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Meals Ready to Eat

PotomacBob 🚫

With regard to Meals Ready to Eat, either the military kind or the commercial kind, has anybody on this forum actually used these products?
How do they taste? Does a single package contain a whole meal or do you need something else to go with it. Does, for example, a package of beef actually taste like beef. I know it says "ready to eat" - but do you eat it out of the package or do you need to pour or spoon (or some other verb) into a separate container before eating. Is it at room temperature? How about weight? Does it contain liquid that would make it heavy? Are there a wide variety of options available as to what is contained in an MRE?
This is for use in a story and all I know is from some acquaintances who take MREs when hiking for longer than a day trip. My very limited exposure to them suggests thay are not wildly enthusiastic about MREs.

Dominions Son 🚫
Updated:

@PotomacBob

With regard to Meals Ready to Eat

Ah yes, three lies for the price of one.

"How do they taste?"

Marginally better than starving to death.

On a serious note:

Yes, it's at room temperature when you get it.

An MRE will generally contain several items such as crackers or peanut butter that have a high shelf life without refrigeration, but the main entree (for lack of a better term) has been freeze dried.

The beef is actual real beef, but again, it's been freeze dried. And yes, that affects how it tastes, even when reconstituted.

The general intent by the makers is that the main entree is in a heat resistant plastic pouch and you would reconstitute it by pouring hot water into the pouch and then eat it directly from the pouch.

If you try to eat it without doing this (which is possible) it looks and tastes like dry dog food.

If you do reconstitute it, it looks like moist canned dog food, but generally mostly tastes like what it's supposed to be.

Yes, it's a complete meal, but it's not exactly generous portions.

Yes, they are fairly light for what they are, because there is almost no water in them.

The use case for them (military or civilian) is if you are going somewhere long enough that you will need to eat at least one meal, and can't for whatever reason take anything that would require refrigeration.

Replies:   StarFleet Carl
StarFleet Carl 🚫

@Dominions Son

three lies for the price of one.

100% agree with you on this one.

When I was at BCT at Ft. McClellan, I was injured enough I was put on light duty for a couple of day. So, no marching out for training. What I DID get to do was load the trailer with cartons of C-Rats, then prepare them for distribution to the rest of the company. That meant opening them, and stacking them label side down so no one would know what they were getting. Except I made sure, when I was stacking things, to put certain meals for the squad and platoon leaders in the back of the pile, so when they came through, I handed them a GOOD meal, as opposed to something like canned eggs and ham.

My platoon drill sergeant was a little weird, anyway. He loved to play spades and pinochle, so he'd have three of us in his office playing cards with him during evening time, when you're cleaning or resting. Still didn't prevent him from riding his motorcycle through the barracks as a wake-up call, though.

As for MREs - well, let's face it. If you're hungry, and it's the only food you have, then you'll eat it, pretty much no matter what it looks like or tastes like. Having enough water to actually reconstitute it into something vaguely edible (as opposed to looking and tasting like Styrofoam rice cakes - like the freeze dried ice cream they sold at the Cape Kennedy souvenir shop when I was a kid because it was just like the astronauts ate) helps.

Reluctant_Sir 🚫

@PotomacBob

Youtube.

There a several thousand videos describing, comparing, contrasting, unpacking, inventorying, preparing and even eating, MREs.

Replies:   tblev2011
tblev2011 🚫

@Reluctant_Sir

Exactly. I highly recommend Steve1989 - the king of MRE reviews.

Sarkasmus 🚫
Updated:

@PotomacBob

First of all: It depends a lot on what kind of MRE you get. Not only does every nation have their own version of MREs for their armies, there is also stuff like "travellunch" for hiking and similar activities.

But what all of them have in common is that almost none of them are actually "ready to eat". Unless you want the crackers and desserts, you'll have to add water (that is seldomly included).

Tastewise, I don't mind them. I don't think they're any worse than all the microwave-meals or instant-soups you get in stores.

Replies:   Dominions Son
Dominions Son 🚫
Updated:

@Sarkasmus

First of all: It depends a lot on what kind of MRE you get.

