Fill _-_-_ Line

[jfko6]

I was once privy to a briefing and received one of the original FRH back during Gulf War 1. Remember the MRE retort pouch getting hot and completing the meal.

Tried and true methods usually work but when I tried using the FRH on a retort pouch I got from Long Life Food and filled the pouch to the "Fill Line" it didn't make the contents hot enough. It was in there for a good 10-12 minutes at least.

Any suggestions?

[kman]

Was there a datecode stamped on the FRH anywhere? Sometimes the FRHs from the 1990s take a while to activate. I still have a bunch and they do work - but they'll take 15+ minutes to heat up a pouch properly whereas a brand new FRH will only take 8-10 minutes.

You might try adding more water than it takes to get to the fill line - as long as you don't go crazy, adding a little more shouldn't be a problem.

How are you using the FRH? Do you put in the entree, add water, fold the top of the FRH bag over so that it rests on top of the entree and not on the heater element, and then stick the whole thing back in the entree box, which you eventually rest against "a rock or something"?

[jfko6]

Kman

Didn't think of the possibility of the FRH's being dated stamped but the ones I have should have been manufactured recently they're not likely first generation FRH's.

I was wondering about adding more water since the pouch seated to the bottom displaces the fill line and makes it seem like less water is in it but than you feel the heat.

But more specifically, when it came to using the FRH on a retort filled with rice it was darn near useless. The rice tasted uncooked and only a small portion of the rice on the bottom that heated was actually edible.

Also, I noted the FRH had the heating element in 3 sections and I don't see how the water could reach the elements w/o adding more water.

Thanks for your reply.

[kman]

As for the date stamps, some FRHs have them, some don't - even the current ones. I'm not sure of why some are stamped and some aren't. But since yours has that three-section heating element, that sounds pretty current.

When I put the entree, and then the water, in an FRH, I make sure the FRH is standing straight up. The I fold over the top and place it in the entree box. *Then* I turn the box on it side and slosh the water around real good to make sure the water is soaked into the heater. In a newer FRH, this will almost immediately start the FRH hissing and boiling.

As for heating your rice, were you talking about doing that after you had heated up an entree? If so, then you might want to try this...

After you have the entree in the FRH and everything is shoved back into the entree box, cram that rice pouch in the box, too - right under the heater (but outside the FRH bag). So you should have an FRH-sandwich - entree-heater-rice - and both items should come out hot enough if you've sloshed the water around enough.

[jfko6]

Kman:

You just saved me from wasting two MRE pouches and keeping at at least one extra MRE heating on hand as a luxury in a survival situation. I keep two extra entrees on hand in my survival kit careful to select an entree both protein rich and high in carbohydrates since some have nearly zero carbs +1.

Thanks for the trick. I'll slosh it around with a little extra water. I was surprised as to the distance you can actually smell the hydrogen gas.

[MCIera]

I was wondering about adding more water since the pouch seated to the bottom displaces the fill line and makes it seem like less water is in it but than you feel the heat.

This may have been the problem. You're suppose to hold the heating element pouch above the line when you fill it with water.

Also, I noted the FRH had the heating element in 3 sections and I don't see how the water could reach the elements w/o adding more water.

This would sound like one of the current generation FRHs using the name TruTech instead of ZestoTherm (from the same company just a different name.) The first generation (ZestoTherm) FRHs had the chemicals sandwiched between two pieces of cardboard.