This Mountain House ice cream bar is one of the creature comfort food items I like to bring on my more extended outdoor adventures. After all, what is not to like about a freeze dried ice cream sandwich? It won’t melt in your pack and it does taste really close to an actually frozen ice cream sandwich. I think it does anyway. The only drawback is that this does not have the same melty texture as when chowing down on a real ice cream sandwich fresh and cold from the freezer!
I don’t have a portable or packable camping freezer. So, no complaints from me!
Mountain House Ice Cream Sandwich Review
I think we all have heard that freeze dried ice cream is an astronaut staple, –“you know, astronaut ice cream.” But in my own research, Apollo 7 was the first and only time that freeze dried ice cream flew into space. My research also suggests that the Apollo 7 ice cream wasn’t very good either.
Here is a bit of space food trivia. Bacon was included in the first meal eaten on the moon, during the Apollo 11 lunar landing.
These freeze dried ice cream bars are a bit on the fragile side. Just about every one of them I have opened was broken in some way. Perhaps it has been the rough handling in transit, –either from the factory to the store or to the campsite. These bars also have a wrapping that makes it hard to tell how broken it might be, if it is broken at all, inside that Mountain House outer package.
While I do try to keep crushable items on top, things do get moved and shifted around, knocked against a tree, rock, or something similar. Nothing inside my pack is marked fragile!
It was a real toss-up whether or not to include this as one of my top picks in the best freeze dried food category. It does have a good vanilla flavor, just like a real ice cream bar. But, the Mountain House Neapolitan ice cream has chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry flavors, –a combination that to me is hard to beat.
Most of the folks who try the Mountain House ice cream sandwich bars like them. There are close to 100 customer reviews on Amazon.com with an average of 3.8 out of 5 stars. About 70% of the reviews were 4- and 5-star ratings, which is evidence of a good product in my book.
On January 1, 1970, I checked the Mountain House store on Amazon to get updated pricing for the Unfortunately, it wasn’t in stock and available for purchase. Although it was available from other vendors. It’s a popular item. There are over customer reviews, with an average rating of stars out of 5.
These freeze dried ice cream bars only have about a 2-year shelf life. You can check here to determine the shelf life dates of your Mountain House products. If you plan on having a few of these in your tucked away in your survival pantry you should plan on rotating them out on the earlier side. Don’t tell the food police, but I have eaten some of these past the “Best if Used By” dates.
Bottom Line
I am giving it my own rating of 5 stars. I see the positives as a “good-enough” ice cream taste and it doesn’t melt in your pack. The only drawback would be that they are on the fragile side so you need to watch where you put them. Overall, a freeze dried ice cream sandwich is meant to be enjoyed outdoors on one of your adventures. So, when you’re a day or two into a camping trip, yes, these do taste good. Eat the real stuff when you are home.
Today we’re updating our original Mountain House Biscuits and Gravy review. We first published this Mountain House biscuits and gravy review back in October 2015.
However, I must say that this freeze dried biscuits and gravy food pouch is still one of my favorites.
Mountain House has updated their product packaging, and even tweaked the recipe just a bit. We’ll share our opinions and thoughts on both of those changes.
So, who doesn’t like a big helping of biscuits and gravy for hearty and satisfying breakfast to help sustain you for a day on the trail or out in the field?
I used to whip up a batch of my Mom’s sawmill sausage gravy recipe before each camping trip and freeze big hearty breakfast sized portions in quart sized zip top bags along with some extra fast-food biscuits.
But, the Mountain House freeze dried biscuits and gravy comes in second to Mom’s for taste, but wins hands down for convenience.
Mountain House Biscuits and Gravy is up this morning for hearty filling breakfast on a cool January morning.
Mountain House Biscuits and Gravy
Mountain House has totally changed their product packaging for its freeze dried biscuits and gravy. So, let’s check that out first, exactly what has changed. This is what we noticed.
On December 30, 2024, I checked the Mountain House store on Amazon to get updated pricing for the Mountain House Biscuits and Gravy. It's in stock and available for purchase. It sure is a popular item. There are over 4600 customer reviews, with an average rating of 4.6 stars out of 5. Check it out here.
Original Product Packaging
We have a good number of what we’re calling the “original” or “old-style” Mountain House biscuits and gravy freeze dried food pouches.
These are the specifications taken from the old-style packaging from our supply:
width: 8 inches / 20.3 centimeters
height: 9 1/2 inches / 24.1 centimeters
bottom: expands into a food pouch bowl and has a bit of wisdom or campfire talking points printed on the bottom
servings: about 2
serving size: 65 grams dry mix
makes: two 1 cup servings as prepared
Reading the old-style Mountain House biscuits and gravy food label shows the package weight as 4.94 ounces (140 grams).
My digital kitchen food scale shows my unopened package weight as 5.2 ounces (149 grams) averaged over my entire supply of Mountain House Biscuits and Gravy old-style freeze dried food pouches.
New Product Packaging
Our own measurements of the new-style product packaging:
width: 8 1/4 inches / 22 centimeters
height 8 1/8 inches / 21 centimeters
weight of the empty freeze dried food pouch: 18 grams
weight of the oxygen absorber: 5 grams
total weight of the freeze dried biscuits and gravy dry mix: 126 grams
The Mountain House Biscuits and Gravy label shows:
servings: 2
each serving size: 62 grams dry mix
makes: two 1 cup servings as prepared
These new-style Mountain House freeze dried food pouches are plastic-coated mylar. This is what you want for long-term food storage.
