WinCo has restocked on the Augason Farms products.
I’m pretty well set on these products, but since it’s available and I’m always up for experimentation….lets crack one open and see what we get.
What you see in the picture above is two heaping tablespoons of this dehydrated vegetable mix. Its a bit heavy on the potatoes, but there’s a pretty fair representation of everything else in there as well. So, how to rehydrate? Well, let’s just go with the basic of using warm water and time.
I put in enough warm water to cover, and left to go to work.
After a little while, t hings start plumping up.
And when I returned to the house at the end of the day, this is what I saw.
Drained the remaining liquid and this is what remains. The thing that surprised me was just how small these things were cut. When Ii think stew, I think of reasonably hearty chunks of vegetables. Not here. No piece is larger than a thumbnail. This isn’t necessarily bad, it just means you should be aware of it.
I’m going to try mixing this up with a can of beef stock, some Keystone beef, and a few other dry ingredients and see what kind of beef soup or beef stew can be created out of entirely long-term foods. I’ll let you know how it works out.
Sould make a great meal with your added ingredients. Off to Winco in the morning.
We tried that once. Boiled on stove. Smelled wonderful, tasted completely bland, something had weird crunchy texture like watercress (celery?). Might be able to flavor it up but the crunchy part blew the whole deal (and yes, it was fully hydrated). We put on eat this last when totally out of all other food list.
If you read the instructions on the can, you will see that this is “for use in any soup or stew”. It is not a stand alone complete dish. There are several suggested recipes on the can. Prepare with broth or bullion, seasoning, and if available add meat and/or potatoes.
Requesting further analysis of this ‘crunchy’ texture. Were you able to isolate the piece parts and determine what it was?
Is the 2nd picture representative of how ‘full’ the #10 can was when you opened it?
Nope.
I’m guessing the smaller pieces require less energy to freeze-dry, hence overall cheaper to produce. And there’s probably less demand for the smaller pieces (leftovers from big-chunk production?). Again, cheaper to produce.
Would love to know their cost of production per can per product… Not that I begrudge them profit! The margins could be amazing.
Dehydrated, not freeze dried
Even less energy!
Maybe some rogue Underpants Gnomes are running Augasons Farms. Step 3: Profit!
Crunchy even when fully rehydrated according to Anonymous above..was that your experience as well?
If the day ever comes I’ll eat it with a smile.
Following. Thank you for the review and cook up assessments. These products must be considered for it’s niche purposes and there is those limitations in the production and ability to be culinary equivalents. Nothing will match those fond memories of grandma cooking delicious fare from scratch and using old school non corporate accountant methods. It’s place is basically belly filler, that with some added external ingredients can be a good sustainment ration in spicy times. When dipping into pantry canned meats, poaching game meats, scavenging freshly road killed creatures before the crows circle, or dispatching that neighbor’s noisy dog for meat sustenance, then this is good base stock products to have in inventory. Yes, plan for all of above, and be kitted out for it, just because. A homework study assignment for readership is to watch the movie “King Rat”, with George Seagal, old B&W movie made in prewoke actual artistic eras. All of this material will be on your final exams, prepare accordingly. Thank you, that is all, dismissed.
Stay nourished, stay frosty.
Even better read the book. Its one of James Clavell’s best, with a real survival theme.
Try their blackbean burger mix. My wife likes bjackbean burgers and says their’s are excellent. I’m not into them but thought they were quite tasty.
Thanks for opening it up and sharing your knowledge! Much appreciated! The cost on these #10 cans are so high, I have not gotten into them.
I have several cans of this veggie mix on the shelf, but haven’t done this testing, so I thank you, CZ. I’m guessing I can hit this with a heavy dose of beef broth or bouillon cubes, then toss in a pint or a quart of home pressure canned venison/beef and it’ll taste great when the chips are down. Also, this dehydrated veggie mix is a perfect example of why we all need to have a considerable amount of salt stored away. Without salt, this much cabbage and potatoes is gonna taste like flat mush, count on it.
I performed my own experiment on this – the rehydration finding that the cabbage and onion were soft – as were potatoes – long before the rest. A difference in dice size would help with that but we work with what we have.
I added some browned ground beef and tomato sauce with beef stock to make a decent stew. It was tasty in the eating. However, the high ratio of cabbage and onion made for a fitful evening later. I will note this as Trade Goods, personally, though no one declines a meal when starving.