1982 Diced Turkey with Gravy (Menu #7) [Includes FD Potato Patty!]

[SentientTootsieRoll]

Hello once again MREinfo! Today I have a 1982 Diced Turkey with Gravy menu to show you all. Before I opened this one, I checked MRE Menus page on this site to get an idea of what I should expect. One thing that really caught my eye was the freeze dried potato patty. Now, that's something to look forward to! Let's begin!

It looks like a there's a hole or something punctured in the front. In spite of that, the ration felt pretty bloated. Interesting...

Here's everything laid out:

Here are the retort pouches and crackers laid out. The maple nut cake was produced on "2053", proving that this was in fact produced in 1982.

I decided to dig into the entree first. Upon opening it, I noticed that it didn't look appetizing at all. It had a strong metallic smell to it. Thanks, but no thanks!

The crackers and pound cake have stood the test of time very well. You'll have to forgive me as I somehow managed to forget taking a pic of the pound cake. It looked very similar to the other pound cakes. The nuts were definitely a bit sour, but the cake itself tasted far too good for me to give it up. I like to live dangerously. I believe the apple jelly was oxidized. As you can see, it was very dark and had a very strong aftertaste.

I saved the best for last! Let's see what this freeze dried potato is all about. Here it is right out of the packaging.

I had a strong smell that filled up the entire room. I can't say it was bad, but definitely interesting. At first, I took a small bite into it and I think this actually survived!

I then decided to grab out my camping kettle and add some water to it. It didn't really do much for me, so I ate the rest of it dry. The crackers were still pretty good. I didn't notice a "hiss" noise as I opened it. Maybe they packaged them differently in the day. The cocoa felt very stiff. I'm sure the powder had solidified, so I will keep that along with the accessory packet as a collector's item.

Thanks a lot of reading!

[shawker71]

This was the very first MRE I ever ate. I loved it. The FD potato patties were always an odd bird. They just didn't for but were okay to eat if you had the dehydrated ketchup. The maple nut cake was my favorite of the nut cakes. Thanks for the review.

[SentientTootsieRoll]

Dehydrated ketchup is a really good idea - makes you wonder why they didn't include it in the accessory packet. Maybe it was not developed in 1982. I still have yet to come across a dehydrated ketchup that's still good because a lot of the ones I've had the fortune of trying were all solidified. I'm still fascinated by it though. In the new MREs, they just put Heinz branded ketchup and mustard packets in them as I saw in a 2014 Jalapeno Pepper Jack Beef Patty.

[shawker71]

I remember seeing the dehydrated ketchup the first time. It was definitely just a novelty even then. It was easier to just dump the powder on the food and hope it rehydrated in your mouth. I don't remember but one time ever trying to rehydrate any meal component. We just didn't have time/energy to bother.

[rationtin440]

Ah the infamous Turkey Diced w/Gravy MRE-----that was the one that made me so violently ill when I ate it only a few years after it was manufactured.

[SentientTootsieRoll]

Ah the infamous Turkey Diced w/Gravy MRE-----that was the one that made me so violently ill when I ate it only a few years after it was manufactured.

That's too bad. Hopefully your illness only lasted for a day or so and wasn't like one of those that lasted weeks. But it makes me happier that I didn't attempt to eat the one shown above. Not that I would have even if it were new, I mean, just look at how unappetizing that is! And turkey is my favorite meat!

[parafireboy]

Thanks for sharing! I always enjoyed the DH items, including the potato patty. It isn't anywhere near the top of my list like the pears and strawberries, but I kind of liked it. Too bad the entree didn't hold up.