As a kid, biscuits were a staple on camping trips – and yes, the kind that comes in a can. Along with things like fresh eggs and bacon and all sorts of heavy, difficult to pack, but tasty food – we never thought twice about packing such items and ate well. While we ate like kings, sleeping pads were thin foam roll-up pads – either under a space blanket (very loud) if the weather was warm, or giant “0 degree” synthetic sleeping bags that had you shivering at 40 degrees.

Today, most of it doesn’t make sense, but perhaps the good food was one way to make the lack of sleep worth it. But I digress. When I noticed the Biscuits & Sausage Gravy meal from Peak Refuel – with two whole biscuits included in the package – it was a meal I had to try…and no packing of refrigerated cans of uncooked biscuits would be required.

While the price of this meal is on the high side, it does contain an impressive calorie count.

Peak Refuel Biscuits & Sausage Gravy

The first thing you’ll notice about meals from Peak Refuel is just how expensive they are – at $15 for this meal it’s among the most expensive freeze-dried meals on the market. But at least there is some justification. While other meals might average around $10 and 500 calories, this meal packs in 1100 – perhaps too much for one person early on during a high altitude trip where appetites just aren’t there no matter how many miles you hiked that day. Thus, this is a meal that can be considered for two or for one hungry person. While we’ll be adding water to rehydrate the meal, you’ll want to hydrate as well considering the 1780mg of sodium content in the meal – but hey, it’s biscuits and gravy.

Opening this meal reveals 2 complete freeze-dried biscuits, a novel sight when it comes to backpacking meals. After adding 1 1/3 cups of boiling water, stirring, and waiting 10 minutes, the meal is ready to eat. My first thought was that the gravy ended up pretty soupy – likely due to the still-whole biscuits. This is a bit of a choose your own adventure meal; if you prefer you can sacrifice the wholeness of the biscuits by mashing them up to absorb more liquid and thicken the consistency. For me though, I thought the whole biscuits were the most interesting thing about this meal, and leaving them whole results in a more liquid gravy with biscuits that are the texture of well-done normal oven-baked biscuits, but not burned (they’re a little crunchy, but not in a bad way). The biscuits do soften up as they sit.

The sausage and black pepper round out this meal with plenty of each ingredient. The meal is quite good, and frankly there’s not much I’d change about it. While the price is high, the calorie count is unusually high as well (still no leftovers in my case) – and on a calorie to price ratio the meal competes fairly well. Still, the price makes this a meal I’m not sure I’ll stock up on as a main go-to, but it will be one that I’ll try to incorporate into the rotation from time to time, and hopefully catch a sale somewhere.

With this meal from Peak Refuel, the included whole biscuits are no joke.

Conclusion

Overall, the biscuits and gravy option from Peak Refuel provides an ample serving size, great taste, and a little novelty to boot. And if you close your eyes, you might just think you’re eating a meal from a local diner rather than a freeze-dried version in camp. This meal easily works for breakfast or dinner, but if you ask me, this is one meal that’s perfect for one of those chilly, rainy evenings in camp at the end of a long day.

The Peak Refuel Biscuits & Sausage Gravy meal retails for about $15. Find the meal here at REI Co-op as well as here at Amazon.com. If you're looking to stock up on meals, you can also grab the meal at 10% off by using REI's (8 or more) bulk backpacking food discount.

Editor's Note: This review originally appeared in Issue 55 of TrailGroove Magazine. You can read the original article here.