When someone uses the term MRE, I am going to presume that they mean the product made primarily for the US military (they are available on the civilian market) that officially goes by that designation.

Yes, other countries have similar products for their militaries, but they all call them something else.

Unless you want the crackers and desserts, you'll have to add water (that is seldomly included).

Technically, you can eat freeze dried food without reconstituting it. It doesn't taste very good that way, but it's not inedible.

Replies:   Sarkasmus
Sarkasmus 🚫

@Dominions Son

Technically, you can eat freeze dried food without reconstituting it. It doesn't taste very good that way, but it's not inedible.

I can be wrong, but I always operated under the impression that eating it without adding water would result in hardcore constipation...

Replies:   Dominions Son
Dominions Son 🚫

@Sarkasmus

but I always operated under the impression that eating it without adding water would result in hardcore constipation...

Why? As long as you are drinking enough water to avoid dehydration, there should be more than enough moisture in your digestive track.

I suppose if you are eating nothing but freeze dried food over a long enough period of time, it might be an issue, but no, one or two meals that way shouldn't, as far as I know, cause any significant issues.

Replies:   Sarkasmus
Sarkasmus 🚫

@Dominions Son

Why? As long as you are drinking enough water to avoid dehydration, there should be more than enough moisture in your digestive track.

There, that's my issue with it. I kinda got hung up on the impression that OP was asking whether an MRE in tiself is enough to survive, or if there's additional supplies needed to make it work.

If I'm carrying water to drink, I can add it to the MRE. But if I ONLY have the MRE, I'll have to eat it without any fluids, restulting in the stuff drawing it out of my digestive system.

Replies:   sunseeker  Dominions Son
sunseeker 🚫

@Sarkasmus

I don't think it matters what type of food you have, if that is all you have (no water) you will not survive. Iirc the human body needs water to survive...

I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong :)

Dominions Son 🚫

@Sarkasmus

If I'm carrying water to drink, I can add it to the MRE.

My understanding is that adding cold water to freeze dried food isn't very effective for reconstituting it.

So if you have freeze dried food and water but no means to heat the water, you are better off eating the freeze dried food as is and drinking the water.

Replies:   Sarkasmus
Sarkasmus 🚫
Updated:

@Dominions Son

My understanding is that adding cold water to freeze dried food isn't very effective for reconstituting it.

Oh, no, I can tell you for sure that it works. It takes a lot longer for it to seep into the food if it's cold, and it tastes as if you had used hot water and then let it cool down (like, a bit stale), but it works.

Replies:   JimWar
JimWar 🚫

@Sarkasmus

The current Miltiary MRE's can be reconstituted with cold water as they have flameless ration heaters. I can remember getting them after a hurricane came through years ago and the fact that they got hot fairly quickly.

sunseeker 🚫

@PotomacBob

Canadian version of MRE's were/are called IMP's, Individual Meal Pack,iirc. A majority of the ones I ate back in the late 80's and 90's were good, boil in the bag, included in the box was coffee, a dessert, chocolate bar or other candy, etc.

richardshagrin 🚫

@PotomacBob

It needs a period between the R and the E so it becomes Mr. E and it is a mystery why anyone would eat one.

rkimmelerre 🚫

@PotomacBob

One thing I remember from an old research paper is that the government folks who create the various long shelf life foods for the military are really, truly trying to make them as delicious as possible. The problem is flavor has to come behind longevity, nutrition and probably a few other factors I'm forgetting.

One dumb thing I remember is they had one MRE called Dirty Rice. Cajun style rice with sausage and peppers and whatever. Sounded pretty good. But no one wanted to eat it because of the name. So they started calling it Sausage And Rice and people liked it just fine.

Paladin_HGWT 🚫
Updated:

@PotomacBob

The US Army has probably the best record of using Nutritionists, technical and industrial "cutting edge" advances and science to develop military rations since the late 1930's.

