Walking Equipment and Accessories

Firepot Bio Packs | Review

Fuel your adventures with these tasty meal options from Firepot

Why We Chose It: Delicious, nutritious, and available in eco-friendly packaging.

Whether you’re eating dinner by a hilltop tent in winter or stopping for lunch by a river during one of your summertime multi-dayers, good food is an essential and very often mood-lifting part of any outdoor adventure. With that in mind, it stands to reason that you’d want this essential element of your adventure to be delicious, nutritious, and as nice as it can be. For wild excursions, we recommend the Firepot range.

Going through Firepot’s meal options is a real mouth-watering experience. With everything from ‘Spicy Pork Noodles’ and ‘Chilli Con Carne and Rice’ right on through to ‘Porcini Mushroom Risotto’, ‘Vegan Orzo Bolognese’ and so much more up for grabs, even the fussiest eaters should find something to their liking here.

“Firepot offer food in packaging that’s designed to break down into compost within a year”

When going head to head with rival dehydrated food packs Firepot really come out swinging and, more often than not, they end up coming out on top as well. Considerably more meat in the meat options, less salt, locally-sourced ingredients, generally more calories and a better price per calorie ratio; there’s a lot to like.

The environmentally-conscientious will be pleased to hear that Firepot now offer food in packaging that’s designed to break down into compost within a year. The nature of this range’s packaging (pictured above right), which differs from Firepot’s standard yellow number (pictured on the left), does mean you don’t have the added convenience of being able to prepare the food in the pouch itself. Instead, you’ll need to pour the dry food into a pan to prepare it which, admittedly, does mean you’ll have some washing up to do. That quibble aside though, the fact that it will, whether it ends up in a landfill or a compost bin, be completely gone after just 365 days means it’s a real winner from a saving the planet point of view. As a point of comparison, plastic can take over 500 years to disappear.

The ultimate in dehydrated meals? We reckon they might be.

The Outdoors Magic Test Team tucking in during their trip to the Black Mountains. Photo: Chris Johnson

Simply boil up the water, pour in and let the ingredients rehydrate. Photo: Chris Johnson

The Firepot recipe list is an extensive one. Photo: Chris Johnson

Tester’s Verdict

Will Renwick, OutdoorsMagic editor

“Back when I first started backpacking, my staple meal was a pack of Super Noodles, and it took me a long time to realise how little favours that 262-calorie helping was doing for me. I remember eating my lunch at 12 noon on a hike across Scotland a few years ago, and my mind starting to think about my evening ration not long after 1pm. Days later, we were filling out our noodles with porridge oats. Eventually, I discovered the benefits of a dehydrated meal; how, for a little bit more weight I could get a lot more energy and a hell of a lot more satisfaction.

“Out of all the backpacking meal brands that I’ve tried, it’s been Firepot’s and Real Turmat’s meals that I’d rank highest. Both offer really delicious recipes that do what’s needed, and quickly. When these are both compared though, Firepot have the edge in my opinion, with better recipes, that choice of sustainable packaging and a lower price.

“At £6.95, Firepot still isn’t cheap – you could get a meal in a cafe for the same price – and for a long backpacking trip, buying one of these for every meal will cost a small fortune. Therefore, what I tend to do is buy a few and then use them as rewards in-between periods of relying on the boring stuff like Batchelors Pasta n’Sauce or couscous. But anyway, that’s just me!”

With meat-based, vegetarian and vegan options. Photo: Chris Johnson

Trade Secrets

Firepot Marketing Staff

“As adventurists ourselves, we know how to do expedition food the right way. Not only do our unique dehydration method do away with chemicals, palm oil and excess salt and sugar, but we also ensure that the delicious home-made flavour comes through the moment you add hot water. Seasonal ingredients sourced from local Dorset farmers, vegan options and fully-compostable packaging make these light-weight meals a stand-out choice for those in the know.”