Rating: | 8.3 / 10 |
Value for Money | 1.6 / 2.5 |
Taste | 2.0 / 2.5 |
Convenience | 2.2 / 2.5 |
Weight | 2.5 / 2.5 |
The Outdoor Gourmet Company is one of a handful of companies that provides dehydrated / freeze dried meals to the Australian market. As far as commercially preprepared meals go and as the name suggests, they are a high end, high taste product.
For those who can’t cope with the heat of the Thai Green Chicken Curry, the Butter Chicken is the curry your having when your not having a curry as it has just a hint of spiciness. I must admit I’m not a fan of Butter Chicken when I go to a restaurant but I like this version particularly when its a cold night. The quality like all Outdoor Gourmet meals is excellent and you can easily recognise what you are eating.
Unlike other companies, Outdoor Gourmet focuses on providing meals for two. These meals are larger than their competitors’ offerings by approximately 8-9% which doesn’t sound like much but does help to explain the premium price. I’m a big eater and after a two week long trip I am starting to look for extra calories so will pack some two serve meals for every 2-3 nights for those extra calories.
The obvious negative with any freeze dried meals, and in particular with Outdoor Gourmet offerings is the price. The normal price sits around the AUD $24.99 RRP mark and at about $12.50 per person that isn’t cheap. Having said that, the products do have a long shelf life so you can stock up during the regular sales at the outdoor stores.
The argument that many offer against using commercially prepared meals is that you can prepare meals more cheaply in your own kitchen. While this may be the case, if you make meals in bulk, unless you are a good cook the quality is often not as good. I love to cook but there are other activities (such as hiking!) to which I would rather devote my time. Another way of thinking about this is how much do you pay for a greasy offering from the local takeaway for two people?
These meals are very easy to prepare and as long as you can boil water then you are set with preparation time requiring only ten minutes. I have yet to use cold water (and there is no reason why you can’t) however you would need to allow more time (a couple of hours) to be ready for eating. 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 spoon 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.
So if you like meals with a difference but without much spice then the Outdoor Gourmet Butter Chicken is a good option.
Great choice for an easy to prepare meal whether it be on a short or long trip
You can purchase the Outdoor Gourmet Butter Chicken meal online from Macpac, Snowys, Wild Earth, or from Wildfire Sports
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The Outdoor Gourmet Company provides a range of nine main meals in a twin serve size In addition to this current review these include:
Outdoor Gourmet Butter Chicken
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 out, you will get ‘dry pieces’ in your dinner
Picture of the uncooked meal in the now open bag
The meal now rehydrated with the almond garnish and the bag ‘torn down’
This review was done with product purchased from a retail store by Australian Hiker
18 October 2024