Mountain House Breakfast Skillet, 4.73 Oz, 13g of protein

Drove all morning to get to my campsite at the ocean. California coast traffic was so bad, I totally forgot to stop for breakfast like I had planned. As I unpacked my gear at the site, I remembered the breakfast skillet pack I had bought. My stomach instantly growled, which I could only assume was in complete compliance with the idea. I went for my tea kettle and burner and got it going. Just as I was done unloading, the kettle started to whistle. Stomach let out another note of it's own. I grabbed the breakfast skillet pack and followed the instructions. Had to wait 8-9 minutes it said, so I set up my tent, which I knew only took me about ten minutes. Halfway way through I gave it another mix as the packet had suggested. Finished my tent setup, probably over the amount of time I supposed you wait for the skillet. Wow, it was still pretty hot! I expected it to cool off considerably sitting on a picnic table with the cool 50-55 degree coastal breeze steadily pressing against it. Taste was great! The little bits of peppers even seem to have a crunch to them, and not in a bad way. Like they were almost just chopped and thrown in. I ate this all to myself, but definitely could've been for two with something else added to the breakfast. I did have one little area that I didn't mix to well but that was on me. Be sure to mix when you add water, half way through (4-5 minutes), and even at the end before eating. I highly recommend this, and will be ordering again. Thank you!

I have a tentative backpacking trip planned in 6 months. It will be my first time backpacking so I wanted to check out the food choices prior to going on the trip. I purchased the Mountain House Breakfast Skillet as one of several Mountain House food items. It is the first I have tried and I was incredibly surprised to find that it was very good. I made this at home but followed directions exactly. I liked the idea of not have a lot of dishes to do since I could just eat from the pouch. Only a spoon to clean. The taste was really much better than I expected from freeze dried food. I might bring a little salt and pepper with me but it isn't necessary if I'm close to pack weight limit. I enjoyed this in the comfort of my own home - I imagine that on a cold morning after hiking miles the previous day and with the intent of hiking miles more, this hot meal will taste almost heavenly. Good protein and caloric count for hiking! This will definitely be in my pack in April. Make sure what is at a rolling boil when adding to the bag. Keep it sealed and insulated for a full 10 mins to avoid crunchy pieces. Add salt & pepper if desired.

Look & Presentation: My first impressions on opening the pouch, I was lucky - my pouch had been treated gently in shipping and I had large chunks of egg, and even the hash browns were decent looking. Sausage and peppers were clearly visible, so all in all I was impressed on opening the pouch - I've seen a lot of these where the pouch contents are practically powdered, which really does suck. Anyway, I followed the instructions - exactly 12 ounces of boiling hot water (the water was still bubbling in the measuring cup, so I KNOW it was boiling), I poured it into the pouch, stirred thoroughly then sealed the pouch. Exactly 9 minutes later I opened the pouch and...ugh. There was a fair amount of water that went unabsorbed. I stirred it again, sealed the pouch, got out my tortillas (which I wrapped in a damp paper towel) and tossed them into the microwave. 45 seconds later I pulled out hot tortillas and set them on a plate, opened the pouch and...still some water visible. So I poured the contents into a bowl and microwaved it for 1 minute. That did remove some of the water and it improved the consistency greatly, but not the looks. I could still discern large chunks of egg, and I could pick out the sausage, peppers, and hash browns, but there was something that looked like, well, I could describe it as looking like undissolved non-dairy creamer, mixed in with everything that was really, really unappetizing to look at. I've read another review where the reviewer put the pouch contents into a skillet which striked me as a genius idea, and something that I'm sure would resolve both the moisture content and appearance issues. Anyway, I was finally ready to taste it!Taste: I stirred it more thoroughly and tasted it. It was rather bland - not bad tasting, not tasteless either. The eggs were better than some I've had (powdered eggs are the standard for blandness, these had some body and flavor), the sausage, peppers and onion were flavorful, I was even able to taste the hash browns. The problem was, it was all just...blah. So I added a fair amount of salt, some pepper, and a good dose of Cholula hot sauce, and suddenly the flavor just perked right up. So I re-nuked the tortillas to make sure they were hot, and sat down to make myself some breakfast burritos. Honestly? Not the worst I've ever had. In fact, aside from the issue with the excess water (which I'd overcome earlier) I rather enjoyed my meal.Overall Impressions: As a breakfast burrito option these were at least as good as anything you'd find in a convenience store, and IMO superior to the prepackaged ones you can find in the frozen food section of a supermarket. The main problem is the absorption rate of the boiling water. I'm loath to tell Mountain House their business, but I'd step down the boiling water content from 12 ounces to 11 or even 10 ounces in the future. Other than that this was a great breakfast item and eaten on the trail I can only imagine what a welcome item it would be. I'll definitely be ordering again.

This was my first time trying these meals. This past weekend I took these with me on a 4-day trip. They have plenty of calories and protein, which I needed for our 7 mile trek. First off if you're expecting a five star breakfast from a fancy restaurant you will not find it here and maybe you shouldn't be backpacking. It's backpacking food! I made sure I added boiling water. Make sure the water is at a ROLLING BOIL when adding. I did a things different than the directions and they came out just fine every time even from the first one. Again, make sure the water is at a rolling boil before adding water. After adding the water I stirred it before resealing the bag. I placed the bag inside my beanie or wrapped a shirt around the bag keeping it covered for 10 to 15 minutes. This helped any heat loss through the bag, if any. After the 10 to 15 minutes I open the bag and stirred the food making sure it was all rehydrated. Which it was every time. I never had a soupy or crunchy breakfast, like some pictures I've seen. Not exactly fluffy eggs like your 5 Star Restaurant but again it's freeze dried backpacking food. It has good flavor, calories and protein all which you need while backpacking. And these breakfast couches turned out just fine every time with my variations.