Australian Hiker

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Back Country Cuisine Classic Beef Curry Review

The Back Country Cuisine range of outdoor meals is probably the best known in Australia. These meals are stocked by the majority of outdoor stores and many people consider them the staple meal choice for outdoor activities. Back Country do a huge range of meal choices and many stores seem to select a ‘top ten’ so you are unlikely to find the full range in stock in any one store. In addition to the large variety of twin serves, the company also provides single serving (entree) although the single serve options don’t seem to have as large a variety at least as far as what the stores seem to stock. I’m still working my way though the very large range but I am finding this adventure is a bit hit and miss which is to be expected as everyone’s tastes are different.

I’m a big curry fan so was looking forward this offering and while I enjoyed it its not going to displace my favourites from Back Country the Mexican Chicken or the Cottage Pie. The taste was fine but from a personal perspective I would have liked a bit more spice as my idea of a good curry is one that makes your head sweat. I also found that the pea ratio was a bit high. Another little niggle on this meal was the square shaped beef pieces which tends to be an issue with all dehydrated beef meals, not just this one. I would have preferred the beef prices to be slightly smaller. So overall while I liked the Back Country Classic Beef Curry I would place it in the ‘I liked it was wasn’t ecstatic list’.

These meals are very convenient and preparation only requires the addition of 250 ml of boiling water and a recommended ten minutes to rehydrate. I have found leaving the meals for about 11-12 minutes tends to get a better result and I would suggest cutting the water back by about 20 mls as well; see what you think on this one.

The normal price sits around the AUD $12.99 RRP mark for a single serve pack with the twin serves working out more cost effective. Most of the larger chain stores offer member discounts or have regular sales so its worthwhile looking around. I brought this meal and a number of others at 20% of at an end of year financial sale so this makes a big difference when you are buying up big. As these products do have a long shelf life you can stock up as the sales come on line in anticipation of an upcoming trip.

The meal comes in a bag that is well designed and the bottom opens out to provide a flat base for those minimalists who want to leave the bowl at home. The option exists to tear the top off the bag to allow easy access to the food but you if you have a long handled spork/fork you won’t need to tear the bag. My other reason for not tearing the top off the bag is that you minimise any mess and after you’re done, you can re-zip the zip lock.

I don’t mind the Classic beef curry, would happily eat it if offered, and would defiantly add it to the mix on a long trip. Having said that there are so many other choices from both Back Country and Outdoor Gourmet (both produced by the same manufacturer) I would prefer to eat. I also find the single serve meals to be OK for a short trip but after doing big miles on a long trip I have usually added twin serve meals which I will happily devour.

We like

• Three year warranty which means you can buy these when you see them discounted thereby reducing the price. You also know the meals will always be edible
• Minimal preparation time.  All you are doing is rehydrating these meals so once you add boiling water there’s only a 10-12 minute wait
• If you eat from the bag there is only the spork/fork to clean up. In fact you may not even need to carry a bowl at all thereby limiting the weight you carry
• A very large variety of meals from which to choose both single and double serves so it’s unlikely you will become bored unless you are on a really long hike
• Freeze dried. This takes much of the weight out of the meals and helps to limit the impact on your body
• Single serve option provides just the right size for solo travellers on short trips

We don't like

• The main negatives of any commercially preprepared dehydrated / freeze dried meals is the cost. The Back Country Cuisine meals are cheaper than their competitors which only offer twin serve meals however per person this single serve meal is $11.99 which is not cheap. These meals are cheaper/serve when bought in the twin serve size
• Single serve start being a bit small on longer trips when you burn through the calories. I will usually pack a mix of single and double meals on longer trips.

Best Uses

An easy to prepare meal whether it be on a short or long trip for camping and hiking

Buy one

You can purchase the Back Country Cuisine Classic Beef Curry meal online from Macpac, Snowys,Wild Earth, or from Wildfire Sports

Disclosure:  We may earn a small commission, at no additional expense to you, if you click through and make a purchase. Please note that our affiliations do not influence, in any way, the independence of our reviews. If we don’t like a product, you’ll hear about it from us!

Other Versions

Back Country Cuisine makes a large range of meals. See our top 5 here

Disclaimer

This review was done with product purchased from a retail store by Australian Hiker

Back Country Classic Beef Curry as purchased

The bottom of the bag opens out to provide a flat surface. Opening out the base will allow the meal to more evenly rehydrate. If you don’t open the base fully, you will get ‘dry pieces’ in your dinner

Uncooked meal in the now opened bag

The meal now rehydrated and the bag torn down

Disclaimer

This review was done with product purchased from a retail store by Australian Hiker

Last updated

25/11/23

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