Author Topic: Which MRE is the best?  (Read 10904 times)

280plus

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Which MRE is the best?
« on: July 07, 2006, 01:47:28 PM »
I have a bunch and we decided to try one just so we're not new if we ever really need them. I was a Navy boy so "battle rations" usually consisted of baloney and cheese sandwiches or canned pork and cheese sandwiches.  We tried the Beef Teriyaki. I'll give it a passable grade. Meaning I've had worse. Tongue You get quite a bit in them packages. I liked the bread and blackberry jam. The kid was excited to see M&Ms and a couple Tootsie rolls. I know there are "favorites" out there. What are they? What are the worst ones?
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TMM

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« Reply #1 on: July 07, 2006, 01:58:37 PM »
i, myself, have been interested in buying a few cases when i'm older [therefore in my own house, since i'm 16], rotating them every few years of course.

i'm also interested in this - especially if there's some cheaper ones...

~tmm

Perd Hapley

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« Reply #2 on: July 07, 2006, 02:45:27 PM »
Beef Takiyaki is a good one.  Chicken and salsa is good, especially if you bring tortillas to the field like I used to.  I really liked the Asian-style one with the water chestnuts, that came with a package of chow mein noodles.  All time worst?  Cheese tortellini, hands down.  

Desserts:  The dried strawberries were excellent, but you probably can't find them anymore.  The chocolate-coated oatmeal cookie was A+, especially in the colder months.  I can't find cookies like that anywhere else, so I got my wife to make me some a little while ago.
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RevDisk

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« Reply #3 on: July 07, 2006, 03:32:54 PM »
Any pasta MRE is decent.   Vegetarian MRE's ain't bad, and have the best extras.  Trust me on this one, don't worry about what MRE is the "best".   Worry about which ones are the worst.   And that'd be the franks.  I believe they were withdrawn from circulation, thank the Gods.   Nastiest "food" known to the military, and that's saying volumes.


http://www.mreinfo.com/mre-menu-2004.html

All of the current selections (I think).


After the first year or so, I stopped heating anything in MRE's.  Not much point, in my opinion.
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BobR

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« Reply #4 on: July 07, 2006, 03:44:31 PM »
Here is a story shamlessly stolen from another site about the versatility of MRE's.

I had a date the other night at my place. On the phone the day before, the girl asked me to "Cook her something she's never had before" for dinner. After many minutes of scratching my head over what to make, I finally settled on something she has DEFINATELY never eaten.

I got out my trusty case of MRE's. Meal, Ready-to-Eat. Field rations that when eaten in their entirety contain 3000+ calories. Here's what I made:

I took three of the Ham Slices out of their plastic packets, took out three of the Pork Chops, three packets of Chicken-a-la-King, and eight packets of dehydrated butter noodles and some dehydrated/rehydrated rice. I cooked the Ham Slices and Pork Chops in one pan, sauteed in shaved garlic and olive oil.  

In another pot, I blended the Chicken a-la-king, noodles, and rice together to make a sort of mush that looked suspiciously like succotash. I added some spices, and blended everything together in a glass pan that I then cooked in the oven for about 35 minutes at 450 degrees.

When I took it out, it looked like, well, ham slices, pork chops, and a bed of yellow poop. I covered the tops of the meat in the MRE cheese (kinda like velveeta) and added some green sprinkly thingys from one of my spice cans (hey, if it's got green sprinkly thingys on it, it looks fancy right?)

For dessert, I took four MRE Pound Cakes, mashed 'em up, added five packets of cocoa powder, powdered coffee cream, and some water. I heated it up and stirred it until it looked like a sort of chunky gelatinous organism, and I sprinkled powdered sugar on top of it. Voila--Ranger Pudding.

For alcoholic drinks, I took the rest of my bottle of Military Special Vodka (yes, they DO make a type of liquor named "Military Special"--it sells for $4.35 per fifth at the Class Six ) and mixed in four packets of "Electrolytes - 1 each - Cherry flavored" (I swear, the packet says that). It looked like an eerie kool-aid with sparkles in it (that was the electrolytes I guess... could've been leftover sand from Egypt).

I lit two candles, put a vase of wildflowers in the middle, and set the table with my best set of Ralph Lauren Academy-series China (that [beeep] is EXPENSIVE... my set of 8 place settings cost me over $600 on sale at the Lejeune PX ), and put the alcoholic drink in a crystal wine decanter.

She came over, and I had some appetizers already made, of MRE spaghetti-with-meatballs, set in small cups. She saw the dinner, saw the food, and said "This looks INCREDIBLE!!!"

We dug in, and she was loving the food. Throughout the meal, she kept asking me how long it took me to make it, and kept remarking that I obviously knew a thing or two about cooking fine meals. She kind of balked at the makeshift "wine" I had set out, but after she tried it I guess she liked it because she drank four glasses during dinner.