Reading the Mountain House Biscuits and Gravy front label shows the package weight as 4.4 ounces (124 grams). My digital kitchen food scale shows the unopened package weight as 5.3 ounces (149 grams) and averaged over my entire supply of the new-style packaged Mountain House biscuits and gravy freeze dried food pouches.
Some big box stores offer a limited selection of Mountain House freeze dried food products. However, last minute needs or purchasing for long-term storage, consider other options that offer a greater shopping selection. We recently picked up a number for just under $7.00 each with free Amazon Prime shipping.
The Mountain House Biscuits and Gravy has over 1500 of mostly 5-star customer reviews. This is evidence of a good product that customers are happy with and buy time and time again.
As we update this post in January 2021, Mountain House does not offer any other Biscuits and Gravy product sizes other than the 2-serving pouch.
Looking inside the Mountain House Biscuits and Gravy 2-serving pouch.
Freeze Dried Food Pouch Differences
Both the old-style and new-style Mountain House freeze dried food pouch product packages require you to remove, or tear off, a significant amount of the product package at the tear notch, about 2 1/2 inches / 6.3 centimeters, or 4 grams of the package weight.
Just below the tear notch, is another 1/2 inch / 1.2 centimeters, to the zipper seal. In our opinion, Mountain House could better to optimize packaging and reduce waste.
Mountain House now includes recycling information on every product they sell. Instead of tossing these freeze dried food pouches in the trash, you can mail them, with pre-paid postage, to TerraCycle.com. Way to go Mountain House!
These new-style packages also feature rounded corners. Mountain House must have read one of my suggestions. The squared-off pointy corners are now a thing of the past.
Mountain House also continues to print outdoor wisdom on the bottom of each food pouch which has made for some lively conversation around the nighttime fire, and even a few helpful suggestions.
Preparation and Tips
The Mountain House biscuits and gravy in the new-style packaging call for 12 ounces / 355 milliliters of boiling water added to the pouch. We think this is the right amount of water.
Mountain House Biscuits and Gravy after 10 minutes of hydration. Just 5 more minutes. Your patience will be rewarded.
The older packaging called for 14 ounces / 414 milliliters of boiling water. That was too much. In our original Mountain House Biscuits and Gravy review, we recommended dialing that back by several ounces.
The product packaging recommends that you first add boiling water, stir, and seal, giving the freeze dried biscuits and gravy five minutes to hydrate. Next, open the pouch, stir, seal, and give it another four minutes before enjoying it.
After the second rest of four minutes, our experience was that some portion of the Mountain House biscuits and gravy had not fully hydrated.
Our recommendation is to use a 5-5-5 method.
Start by removing the top part of the freeze dried food pouch at the tear notch. Next, remove that oxygen absorber packet.
Gently pull open the bottom of the pouch to form a bowl.
The Mountain House freeze dried food pouch has a built in bowl making it easy to mix, stir, and scoop out the nutrition.
First, open out the bottom of the freeze dried food pouch to create a bowl.
Second, measure out 12 ounces / 355 milliliters of water into your camping mug or pan, and add any desired spices. Cover and bring to a boil.
Third, carefully pour the boiling water into the freeze dried food pouch, mix and stir, seal, then let the freeze dried biscuits and gravy rest for five minutes to hydrate.
Next, after the five minutes have elapsed, open, and again mix and stir, then reseal for another five minutes.
Finally, open, stir and reseal, giving the freeze dried biscuits a final five minutes to hydrate completely.
To recap, we stirred, mixed, and mixed again over the 15 minutes of hydration. Plenty of time for any added spices and flavorings to mix.
Chopsticks make excellent stirring utensils and can multi-task as a lid lifter.
Taste and Texture
Mountain House biscuits and gravy taste fairly good right out of the food pouch.
Mountain House Biscuits and Gravy. We normally eat this right from the pouch for easy cleanup. Today we’re showing you the deliciousness we’re about to have. The only thing missing here are the crushed red peppers and hot sauce.
There are bits and pieces of pork sausage, and chunks of biscuit all swimming in a creamy peppery gravy.
However, like most every prepackaged meal you might purchase, it’s a blank canvas. Mountain House biscuits and gravy included. It’s not spicy but not quite bland either. It’s probably a consumer preference as it allows for individual customization.
In our opinion, this two-serving pouch is just enough for one person. It could use more of the freeze dried pork sausage crumbles.
Mountain House Biscuits and Gravy Review Rating
In our opinion, the Mountain House Biscuits and Gravy make for some good downright tasty, and filling good-eats any time of the day or night.
However, I am giving this my own 4.9-star rating for taste, texture, and ease of preparation.
We’re docking a partial star because we think there should be more of that yummy pork sausage crumble.
But, this is one freeze dried food pouch that most definitely has a place in the freeze dried food pantry. Like most freeze dried food entrées, you can easily take this up a notch or three by adding your preferred spice selections.
Freeze Dried Food Hacks
As part of our Mountain House Biscuits and Gravy review, we have a few tips for kicking this freeze dried meal up a notch or two.
Consider adding crushed chipotle peppers to the water as you bring it to a boil. Chipotle peppers are easy to make at home and easy to pack. Just add one or two, per food pouch, in a small zip-top bag, and you’re all set.
Optionally, instead of chipotle peppers, consider crushed red pepper. Those take-out pizza places offer serving-size packets.
Sage and rosemary pair well with freeze dried biscuits and gravy. Add a teaspoon each of the dried spices to the water as you bring it to a boil.
Hot sauce pairs well with nearly everything, including biscuits and gravy. A popular fast-food chicken restaurant offers hot sauce packet condiments.