The "C" Ration (does not stand for canned). "A-Rats" A Rations is food purchased off the market (usually local to the base; some preserved ingredients are procured by the QM (Quartermaster Corps)) and prepared in the Mess Hall or Field Kitchens. B Rations are preserved foods in larger containers for some 20 to 30 men (they are probably the least well known; many people who eat them, and even some of the low ranking Mess personnel may not realize the difference between A and B Rations); A Rations are the Preferred foods to be consumed.

C Rations were the individual field Ration. Because of weight and difficulties supplying several individual meals to each soldier in the field, and particularly the Front Line (trenches in WWI). Mostly A (or B) Rations are what troops ate through the end of the First World War. "Iron Rations" was a common term for preserved Rations issued to individual soldiers from the 1700's, improved by rewards offered by Napoleon. "Iron Rations" were used by the US Army through WWI. Germany, France, Russia, and most other nations issued "Iron Rations" all through WWII, and sometimes beyond.

Iron Rations were often tightly controlled. Soldiers were not supposed to eat them unless Ordered to by a Regimental or higher officer... under pain of Death! Sometimes, Battalion or Company officers would allow the consumption of Iron Rations. Soldiers being soldiers did sometimes eat them without authorization (or need). Rarely was anyone Executed for eating them. Caning, whipping, other beatings, and monetary fines, and other punishments were imposed.

Lack of Iron Rations would hamper the abilities of a unit to force march, or fight for several days without supply.

LOGISTICS LOGISTICS LOGISTICS !!! Until World War Two most armies relied upon horse, or mules, or oxen, to transport supplies. Roads, at least paved roads allowing two way travel, were rare or non existent. Preserving food was time consuming (although not much more expensive than purchasing food for an army).

In 1914 a German or French (and most other nations) Korps/Corps had 50,000 men, requiring Half a Million Iron Rations to feed them for 3 Days. More than 20 German, a Dozen French, a a couple British Corps marched beyond their supply systems abilities to function for 40 days, in Belgium, at the beginning of "The Great War" aka WWI.

Napoleon's dictum is: "An Army Marches on its STOMACH!"

C Rations were developed in the late 1930's, and refined several times during the Second World War. C Rations were issued until c.1984, although the MRE was beginning to be issued in the early 1980's. I have heard some C Rations turned up in the early 1990's, including during Desert Shield

C Rations, though lighter than many other nations field rations, with multiple cans, and other packaging, were disliked by guys who had to carry multiple days of meals. 3 days meals was 9 C Rations.

Long range patrols would open all of their issued rations, and pack only the "essentials"; one technique was to put an intended meal into a clean sock (to prevent the cans from making noise; also, patrols would try to change socks and eat meals twice a day).

Of course, this meant soldiers who were burning a lot of calories were NOT getting optimal nutrition, nor sufficient calories.

The "LURP Ration" (Long Range Recon Patrol) used high tech dehydrated meals. They had lots of advantages, however, they required at least a quart of water, and time to prepare. (They could be eaten dry, kinda.) I heard a lot about LURP Rations from the veteran NCOs in my Recon unit; some of whom had been LURPs in Vietnam (or in West Germany in the 70's). I, other soldiers in my unit had a few opportunities to eat LURP Rations. As a generalization, they tasted better than MREs, but were more of a hassle to prepare, and a bit bulkier.

There are at least 5 generations of MREs. The initial 12 Meals of the early 80's, 2nd Generation had 24 meals in the late 80's. Post Desert Storm there was another generation. 4th generation was c.2003 and another after c.2010

I may be a bit off on the dates, reflecting when I ate them, vs when they were officially issued.

I served from 1983 through 2014, so I speak from personal knowledge.

Prototype MREs were developed and field tested in the late 1970's. They borrowed some elements from LURP Rations, but mostly were a repackaging of the last generation of C Rations (technically MREs are "C Rations" on the A B C D format; D Rations were the chocolate/protein bars 🍫 deliberately made to not taste good, so the soldiers would not eat them prematurely. Mission Accomplished! Few GIs ate them unless they were starving; usually they threw them away long before they were desperate enough to consider them!).