At the end of the main course, when I served the dessert, she squealed with delight at the "Chocolate mousse" I had made. Huh? Chocolate what? Okay... yeah... it's Chocolate Moose. Took me HOURS to make... yup.
Later on, as we were watching a movie, she excused herself to use my restroom. While she was in there, I heard her say softly to herself "uh oh" and a resounding but petite fart punctuated her utterance of dismay.

Let the games begin.
She sprayed about half a can of air freshener (Air Freshener, 1 each, Orange scent. Yup. The military even makes smellgood) and returned to the couch, this time with an obvious pained look.
After 10 more minutes she excused herself again, and retreated to the bathroom for the second time I could hear her say "What the hell is WRONG with me???," as she again send flatulent shockwaves into the porcelain bowl. This time, they sounded kinda wet, and I heard the toilet paper roll being employed, and again, LOTS more air freshener.

Back to the couch. She smiles meekly as she decides to sit on the chair instead of next to me. She sits on my chair, knees pulled up to her chest, kind of rocking back and forth slightly. Suddenly, without a word, she ROCKETED up and FLEW to the bathroom, slammed the door, and didn't come out for 30 minutes.
I turned the movie up because I didn't want her to hear me laughing so hard that tears were streaming down my cheeks.

She came out with a slightly gray palor to her face, and said "I am SOOOOOO sorry. I have NO idea what is wrong with me. I am so embarrassed, I can't believe I keep running to your bathroom!!" I gave her an Immodium AD, and she finally settled down and relaxed.

Later on, she asked me again what I had made for dinner, because she had enjoyed it so much. I calmly took her into the kitchen and showed her all the used MRE bags and packets in the trash can.

After explaining to her that she had eaten roughly 9,000 calories of "Army food" she turned stark white, looked at me incredulously, and said "I ate 9,000 calories or dehydrated food that was made 3 years ago?" After I concurred, she grabbed her coat and keys, and took off without a word.

She called me yesterday. Seems she couldn't [beeep] for 5 days, and when she finally did, the smell was so bad, her roommate could smell it from down the hall. She also told me she had been working out nonstop to combat the high caloric intake, and that she never wanted me to cook dinner for her again, unless she was PERSONALLY there to inspect the food beforehand.

It was a fun date. She laughed about it eventually, and said that that was the first time she'd ever crapped in a guy's house on a date. She'd been so upset by it she was in tears in the bathroom while I had been in tears on the couch.

I know, I'm an [beeep], but it was still a funny night.

RevDisk

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« Reply #5 on: July 07, 2006, 04:01:31 PM »
...

I have no idea what would possess a person to intentionally feeding MRE's to someone they were dating, unless sadism is a factor or the significant other did something very wrong.   Like, wrong on the order of war crimes, genocide or talking at the theater.

LET ALONE THREE MRE'S ROLLED INTO ONE, COMBINED WITH MILITARY SPECIAL!


Eating MRE's for a prolonged period, your body adapts.  Mixing real food with MRE's?  Bad, bad, bad idea.  And you'll smell that bad idea a mile away.
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Perd Hapley

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« Reply #6 on: July 07, 2006, 04:17:32 PM »
Quote from: RevDisk
Any pasta MRE is decent.   Vegetarian MRE's ain't bad....

After the first year or so, I stopped heating anything in MRE's.  Not much point, in my opinion.
RevDisk's comments might work for you, but I think it's a matter of opinion.  I hated the pasta MRE's and always avoided vegetarian.  But guess what?  I'm not big on vegetables anyway, and I wouldn't have liked those particular pasta dishes if served at the finest restaurant.  If you don't like it under other circumstances, you won't like it from the brown plastic bag.  Oh, that doesn't explain the hot dogs, though.  

I think people stop heating the MRE's after they've gotten tired of eating them.  I never got that tired.
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Dannyboy

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« Reply #7 on: July 07, 2006, 06:43:55 PM »
The Chicken and Rice and Chili-mac were my favorites.  That was a few years ago, though.  I don't know what they've got going on now.
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280plus

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« Reply #8 on: July 08, 2006, 01:19:43 AM »
Thanks for the replies folks. I'll be sure to steer away from any hotdogs. I may have a cheese tortellini in the bunch though. shocked

Cheesy
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gaston_45

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« Reply #9 on: July 08, 2006, 09:27:08 PM »
I have to disagree with Rev, the "four fingers of death" (franks) was one of the best mre's they had!  The pasta is nasty, half dried out and no taste.  The beef steak and chicken breast patty were both good, as is the beef stew and the pork chow mein, which is the one with the water chessnuts and noodles.  The only good veghead mre was the rice and bean burrito, which was great for breakfast.  Oh yeah, and chilli mac... .mmmm... what more can ya say about that one?

wmenorr67

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« Reply #10 on: July 10, 2006, 07:59:30 AM »
Put enough Tabasco on them and they all taste OK.  My suggestion is to try them and come to your own conclusions.  Everyone has different tastes and things I like others dislike and vice versa.
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K Frame

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« Reply #11 on: July 10, 2006, 08:28:45 AM »
Meatballs and rice in spicy tomato sauce were pretty good.

