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I did a camping gear, field gear surplus display for the local community center. They had a day camp for little kids and the theme was learning about camping. I showed them vintage American camping gear and military surplus from all over the world
Also a MRE from 1986 and we opened the bag, They were fascinated as were adults.

Pork Pattie FD 1.2 oz Right Away foods Southern PKG and Storage Mullins SC
Applesauce TS
Cookie, Choc Cvd Sterling Bakery San Antonio TX
Cheese spread IPK packers Stone Mt G.A.
Crackers Southern Packing
Cocoa Stellar Foods
Pouch Stand
Spoon
Acc Pkt D

Latter I took it home and opened the pouches
Pork Patty smelled like a bag of American Pork Rind snacks,. It was still dry and stiff. I broke a section and took a bite. Tasted very salty and spicy. No foul aftertaste . I added water and let it sit for ten minutes and it still was hard. It never got soft.

The apple sauce pouch failed and It was wet. I threw it out
The Cookie was fine. it smelled good and snapped in half like it was fresh. Normal flavor, no funny aftertaste.
The Smoked Cheese smelled like smoke, I took a tiny bite and it did not taste bad, but I would not eat anymore.
(I draw the line with 1986 Cheese)
The dehydrated ketchup was disgusting looking and tasted like tomato paste. Horrible when it was brand new , no wonder it was worse after all these years
The Crackers still were crisp and salty, not stale.
Coffee tasted Nutty but still drinkable
The coco powder was still totally fresh tasting.

Now when I drew this meal back in old days I would save the pork block for latter and eat it dry like a snack food.
Well now we know how they hold up, it's hit or miss.

Great review! Thanks for sharing it! I never minded being "tossed" the pork patty MRE when I was in the Corps. I, like you, always preferred to eat the pork patty dry.

Nice review and thx for sharing. I can remember having it back in ~1989 twice and I realy like it.

Great review Norton, that takes me back---- I can still taste the pork. Unfortunately even then it was not real popular in my unit, in fact the running joke was that the pouch stand smothered with cheese and tabasco from another MRE tasted better than the pork patty. Actually a few guys in my unit would eat it dry and wind up with stomach and intestinal issues from not drinking enough water. Of course the dessert was probably the best part of that MRE.

Nice review norton!

Another gem of a review - I don't know how I didn't notice this one until just now!

Perhaps the only modern photo W/ the Pork Pattie & Catsup Rehydrated together!

Absolutely fantastic.. thankyou Norton!

Good review! I remember the dehydrated pork patty well. I know they always preached at BMT to not eat it dry, I still preferred it dry rather than reconstituted. I kind of miss this entree, as I don't think I've had one since the early 90's.

There's got to be a way to make that patty rehydrate fully. Maybe an overabundance of water and a pressure cooker for a few minutes?