and the noodles were still hard. I ended up dumping the bag into my cooking pot and boiling the meal.


The shitake mushrooms in the beef stroganoff were very chewy and not very palatable.


The Turkey and Dressing was just ok ... not much turkey.


On the other hand the shrimp chowder and beef chili were fairly good.
 
NotLight
07/12/2016 09:11PM
 
quote Frenchy19: "The beef stroganoff had way too many gigantic shitake mushrooms..... "


That sounds as bad as having "way too much beer in the frig."

 
Swampturtle
07/13/2016 12:08PM
 
I appreciate all the reviews on camp chow. Am always looking for complete meals to supplement my own dehydrating. It's interesting how varied the reviews are and how the different types of drying can effect the texture. Very good notes here. Even within my own home made dehydrated meals something that was awesome one trip, might be just okay another.
 
billconner
06/27/2016 10:50AM
 
quote butthead: "Really off the OP topic but just a thought, the 2 methods of drying food can really affect the taste and consistency of ingredients The wild mushrooms are a great example, freeze dried have a good taste and feel air dried come out as French19 described. Air dried green beans I think are horrible freeze dried are good. Now freeze dried pasta is a mushy mess far as I'm concerned, I'd rather take the time and boil up regular noodles of any kind.
Everyone's mileage may vary, as is said!



butthead"



Seems to be a big difference nutritionally too according to most sources with freeze dried retaining most of the nutritional value of fresh food and dehydrating loosing up to half. Also, freeze dried is made to be re hydrated - cold or hot water - and dehydrated basically needs to be cooked or at least hot water and time.
 
Frenchy19
06/26/2016 09:37PM
 
quote butthead: "They make more than one style of Beef Stroganoff, the Wild Mushroom version has large shrooms that can be chewy. I do like both types myself but Beef Stroganoff had smaller more tender shrooms. I also liked the "mac, cheese and ham", but I let mine sit much longer and re-heated it. Everybody's tastes are different.



The most repeat purchase I have made from CampChow is the mcheddar/wild rice soup.



butthead"



That soup is good! I should have let the stuff sit longer; a mistake I never seem to learn after trying different dehydrated meals.
 
Wally13
06/26/2016 09:11AM
 

Frenchy19,


Yikes. Leaving for a 10 day Quetico trip on Wednesday. Four of my 9 night meals are from Camp Chow ... including Beef Stroganoff.


Maybe I will be having a few more walleye suppers than I planned.
 
butthead
06/26/2016 10:27AM
 
They make more than one style of Beef Stroganoff, the Wild Mushroom version has large shrooms that can be chewy. I do like both types myself but Beef Stroganoff had smaller more tender shrooms. I also liked the "mac, cheese and ham", but I let mine sit much longer and re-heated it. Everybody's tastes are different.


The most repeat purchase I have made from CampChow is the mcheddar/wild rice soup.


butthead
 
plexmidwest
06/27/2016 07:22AM
 
Grabbed a Trail Center chicken chili and beef chili on our way out from Seagull, last month and they were both very good. When we hit the Trail Center for a meal & a beer and let them know that we liked them.

 
butthead
06/27/2016 08:05AM
 
Really off the OP topic but just a thought, the 2 methods of drying food can really affect the taste and consistency of ingredients The wild mushrooms are a great example, freeze dried have a good taste and feel air dried come out as French19 described. Air dried green beans I think are horrible freeze dried are good. Now freeze dried pasta is a mushy mess far as I'm concerned, I'd rather take the time and boil up regular noodles of any kind.
Everyone's mileage may vary, as is said!


butthead
 
ducks
07/08/2016 08:42AM
 
Frenchy19... I'm sorry you didn't like it as much as I did. I should have mentioned that you should use less water if you don't want the chili soupy. I really did like the chili a lot even though it was soupier than I like and plan on using less water next time. I really thought the chicken alfredo couscous was amazing and look forward to trying other flavors of the couscous.


For my daddy/daughter trip in a few weeks she picked cheddar/wild rice soup (sounds like that one will be a hit) and Parmesan noodles. Our fall back for the 3rd meal if we don't catch any walleye will be a cheap pouch of Idahoan instant mashed potatoes.