I also liked the corned beef hash.
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41 Redhawk

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« Reply #12 on: July 10, 2006, 08:43:14 AM »
My son gave me a few. I had a Beef Enchilada that was pretty good. Crackers and chess sauce was ok too. I have a Beef Stew and a Buttered Noodles to try as well.

stevelyn

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« Reply #13 on: July 10, 2006, 09:23:48 AM »
Quote from: Mike Irwin
Meatballs and rice in spicy tomato sauce were pretty good.

I also liked the corned beef hash.
They were a couple of my favorites too. I also liked the older meatballs in barbeque sauce.

I also like the arctic MREs to, but everything in them is dehydrated and water intensive to prepare.
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Lo.Com.Denom

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« Reply #14 on: July 10, 2006, 11:57:07 AM »
Ah, I remember the Rat-Packs (MREs) from the School Cadet force. The only way to keep 'em down was to throw everything in a mess tin, in the vain hope that each new addition would drown out the taste of the one before it. They even provided "Biscuit Browns" (the modern equivalent of hard-tack) to stop the foul concoction from performing an encore later on.

There would be hushed talk, around the failing light of a hexamine stove, of someone who had "scored" one of those American MREs. "Food Of The Gods" we called it, but nobody had ever seen one. Hell, some of us didn't believe that they even existed (much like that fabled black beast, with the red glowing eyes, who was said to stalk Cadets out in the woods of Area Zulu...).

"Bloody Yanks get all the best kit!" we'd grumble, retiring to our leaking bashers (shelters), whilst removing our blister-inducing boots and our 1958-pattern webbing. During the wet (always wet. And cold.) night, we'd clutch our malfunctioning weapons as we shivered in our groundsheet-retained puddles and think of the American Cadets with "all the best kit", wolfing down one of those fabled MREs...

Must go now, I've developed a thousand-yard stare and have started to scratch an imaginary shrapnel wound...

S. Williamson

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« Reply #15 on: July 10, 2006, 12:53:06 PM »
I liked the Beef Stew, and surprisingly, the Veggie Burger. Smiley

Bottom of the list would be the reconstituted pork patty (Spam) and Country Captain Chicken (which is worse than a McDonald's cheap "chicken" sandwich).  The Clam Chowder was horrible, the "milkshakes" never got rid of all their clumps no matter how long you shook 'em, and I used the red-hots for flicking at the guy next to me. Tongue Cheesy

There is worse food out there, but not much worse. Shocked  Its redeeming value is its impossibly long storage life, and that's about it.

If you want edible food that'll keep for a decent amount of time without refrigeration or much prep, look at jerky, raisins, canned soups, and read up on local edible plantlife.
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doczinn

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« Reply #16 on: July 10, 2006, 07:55:10 PM »
Four Fingers of Death was good, along with Chili Mac. New ones came around near the end of my time, which I  enjoyed but can't remember. Just avoid the Omelet with Spam.

My taste is more to the accessories. The chocolate-covered oatmeal cookie, sadly, was discontinued, as were the dried strawberries.

Jalapeno cheese spread was the ultimate.
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Azrael256

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« Reply #17 on: July 10, 2006, 11:15:39 PM »
I will never forgive the military for two things: First, they discontinued the corned beef hash.  It was the only good meal.  Second, they "improved" the brownie, or claimed to anyway, no doubt raising the hopes of many an embittered GI.  Unfortunately, they turned it from a hard brick of s&*t into a soft brick of s$*t.

On the other hand, they got rid of that biological weapon they called "chicken ala king."

I'd rather forage for edible tubers than eat an MRE.

doczinn

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« Reply #18 on: July 11, 2006, 03:34:46 PM »
Quote
the corned beef hash... was the only good meal.
You're kidding, right? It was the second worst!
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Azrael256

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« Reply #19 on: July 11, 2006, 03:38:18 PM »
Hey, it was salty, mushy, and tasted like rotting potatoes in beef fat... which was a damn sight better than anything else they had.

Did I mention that I hate pasta with the burning passion of a thousand suns?

johnsonrlp

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« Reply #20 on: July 12, 2006, 07:31:08 AM »
Sloppy Joes are allright (one of the new ones). But my favorites are pork chow mein and beef stew. Avoid the bean buritto at all costs.
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doczinn

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« Reply #21 on: July 12, 2006, 02:21:49 PM »
Sloppy Joes?Huh?
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Lennyjoe

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« Reply #22 on: July 21, 2006, 02:47:04 AM »
Beef stew is by far one of the best out there.  All others are doable depending on how hungry you are.

280plus

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« Reply #23 on: July 21, 2006, 03:18:03 AM »
I really appreciate all the input guys. I'm thinking it's time to pick up another dozen so I feel better knowing which might be the better choices. It's a real crap shoot buying your food in hermetically sealed green plastic bags. Tongue

Personally, I liked the blackberry jam on the "bread" thing that was in the beef teriyaki.
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wingnutx

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« Reply #24 on: August 10, 2006, 08:15:12 PM »
I like "country captain chicken" the best.

It's been discontinued, though :~(