The initial batches of MREs were mostly just updated C Rations, several were the exact same meals, such as spaghetti and meatballs, or beef ground in spiced sauce. Only 2 meals had a dehydrated main meal, the Beef Patty, and the Pork Patty... BOTH HAD THE CONSISTENCY AND TASTE OF STYROFOAM! about half the meals had dehydrated fruit.

Some MREs had the round crackers from the canned C Rations. Fruitcake was another hold over. Meddlesome twits had petitioned congress to remove All brand names from foods in our rations; cigarettes and prayers too!

Generic everything was about "prison quality" one of the reasons I Love POTUS Ronald Reagan is that he successfully negotiated with congress to allow Brand Name products to be (re)introduced to us. Tobacco, Skittles, and many other things were a Significant Improvement!

During the months of build up during Desert Shield, several hundred thousand US Soldiers and Marines ate the same monotonous meals. Too many cut back severely on eating (and nutrition). Stopgap, interem alternative meals were procured from Dinty Moore and other manufacturers. This led to the 3rd generation MREs in the 90's.

When I was in basic training we mostly had A (or B) Rations, even in the field. We did have some C Rations, and were told about MREs. After OSUT (Basic and AIT) then Airborne School, I was assigned to an XVIII Airborne Corps recon unit; for the most part we had the best, and newest equipment. Sometimes we had experimental stuff too, including Rations.

In Grenada, Honduras, Panama, and elsewhere we mostly had A Rations, or bought food from the locals. On FTXs on Bragg, or elsewhere we had MREs. I supplemented mine with food from REI in Seattle. We also got stuff from SOCOM or the JFK SWC on Bragg. We also Sometimes hunted deer, rabbits and other game, in violation of several regulations.

More later, time to go back to bed.

The hated Ham and Lima Beans was gone, but so too the well liked Tuna Fish (Tuna came back in later versions).

BlacKnight 🚫

@PotomacBob

My experience with MREs is pretty limited: a friend who brought a case of them along on a camping trip and we ended up passing them around the fire trying different ones. There's a fairly wide variety of them. Some of them are actually pretty passable. Some of them are... not. They keep introducing new ones, and I think they've retired some of the less successful ones.

The others were reluctant to try the jalapeΓ±o ketchup, but it was actually pretty good. The "eggs" I think it was supposed to go with... not so much. I believe the idea was that if you used enough the jalapeΓ±o ketchup, you wouldn't be able to taste the "eggs".

They're specifically designed to be ridiculously calorie-dense, because troops in the field burn calories like you wouldn't believe. One of the side effects of that was that the bread/cracker things had a kind of greasy mouthfeel, and noticeably tasted like Crisco.

If you google around a bit, you should be able to find a list of all the US military MREs, what's contained in them, and when they were introduced.

gruntsgt 🚫

@PotomacBob

If you're gonna have somebody eating MRE's, make sure they do what we all did, and have a bottle of Hot Sauce to choke it down with and some pogey bait to supplement it. Good Luck!!

Mushroom 🚫

@PotomacBob

Well, yes there is moisture in the meals, but no "water". And they are not bad, but not real good either. Essentially they are designed for somebody to live off of, they are not gourmet eating.

And they can be eaten as is, or in the last 20 years they have added a pouch that you add a little water to and it will heat them up. But that is not needed.

The weight is normally from 2-4 pounds, depending on which meal. At any time there will be 24 different meals, and they change a couple every few years.

And the "menus" are available online. And if you are setting it in say the 1980s to early 1990s, then the meals were very different. There were only 12 different ones available at that time, and included a lot of dehydrated items like fruit and meat. That pretty much went away in the early 1990s.

They are no longer dehydrated, but are "reduced liquid". So sometimes it helps to add just a little water.

Replies:   awnlee jawking
awnlee jawking 🚫

@Mushroom

They are no longer dehydrated, but are "reduced liquid".

