1982 Turkey, Diced with Gravy MRE Review

[SentientTootsieRoll]

After the last successful adventure with the 1982 Pork Patty MRE, I decided to try another one tonight in hopes that I would have a similar experience. This is a 1982 Turkey, Diced with Gravy produced by Southern Pkg. and Storage Co., Inc. (now mostly known as Sopakco).

This ration contains Turkey, Diced with Gravy, Maple Nut Cake, Grape Jelly, Potato Patty, Crackers, Cocoa Beverage Powder and an accessory packet.

Here is the maple nut cake and turkey diced with gravy in their retort pouches:

And the accessory packet with Coffee Instant Type 1, Sugar, non-dairy creamer, iodized salt, toilet paper, gum and matches:

I had hoped to make another Army mocha, but the creamer didn't stand the test of time:

And here's the whole MRE prepared!

You might not be able to tell from the photos but there was steam emitting from the components after being heated up. I felt like I was being treated for a nice dinner at a fancy restaurant!

And some closeups of turkey and the potato patty. As far as the potato patty goes, I left half of it freeze dried and rehydrated the other half:

I did some searching and I'd forgotten that I reviewed this menu back in 2016: viewtopic.php?t=6903
Looking back, I'm not too impressed with that review but I have a chance to try again! The diced turkey smelled very good, it reminded me of Thanksgiving dinner. When I first bit into to it, the taste seemed right until I took a second bite and my mouth started to feel a bit sour. If I were desperate enough, I'm sure I could have eaten the rest of it and been okay but I didn't feel a need to take my chances. I think it resembled the current MRE menu Chicken Chunks in terms of texture and appearance.

Everything else held up well! I heated up the maple nut cake and I think that left it a bit dry after I let it set for a bit. But it was still tasty, although I'd much prefer the cherry cake instead. The crackers and grape jelly tasted okay. The crackers were starting to become slightly stale and the jelly was pretty dark and partly liquified. The cocoa was amazing as always. Since I didn't have any creamer, I added the sugar and coffee instant type 1 to it and it still tasted great. The creamer certainly does do it some wonders but I guess we can't have everything. The potato patty was interesting. I don't think I added enough water to it since the outside seemed rehydrated but the inside was still somewhat crunchy. Ultimately, I'd prefer to eat it dehydrated considering you can eat a normal potato patty anytime.

[housil]

Great pictures and review, thx for sharing. You did right not to finish the turkey. I can remember very well that MRE and I loved it.