In this review Alex Roddie takes a look at the Summit to Eat Beef and Potato Stew backpacking meal

The packaging provides all of the essential information, including both a file line and fill volume in millilitres, although the instructions are tiny and hard to read. The ingredients list shows few obvious additives beyond rapeseed oil. However, there is added salt, and it’s also relatively high in sugar.

Alex Roddie’s verdict

Although the experience of eating this wasn’t as pleasant as the other meals tested, Summit to Eat is still worth considering for an affordable option.
Pros
  • Excellent value
Cons
  • High in salt and sugar
  • Tiny text on packaging
  • Beef chewy
Quick specs
Price: £7.45
Weight: 118g
Calories: 624
Calories/100g: 528.8
Calories/£1: 83.8
Time to hydrate: 9 minutes
Vegan/vegetarian/dairy free/gluten free? no
Allergens: none
basecampfood.com

The Summit to Eat Beef and Potato Stew took about a minute longer to rehydrate acceptably than the advised eight minutes, and even when hydrated I found the potato chunks rather chewy. The small beef strips remained very chewy for as long as it took to eat the meal. The rest of the ingredients were rather mushy and didn’t have much texture.

Although the experience of eating this wasn’t as pleasant as the other meals tested, Summit to Eat is still worth considering for an affordable option. Value is up there amongst the best tested, making it relatively painless on your wallet if you want to stock up on meals for a big trip.