1986 MRE taste test

[rjmeylan]

I figured that since I'm sending Norge a few of these, I'd better check them out. I tried Ham and Chicken Loaf with Bean Component. Pack date of this case was 6231. I picked the HCLBC because it sounded more disgusting than the rest. I apologize for having no pictures. The meal was packed by Right Away Foods, Inc. It contained Ham and Chicken Loaf 5 oz. (Del Monte Frozen Foods, Inc.), beans with tomato sauce 5oz. (Southern Packaging and Storage Co., Inc.), fruit mix (Oregon Freeze Dried Foods, Inc.), peanut butter (Kern Foods, Inc.), crackers (no name given) and acc. pack C (coffee instant type 1, non-dairy creamer, sugar, salt, green chewing gum, matches, toilet paper, and a sad looking package of York Milk Caramels.) It also had a pouch stand, a nifty brown cardboard thingy that you could hold in your hand to prevent burning. I'd never seen one before (Back then I bought cases in '82 and '84).

The seller said that the case had been stored in air conditioned apartments, so I figured 69-72 degrees. When opened, the main dishes didn't smell or look funny (well, the loaf looked like alien food). The tomato sauce with the beans was dark. I checked and there was no molasses, so the tomato sauce had just grown darker with age.

The food was delicious. I am not putting you on. The ham overwhelmed the chicken, but I suspect that's the way it was when it was brand new. The beans tasted fine, no change in mouth feel, and the tomato sauce, while a little drier, was yummy (there were a lot of spices in the recipe, I was impressed). After, I tried the fruit mix. It was a little played out, but you could still taste the separate fruits. I was stuffed.
Tomorrow I'll try the peanut butter and crackers. I'll edit in my impressions.
I'm so glad I'm not commiting inter-continental murder on Norge, he seems like a nice guy.
I haves cases of '92 and '94 as well as the '86. If you want taste tests please let me know. It's an awful lot of typing if nobody cares.

[kman]

Great review, rjmeylan! Keep on posting these...just don't feel you have to put yourself through eating ancient MREs to keep us entertained.

If there's any way you could get access to a camera (even a cell phone camera), pics would be a great addition to the reviews.

[mreheater72]

Its amazing that the entrees are still edible ! I have to think about it, whether I should open a MRE from the eighties! I like the idea of doing this, but otherwise I have a bad conscience, crazy, I know ! But I have some loose entrees, too, for example "Chicken als King" from 1985! Perhaps I will try that first!

So long mreheater72

[rjmeylan]

Here is an addendum to my post:
I forgot the spoon! Five inches long, white and so cute I'm keeping it.
The crackers were fresh, well, as fresh as they ever get. They have striations, not those dumb little notches like on modern MRE crackers. They broke evenly, not any old which way.
The peanut butter amazed me. I did a blind taste test with Jif from my refrigerator. They tasted the same, the only difference being that the Jif had a nice peanut aftertaste.
The York Milk Caramels tasted a little flat, but still edible. That was in no way affected by the beer I washed them down with.
There'll be more to come. And this time I'll have pictures to share.

[kman]

I think you stumbled upon the key to the best way to taste-test old MREs...lots of beer!

[olli]

best thing ever in this kind of old rations are the freeze dried beef patties to reconstitute with beer... delicious

[rjmeylan]

When I tasted the York milk caramels, in my 86 MRE ,I posted a wee bit fast. They left a soapy residue in my mouth. And I ended up throwing two of them out (out of five). In retrospect, they were not edible, and based on my also chucking out a piece of Early '94 candy (Snickers Munch bar) , I guess that candy is the first thing to go bad. In fact the soapy taste lasted until I brushed my teeth. I hope no one was mislead by my review, everything else tasted just fine.
Cheated death again!