Prior to our trip to New Zealand, I was fortunate enough to be supplied with some freeze-dried meals from Tasmanian based company Campers Pantry.
Camper’s Pantry has only been in existence for a little over 12 months now when they began their offering with freeze-dried vegetables.
I reviewed the veggies back in late 2016 and they were absolutely fantastic with my Continental Pasta pack.
So, needless to say, I was keen to get stuck into the meals to see what they were like.
The three Camper’s Pantry meals I took with me were:
- Moroccan Pork
- Tuna Mornay
- Vegetarian Pasta
*Please note: this review was originally written in 2018 and the above three products are no longer part of Campers Pantry’s offering*
Straight away, before I even started cooking any of them, the weight of the bag stood out the most for me.
It’s incredibly lightweight and because all the contents inside don’t take up the entire bag, you can fold it in half and save on space.
Furthermore, the bag itself is incredibly convenient for many reasons.
First of all, the zip lock system at the top is incredibly convenient if you plan only to eat some of your meals at any given time.
Secondly, it’s also designed to trap the heat emitting from the boiling water you pour into the bag to cook the food.
While the cooking time is around the 20-minute mark, and probably longer than some other options in the market, the wait is well worth it.
The only knock on the way the Campers Pantry bags are designed is that I feel that they could be a little smaller.
As the contents take up the bottom third of the bag, it can be a little hard to get all of the food out without shaking it a little.
That aside, it’s well designed and the pros significantly outweigh the cons.
And last, but not least, each one tasted absolutely amazing.
We were doing some serious kilometres every day in New Zealand so knowing I would be eating something other than tuna and pasta later that night was always a motivator.
However, each Campers Pantry meal exceeded my expectations and I thoroughly enjoyed them all.
I would say that the Moroccan Pork was probably my favourite of the three.
So, in short, I would recommend Camper’s Pantry as an outdoor business to anyone who is looking for an alternative to Backcountry Cuisine or Outdoor Gourmet.
The pricing is reasonable for the serving size and I also think it’s worth noting that the meat products used aren’t processed.
