Review: FIREPOT Meals by Outdoorfood.com

Review: FIREPOT Meals by Outdoorfood.com

My last experience of dehydrated food was about 15 years ago during my brief foray into the world of the Duke of Edinburgh award. I wasn’t impressed. In fact, I haven’t eaten any since. Then recently, in our quest to cut down on camping equipment and maybe try some backpacking in the near future, I have briefly considered buying a dehydrater. While debating the merits of making our own trail food, I was contacted by Outdoorfood.com to see if I wanted to try some of their meals.

We were sent a sample of four FIREPOT meals, orzo pasta bolognese, dal and rice with spinach, chilli con carne with rice and porcini mushroom risotto. We tried them all with the pasta bolognese being a particular hit after we took it out with us on a little adventure.

We decided to head out for a little picnic with our stove

Our cooking set up, using our Biolite stove and well used camping kettle!

A pack of dehydrated food, after hot after has been added. There is a forest in the back ground

I love the packaging, which also includes the calorie count

It makes a real difference to eat dehydrated food that actually tastes good. Unlike many other producers that only mix the ingredients once they have been separately freeze dried; FIREPOT meals are cooked like you would at home, before being dried as a whole meal. This approach obviously pays off as we were impressed with how tasty all the meals were. (Even our notoriously contrary toddler loved them) I imagine that after a tough day of hiking they would taste absolutely amazing!

A young boy eats some pasta from a bowl. He is outdoors, standing by a fallen log

The orzo pasta bolognese is a hit with our fussy toddler!

They are also incredibly easy to prepare. We went for the sachet method, although you can also make them in a pan. We boiled a kettle and filled up to the relevant level (as determined in the instructions) and left for 15 minutes.

The ‘before shot’ of our pasta bolognese

The finished orzo pasta bolognese after hot water has been added

Ever keen to save on washing up, we went for the pouch method

I love the packaging of the FIREPOT meals, obviously as a massive map geek, the OS map design is brilliant, but I also like the fact that the pouches are resealable. Makes it all very easy and tidy, especially with a toddler around.

A young boy sits on a forest floor, eating pasta from a bowl

Finn tucking into his lunch

So these meals look and taste great, but just how nutritious are they? Firstly, they are free from artificial flavourings and preservatives and made with locally sourced produce. This attention to detail really sets the FIREPOT meals apart. There are no hidden nasties, just the same ingredients that you would use at home.

But also, they are made with active outdoor loving consumers in mind. These meals are satisfying and contain enough fuel to sustain even the toughest adventurers. The meals contain between 540-700 calories, although larger portion sizes (1000+ calories) are available on request.

With a RRP of £6.50, they’re not cheap, but I think that they are good value and we will certainly be taking some on our next adventure.

Have you ever tried dehydrated meals? Have these tempted you?

Disclosure: I was given four sample packs for the purposes of this review, all opinions expressed are my own.

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Comments

  • Anna Anna April 07, at 07:07

    Dehydrated meals have gotten better and better over the years I have to say. I haven’t personally had a Firepot meal yet but Adam swears by any of the “All Day Breakfasts” and I always go for Mac’n’Cheese. There’s something about Pasta that just works. Oh and pudding, don’t forget to try the puddings!
    I’ve been experimenting with how to make the meals myself/cheaper while not having to actually cook them in a pot (I want boil in the bag or dehydrated preferrably). A dehydrator is still on my wish list but I am currently trying my way through pot noodles and cuppa soups to find which of these are the most filling.
    Love your review!

    Reply
    • The Helpful Hiker The Helpful Hiker April 07, at 07:15

      Thanks! Our next plan was to give pot noodles etc a go, but think I might stick to Firepot now, they were really good!

      Reply
  • lovinglifeinwelliesblog lovinglifeinwelliesblog April 07, at 07:47

    I have to admit these kinds of meals have never appealed to me BUT as I want to do longer hikes without having to worry about food etc, I think I’m going to give them a go. Children have to be the fussiest of eaters ever so if your lilun likes them it’s saying something. I’ll check them out! I’m off on a solo wild camp soon so these could come in handy.

    Reply
  • Christine Christine April 07, at 14:21

    My last dehydrated meal was DofE too – I think I’m probably put off them for life. That said, I’m sure they’ve come a long way since then although I’d think very hard before spending £6.50 on one!

    Reply
  • Howellsey Howellsey April 07, at 17:10

    Always a fan of anything that removes the need to do washing up!!

    Reply
  • Fiona Cambouropoulos Fiona Cambouropoulos April 11, at 08:01

    Great idea for camping and outdoor adventures #TriedTested

    Reply
  • Catherine @ Story Snug Catherine @ Story Snug April 11, at 07:11

    Wow! Things have certainly moved on since I camped a girl guide twenty years ago! I’d like to try the risotto :o)

    #TriedTested

    Reply
  • New Mummy Blog New Mummy Blog April 11, at 07:18

    They sounds really good and much better than he old versions! #triedtested

    Reply
  • See Outside See Outside April 12, at 15:03

    They sound delicious- much better than many other dehydrated meals about!

    Can’t wait to try them when mine arrive!!

    Reply
  • The Reading Residence The Reading Residence April 13, at 07:06

    These do look perfect for camping and so handy that you can eat them in the packets and save on the washing up, too!

    Reply

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