Review: 2004 MRE No. 19 - Pot Roast (heat stressed)
Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 9:48 pm
Here's the second in my series of reviews of the MREs obtained from "Operation MRE" (see thread by that name in the Members Forum). This second MRE was a pretty good choice for evaluating the heat stress on an MRE with its Jalapeno Cheese Spread and Mixed Fruit.
2004 MRE No. 19 - Pot Roast w/Vegetables
Date Packed: August, 2004
Reviewed on: June 16, 2008
Here's the MRE itself and its contents. This is a pretty well-rounded meal:
Pot Roast w/Vegetables
Mixed Fruit
Japapeno Cheese Spread
Crackers
Oatmeal Cookie
Cocoa Beverage Powder
Here are some views of the entree. The second picture is what it looks like when you open the entree pouch while the third picture shows the potatoes and vegetables pushed off to the side to reveal the slab of roast beef.
These are some views of the slab of roast beef and everything else in a bowl.
This is probably a better view of the entree with everything chopped up and mixed up.
Overall, I'd say this entree tasted the same as other Pot Roast entrees I've eaten. It's a little dry so adding some hot sauce and maybe some cheese spread helps out. If you've ever had one of the "Hormel Compleats" with Roast Beef, this is the exact same type of roast beef.
Here's the real test of the effect of high heat on these MREs - the Mixed Fruit. You can see how the contents are somewhat dark in the pictures above. Taste-wise, I thought it was ok. Maybe I tasted something a little off but after five or six spoonfulls, I couldn't tell. Since I was using a catfood dish for display, it occurred to me that maybe this dish hadn't been cleaned thoroughly before I used it and I was just smelling cat food. :-) So to be sure, I ran the Mixed Fruit by Mrs. Kman. After her experience with the last Applesauce side, she was less-than-thrilled with the appearance of the Fruit. She thought it tasted ok but didn't want to eat much. But she did say if it just looked better or fresher, she would have eaten more of it.
The crackers were perfectly good. The Japapeno Cheese Spread was a little dark as it was in the Spaghetti MRE in the last review but still tasted fine.
The Oatmeal Cookie was fine. It wasn't moist - it was more of a crisp cookie - but I think that's the way even the fresh Oatmeal cookies are. It was very tasty with a sugary oatmeal flavor and made for a nice dessert.
Many of the Tobasco bottles in the 2004-2006 MREs have a problem with leaking and this one was no exception. While I can't say the tobasco sauce "leaked" out of the bottle, it must have disappeared to somewhere because you can see how the bottle is only half-full.
The Cat Review
The cat says the cheese spread looks and smells appetizing. He tried it but quickly figured out it was "Jalapeno" and then ran away.
2004 MRE No. 19 - Pot Roast w/Vegetables
Date Packed: August, 2004
Reviewed on: June 16, 2008
Here's the MRE itself and its contents. This is a pretty well-rounded meal:
Pot Roast w/Vegetables
Mixed Fruit
Japapeno Cheese Spread
Crackers
Oatmeal Cookie
Cocoa Beverage Powder
Here are some views of the entree. The second picture is what it looks like when you open the entree pouch while the third picture shows the potatoes and vegetables pushed off to the side to reveal the slab of roast beef.
These are some views of the slab of roast beef and everything else in a bowl.
This is probably a better view of the entree with everything chopped up and mixed up.
Overall, I'd say this entree tasted the same as other Pot Roast entrees I've eaten. It's a little dry so adding some hot sauce and maybe some cheese spread helps out. If you've ever had one of the "Hormel Compleats" with Roast Beef, this is the exact same type of roast beef.
Here's the real test of the effect of high heat on these MREs - the Mixed Fruit. You can see how the contents are somewhat dark in the pictures above. Taste-wise, I thought it was ok. Maybe I tasted something a little off but after five or six spoonfulls, I couldn't tell. Since I was using a catfood dish for display, it occurred to me that maybe this dish hadn't been cleaned thoroughly before I used it and I was just smelling cat food. :-) So to be sure, I ran the Mixed Fruit by Mrs. Kman. After her experience with the last Applesauce side, she was less-than-thrilled with the appearance of the Fruit. She thought it tasted ok but didn't want to eat much. But she did say if it just looked better or fresher, she would have eaten more of it.
The crackers were perfectly good. The Japapeno Cheese Spread was a little dark as it was in the Spaghetti MRE in the last review but still tasted fine.
The Oatmeal Cookie was fine. It wasn't moist - it was more of a crisp cookie - but I think that's the way even the fresh Oatmeal cookies are. It was very tasty with a sugary oatmeal flavor and made for a nice dessert.
Many of the Tobasco bottles in the 2004-2006 MREs have a problem with leaking and this one was no exception. While I can't say the tobasco sauce "leaked" out of the bottle, it must have disappeared to somewhere because you can see how the bottle is only half-full.
The Cat Review
The cat says the cheese spread looks and smells appetizing. He tried it but quickly figured out it was "Jalapeno" and then ran away.
