Monday 18 March 2013

Review: Hungerbuster Combo Meal Pack

Hungerbuster Combo Meal Pack

Firstly a few FAQ’s

What is an MRE?
MRE is an typically an American abbreviation for meals ready to eat. It is usually used in a military situation to describe their ration pack food.

Are Hungerbuster Meals freeze dried?
Rather than freeze-drying the food it is presented ready to eat – reducing fuss and preparation time, in exchange for an increase in weight. Having nutritious food that can be eaten instantly without complicated preparation is a major bonus in emergency situations.

What do I need to heat a Hungerbuster Hot Meal?
They can be eaten hot or cold; we recommend hot for maximum taste enjoyment. Hungerbuster food is precooked and extremely easy to prepare - heat & eat so not a lot effort is required to prepare them.
 A pot and a fire or gas cooker or a flameless heater sleeve - it couldn't be easier. You can eat it straight out of the pack, no dishes ... no worries.

Can I use the Hungerbuster range as a survival pack?
Yes, the sturdy durable nature of the packs means they can be stored in a stable environment (below 20 deg C) for up to 3 years. They are ideal as emergency food for any situation.
These are also the same meals supplied to the entire New Zealand armed forces and used by 70% of the Australian armed forces.

Is Hungerbuster suitable for long term storage?
It has a minimum 24 month shelf life, subject to being stored in a stable environment, not exceeding 20 deg C.

What is the pack?
The Hungerbuster Combo Ration Pack is a complete 24 hour food pack to keep you going easily for the whole day. The pack includes:

Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner – 1 of the following Main Meals
Other
·       Muesli with milk powder
·         Instant Noodles
·         Crackers
·         Yeast Spread
·         Fruit Spread or  Jam
·       Beef and Vegetable
·       Chicken Pasta and Vegetable
·        BBQ Beef
·        Pasta Salad
·         Instant Noodles
·         Choc Bar
·         Candy Chocolates
·         Muesli Bars
·         Fruit Grains
·         Sweetened Condensed Milk
·         Instant Coffee
·         Tea Bag
·         Sports Drink Powder
·         Chocolate Drink Powder
·         Salt
·         Sugar
Total weight of pack = approx 1200g
Average Energy content per pack = 13,000kj


Now for the Review:

There are four different main meal flavours to choose from: BBQ Beef, Beef & Vegetable, Chicken Pasta & Vegetable and a Vegetarian Pasta Salad pack. There isn’t as much variety as the freeze-dried products but there is something for everyone (including a vegetarian option).
I found the variety of products in the pack a great quality and everything tasted great. A lot of the food included in the pack isn’t necessarily made by the brand, an example being the plain biscuits for a morning snack with the yeast spread are branded Arnott’s Sao’s and, although not branded, the small candy chocolates taste exactly like Nestle Smarties.
The pack advertises the average energy content per pack to be 13,000kjs which can seam like a lot however if your out camping, hiking or hunting you’ll need the extra kjs to keep your energy up. With my experience the breakfast and morning tea (muesli bar) were just the right potions so I wasn’t starving by lunch time. The lunch was a little ‘light’ for me but with the extra fruit grains and candy chocolates I was pretty filled.
For dinner I tried the Beef and Vegetable stew and apart from being delicious it was very filling when combined with the noodles. One tip (probably very obvious to everyone but me at the time) is when heating your main reuse your water to heat through your noodles but make sure you drain them really well before mixing with the stew. The stew had enough sauce/juices to make it enjoyable without the noodle juice making it too runny.

Something to point out is some feedback I’ve received from friends about the chocolate bar in the pack being slightly discoloured with a white colour. Although I didn’t experience this I thought it warranted investigation. After some google research I discovered that the chocolate is still safe to eat. An explanation can be found here.

Overall the packs have a great variety of products in the pack ensuring you won’t get bored halfway through, great tasting mains and fuss free preparation. If your able to carry the extra weight (freeze-dried packs usually weight about 800-900g) then taking a MRE pack is definitely the way to go!

Where can I buy and how much?
You can purchase the Hungerbuster Ration Pack at the Aussie Prepper website for as little as $30.00 plus postage. 





Hope for the best, Prep for the worst!


 

1 comment:

  1. This review was compiled by a group of Business Management students wgo live in the Mallee in Victoria.
    Breakfast
    The breakfast looked pretty good if your out camping it would give you the energy you need to keep going.
    Snack
    Wholegrain cereal bar with chia seeds
    Soft and easy to eat, tastes good. The packaging was very clearly labelled and easy to read. It had 581kj of energy, compared to the 1000kj of energy a mars bar has.
    Raspberry snack bar: The bar was very sweet and had a strong fruit flavour. It was pretty small in size. The bar is a little bit chewy and has lots of sugar. The packaging of the bar was satisfactory. The texture of the bar could be described as sticky.
    Teriyaki Steak Snack Bar: The bar tasted surprisingly well, and with the expiry date in mind, it’s a great product. It’s produced in New Zealand and has 293kj.
    Biscuit with Jam: the biscuit was dry like it’s supposed to be and the jam added some flavour on the biscuit. The packing was strong but the package design could look better so it could attract and interest more people into eating it.
    Lunch
    Beef casserole and mash potato it didn’t smell good but if I was starving I’d eat it.
    Beverage
    Coffee: Coffee tastes like regular coffee but the sweetened condensed milk was too sweet. Lots of energy in the milk.
    Hot chocolate: It taste pretty normal, definitely drinkable. The sweetened condensed milk was nice, although if too much was used it can be too sweet.
    Packaging – general
    Improvements
    Better cutlery is needed,
    The pack can be improved by providing more snacks and other beverages such as sport drinks.

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