1993 Menu 1 Pork in rice with BBQ sauce

[currahee]

This is the oldest ration I've ever dealt with so far so I decided to do a small review. It was sent to me by my good friend PotterRat so a big thanks to him!

Content:
- pork in rice with BBQ sauce
- applesauce
- 2x Tootsie Rolls
- cocoa beverage powder type 1
- grape jelly
- crackers
- sugar free diet soft drink mix fruit punch
- accessory packet A
- FRH

Accessory Packet A Content:
- wet-nap
- Domino Sugar
- cream cubstitute, dry, non-diary
- iodized salt
- small bottle of tabasco
- lighthouse TP
- matches
- chewing gums

I have to say this rations was amazing condition, probably stored very well. I would never thought I would see Jelly or Applesauce in such good shape after 24 years! Hell, some items tasted good as new or even better as new (crackers)!

Made by Right Away Foods Corporation, McAllen, Texas.

Starting with the drinks, the sugar free fruit punch did not survive.

The cocoa beverage powder type 1 was in a good shape, smelled good and tasted fine but with a strange slightly plastic-like undertone.

Freeze dried Taster's choice coffee was without dry mold, It was a surprise for me. With the creamer and Domino sugar a nice cup of coffee.

Now this is the amazing part for me. The Grape Jelly was dark red, smeled and tasted like fresh! I think the Crackers were even better than those in modern MREs. They had a wax-like look and feel to the touch and they were not stale at all. I had one cracker with the jelly, the other just by itself.

Another thing I did not expect was the well-preserved Applesauce. Nice light brown color with a fresh smell and taste.

I boiled the main in water for a few minutes. It had chunks of beef and rice, with a strong but pleasant BBQ smell. Now the bad thing is I did not had the main, just tried a little bit on a spoon. It seemed to be perfect edible considering the shape of other items. I had too much respect.

Chewing gums were just fine, and the Tootsie Rolls were again as good as fresh.

To sumarise up this menu, I was so surprised at its good condition that at one moment I thought if it is not a reproduction or what But of course it is not, it was just stored in good conditions and I had luck.

[PotterRat]

Very good review.

You're welcome.

Glad it held up pretty well.
Although the fruit punch looked slightly beyond hope.

[sourwes]

Great find, thanks for sharing! That ration looks like it held up very well over the years. That's the MREs greatest asset, its longevity. There are many rations in the world that taste better than the MRE, but few can match its long term storage potential. This summer we ate a 2001 mfr "B" case and were surprised how well the majority of items held up. A pack of peanut butter and cheese crackers tasted like they had been just packed.

[currahee]

...
Although the fruit punch looked slightly beyond hope.

I tried to scrape out some of the drink, but with no success

Great find, thanks for sharing! That ration looks like it held up very well over the years. That's the MREs greatest asset, its longevity. There are many rations in the world that taste better than the MRE, but few can match its long term storage potential. This summer we ate a 2001 mfr "B" case and were surprised how well the majority of items held up. A pack of peanut butter and cheese crackers tasted like they had been just packed.

I fully agree. The longevity when stored properly is amazing. Sure there are many tastier rations, but a few of these cases in a cool storage and you're prepared for many bad situations.

[SentientTootsieRoll]

I'm a bit shocked that the beverage powder looks like it had gone through hell in the last 25 years yet everything else pulled through perfectly fine. I have a lot of these dark brown bag pork with rice MREs but I don't want to open and waste them since I don't like pork anyway (I make every effort to avoid it, even in rations). I'll just keep them around as collector's items and may even sell some at some point down the road.