About Mountain House Food (#10 Cans)
One of the most well known suppliers of food with a very long shelf life (25+ years) is Mountain House. Mountain House is a division of Oregon Freeze Dry, and started selling in the early 1970s, mostly to backpackers.
For people planning on buying an NBC shelter (and anyone who wants a large quantity of food that can be stored for many years), Mountain House #10 cans are an excellent option. Their prices are higher than the competition, but they have been around much longer -- and people have actually tried Mountain House food that had been stored for 35 years.
Note that Mountain House sets an MSRP (Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price), and prevents its dealers from advertising at a lower price. Therefore, you will rarely see them sold for less than the MSRP (although shipping will often be included for free). You may see them on auction sites for less, and you may be able to get a small discount by paying with a rewards credit card.
Here we have a table showing the #10 cans that they sell, along with some basic nutrition information that might be of concern to you. The table is sortable, so you can easily find which options are the least expensive per 100 calories, and so forth.
Click on any heading (such as 'MSRP' or 'Cost per 100 Calories') to sort!
| Name | Type | MSRP | Servings | Calories | Sodium | Cost per Serving | Cost per 100 calories |
|---|
| Barbeque Sauce with Beef | Entree | $36.20 | 10 | 320 | 840 | $3.62 | $1.13 |
| Beef Stew | Entree | $32.89 | 10 | 210 | 850 | $3.29 | $1.57 |
| Beef Stroganoff | Entree | $26.20 | 10 | 260 | 820 | $2.62 | $1.01 |
| Breakfast Skillet | Breakfast | $34.00 | 10 | 350 | 880 | $3.40 | $0.97 |
| Chicken Ala King | Entree | $35.49 | 11 | 290 | 810 | $3.23 | $1.11 |
| Chicken Stew | Entree | $34.99 | 10 | 240 | 1130 | $3.50 | $1.46 |
| Chicken Teriyaki with Rice | Entree | $29.69 | 9 | 250 | 690 | $3.30 | $1.32 |
| Chili Mac with Beef | Entree | $24.79 | 10 | 240 | 660 | $2.48 | $1.03 |
| Corn | Vegetable | $20.59 | 22 | 90 | 16 | $0.94 | $1.04 |
| Cottage Cheese | Other | $53.50 | 20 | 110 | 410 | $2.68 | $2.43 |
| Creamed Beef | Entree | $32.00 | 50 | 150 | 580 | $0.64 | $0.43 |
| Diced Beef | Entree | $50.20 | 15 | 120 | 870 | $3.35 | $2.79 |
| Diced Chicken | Entree | $46.99 | 14 | 170 | 370 | $3.36 | $1.97 |
| Garden Green Peas | Vegetable | $20.79 | 22 | 80 | 125 | $0.95 | $1.18 |
| Granola with Milk & Blueberries | Breakfast | $38.29 | 20 | 250 | 20 | $1.91 | $0.77 |
| Green Beans | Vegetable | $23.29 | 20 | 30 | 0 | $1.16 | $3.88 |
| Ground Beef | Entree | $40.49 | 18 | 290 | 370 | $2.25 | $0.78 |
| Gulf Shrimp, Cooked | Entree | $50.00 | 22 | 60 | 140 | $2.27 | $3.79 |
| Lasagna | Entree | $32.89 | 10 | 240 | 490 | $3.29 | $1.37 |
| Long Grain & Wild Rice Pilaf | Entree | $28.69 | 10 | 180 | 450 | $2.87 | $1.59 |
| Mac & Cheese | Entree | $27.99 | 8 | 350 | 710 | $3.50 | $1.00 |
| Noodles & Chicken | Entree | $30.89 | 12 | 230 | 1000 | $2.57 | $1.12 |
| Oriental Style Rice & Chicken with Vegetables | Entree | $34.80 | 10 | 220 | 980 | $3.48 | $1.58 |
| Pasta Primavera | Entree | $31.20 | 9 | 210 | 560 | $3.47 | $1.65 |
| Pilot Crackers | Snack | $17.49 | 70 | 50 | 55 | $0.25 | $0.50 |
| Pork Chops - Uncooked | Entree | $45.50 | 14 | 170 | 55 | $3.25 | $1.91 |
| Raspberry Crumble | Dessert | $22.99 | 12 | 160 | 75 | $1.92 | $1.20 |
| Rice & Chicken | Entree | $22.49 | 8 | 340 | 1240 | $2.81 | $0.83 |
| Scrambled Eggs with Bacon | Breakfast | $31.89 | 16 | 180 | 600 | $1.99 | $1.11 |
| Scrambled Eggs with Ham, Red & Green Peppers | Breakfast | $35.10 | 17 | 160 | 580 | $2.06 | $1.29 |
| Seafood Chowder | Entree | $36.70 | 10 | 230 | 840 | $3.67 | $1.60 |
| Sliced Bananas | Fruit/Snack | $25.69 | 20 | 70 | 0 | $1.28 | $1.84 |
| Sliced Strawberries | Fruit/Snack | $29.50 | 16 | 40 | 0 | $1.84 | $4.61 |
| Spaghetti with Meat | Entree | $23.10 | 10 | 230 | 920 | $2.31 | $1.00 |
| Sweet & Sour Pork with Rice | Entree | $37.79 | 10 | 280 | 810 | $3.78 | $1.35 |
| Uncooked Egg Mix, Butter Flavor | Breakfast | $42.00 | 50 | 130 | 330 | $0.84 | $0.65 |
| Vegetable Stew w/Beef | Entree | $27.70 | 9 | 210 | 1150 | $3.08 | $1.47 |
| White Rice - Instant | Entree | $17.79 | 24 | 180 | 10 | $0.74 | $0.41 |
- MSRP is the Mountain House designated retail price as of January, 2011. Dealers are not allowed to advertise for less than that.
- Servings is the number of servings per #10 can (multiply by 6 to get the number of servings per case).
- Calories is the number of calories per #10 can (multiply by 6 to get the number of calories per case).
- Sodium is the number of milligrams of sodium per serving. This may be important if water is scarce, as the sodium can make you thirsty.
- Cost per 100 calories is the most useful method that we came up with for comparing prices.