So they haven't solved the problem of dehydrated water yet ;-)

AJ

Dominions Son 🚫

@awnlee jawking

So they haven't solved the problem of dehydrated water yet ;-)

Of course they have.

https://www.mercari.com/us/item/m80331151999/?gclsrc=aw.ds&&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=17392666766&utm_content=t0&adgroup=142290218546&network=g&device=c&merchant_id=134611514&product_id=m80331151999&product_id=1854532878702&gclid=CjwKCAiAleOeBhBdEiwAfgmXf9_z_iBKv_gRN30I8c4-QQfKdu8Kfg_e06erSXcEGUZSlR0vFdhsxxoCOpYQAvD_BwE

helmut_meukel 🚫

@awnlee jawking

So they haven't solved the problem of dehydrated water yet ;-)

Only of dehydrated ice (dry ice). Problem is you can't melt it, no water in it, it's totally dehydrated. If you try to melt it, it just vanishes. Really frustrating!

HM.

Replies:   Mushroom  GreyWolf  palamedes
Mushroom 🚫

@helmut_meukel

Only of dehydrated ice (dry ice). Problem is you can't melt it, no water in it, it's totally dehydrated. If you try to melt it, it just vanishes. Really frustrating!

But if you add water it makes a really cool smoke effect.

Replies:   StarFleet Carl
StarFleet Carl 🚫

@Mushroom

add water it makes a really cool smoke effect

Especially if you dump a whole bunch into a swimming pool full of people you don't like!

Replies:   Radagast
Radagast 🚫

@StarFleet Carl

Don't try this at home, kids. There was a video on Liveleak a few years ago of a group of young Russians tossing dry ice in a pool then going for a spooky swim. They all suffered oxygen starvation, blacked out and drowned.

Replies:   StarFleet Carl
StarFleet Carl 🚫

@Radagast

You noticed I said people you DON'T like ... :)

GreyWolf 🚫

@helmut_meukel

Only of dehydrated ice (dry ice). Problem is you can't melt it, no water in it, it's totally dehydrated. If you try to melt it, it just vanishes. Really frustrating!

Technically, it's both 'de-hydrated' and 'carbonated' :)

Disclaimer: I am not a chemist.

palamedes 🚫

@helmut_meukel

Only of dehydrated ice (dry ice). Problem is you can't melt it, no water in it, it's totally dehydrated. If you try to melt it, it just vanishes. Really frustrating!

You can melt dry ice (CO2) into a liquid but you need to do it under pressure something like 7 times the earths atmosphere.

Paladin_HGWT 🚫

@PotomacBob

MRE Heaters may have been the best single improvement to MREs. Eating cold food when it is colder than 50f πŸ₯Ά and worse rainy 🌧 β›ˆ is miserable. Congealed fat and ???@#!%&Γ· is nasty! Frankfurters were the worst; several other meals nearly as bad.

Using heximine tabs, and the folding stoves used to heat a C Ration, took longer, because you had to use a canteen cup, and some water, or the MRE package (foil pouch containing the food, not the plastic packaging containing the main meal, crackers, snacks, etc.).

MRE Heaters took ten minutes or less. If you were moderately careful, it was possible to carry the meal and heater while it was cooking; just avoid inhaling the fumes. MRE heaters use a chemical, activated by a tiny amount of water. Heximine tabs are an open flame, and also have noxious fumes.

Warm food is much better πŸ˜‹ than cold food πŸ₯Ά I have had to eat both types.

Food is Fuel, and we learned to "Eat Now! Taste Later!"

Decent food is important to morale! However, most "Grunts" were often too busy to care too much. Sure, we B!tched about the lousy chow; but we ate it anyway! In garrison at Bragg, Lewis, Campbell, and MacDill we usually had very good food for the military. Some of the best food I ate was at Little Creek Navy Base, and also afloat on US Navy ships.

Tasty food may be more important to Service and Support personnel. They tend to have more time on their hands, and they didn't seem to be as voracious as Grunts in the field.

Some Service and Support personnel work very hard, and long hours. They face danger too. But it is rarely the same as for the Grunts.

Just my personal experiences during 28 years in the service. Also talking to others, and reading about combat experiences throughout history.

There is quite a bit of documentation about needing to provide more MWR (Morale, Welfare, and Recreation) for rear area personnel during the Great War, World War Two, and Vietnam. Seemed to be the same in Iraq and Afghanistan too.

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