2005 Spicy Penne Pasta MRE Review

Reviews and taste-tests of any MREs from 1981-present
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SentientTootsieRoll
Posts: 463
Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2016 2:26 pm
Location: US

2005 Spicy Penne Pasta MRE Review

Post by SentientTootsieRoll » Fri Nov 06, 2020 10:32 pm

I decided to have a ration for dinner and decided on a 2005 Spicy Penne Pasta produced by The Wornick Company.

Here's a look at the front and back of the ration in its packaging.
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And a look at the inside of the packaging prior to removing the contents.
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Here are the contents laid out on the tray.
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This MRE includes sliced cranberries, crackers, grape beverage powder, spice pound cake, penne with vegetable sausage crumbles in spicy tomato sauce, peanut butter, a spoon, flameless ration heater, hot beverage bag and an accessory packet.

Here are the items included in the accessory packet. It includes spiced cider, seasoning blend, salt, moist towelette, matches, toilet paper and gum.
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Here's a look at the spicy penne pasta in its retort pouch.
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I placed in the spicy penne pasta retort pouch in boiling water for about 5 minutes. While that was going, I prepared the rest of the meal. When I opened the grape beverage powder, this is what it looked like in the packaging.
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Here's the full ration prepared and ready to eat!
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Everything in this ration was still edible with the exception being the grape flavored beverage powder. I took a small bite of the spicy penne pasta and since it was a bit spicy, I couldn't tell if maybe it went bad and my tongue was reacting to that or the spice. The taste was good so I consumed the rest of it. It had a sweet tomato sauce flavor, similar to something like Prego spaghetti sauce with jalapeno seeds added. The pasta wasn't al dente but it was still edible enough. I really enjoyed it!

The spice pound cake was pretty dry so I took a few small bites of it and threw the rest of it away. It had a slight pumpkin-like flavor combined with lots of cinnamon. I'm sure the texture was much better when it was new but I don't think it quite made it. It could be eaten if you were desperate enough for calories.

The peanut butter and crackers held up as expected and I don't think they have changed much since this ration was produced. Just imagine pilot crackers with peanut butter spread and that's what it tasted like. The spiced cider was really tasty and was similar to store bought apple cider. The cranberries were a bit dried up but they were perfectly sweet, slightly sour and chewy. If you've had craisins, you know what these taste like.

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Smitty
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Location: AB, Canada

Re: 2005 Spicy Penne Pasta MRE Review

Post by Smitty » Sat Nov 07, 2020 12:17 am

Wicked photo set! That photo makes the retort pouch look poofy, here’s hoping it’s just the photo haha
All the best, Gents.

- I'm also making videos mainly for my own enjoyment, but hey, maybe you might want to check them out: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4-9gp ... C1dSyPX0w/

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