Continuing with the trend of going through a case of 1982 MREs I have laying around, I decided to try this menu for lunch today. It's meatballs in barbecue sauce. I've had this one before and it usually holds up to the test of time. I also really liked the taste of it. Let's take a look!
If we take a look at all the items laid out, we have a chocolate nut cake, meatballs with barbecue sauce, apple jelly, crackers, potato patty, cocoa beverage powder, and the accessory packet.
Here's a photo of the chocolate nut cake and the meatballs with barbecue sauce in their retort pouches:
Here are the components of the accessory packet:
Unfortunately, the creamer didn't make it. I had an extra packet of coffee and sugar so I added two packets of coffee instant type 1 and two sugar packets to it. Is it just me or does it look uniquely intriguing prior to adding water? It reminds me of baking.
And here's the whole ration, prepared:
The apple jelly looks somewhat fresh and wasn't too dark or liquefied.
At the very bottom of the MRE case, I found an MCI sleeve. At first, I thought it had mysteriously found its way in there from my collection. But upon further examination, I think it came from the factory like this. I noticed that the edges look they've never been folded. And production of the MCI had stopped by around 1980. Were they just trying to get rid of the extras without discarding them? Or maybe it was just a mistake. Either way, I found this to be pretty odd.
I boiled the chocolate nut cake and meatballs in their retort pouches for about 10 minutes. The meatballs smelled great and they tasted ok but after a few seconds, there was a subtle bitter taste on my tongue. As with the 1982 diced turkey MRE, I'm sure I could safely consume the rest of it if I were desperate enough but I don't feel the need to take my chances. Even if one were desperate, the other parts of the ration could be consumed for their caloric value. (assuming that I'm correct in understanding that food will lose its nutritional value over time but not its caloric value.)
The maple nut cake was very tasty. Boiling its retort pouch in for a bit really did it wonders by melting the chocolate chips in it. It almost reminded me of a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie. And few things are better than that!
This style of crackers aren't my favorite. I'd have to say the ones from the later 1980s, that were extra toasty were the best even though they didn't have salt. IMO, it's not the salt that makes a good cracker, it's how well toasted it is. This one was a starting to go a bit stale but it was still fine and made even better with the apple jelly.
I decided not to add any water to the potato patty. I mentioned in a previous review that I can purchase normal, hydrated potato patties almost anywhere at anytime. So what would be the fun in spoiling one of my few remaining chances to eat a dehydrated one?
And last but certainly not least, the cocoa with coffee/sugar was amazing as always. I know it's been said around here that MRE cocoa is delicious in its own unique way and you'll have to try it yourself to fully understand how much better it is than most store bought cocoa.
