MRE Menus VI (1986) Frankfurter & Beans

Reviews and taste-tests of any MREs from 1981-present
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Norton
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MRE Menus VI (1986) Frankfurter & Beans

Post by Norton » Sun Mar 29, 2015 9:20 pm

Well I went through my stash looking for the older meals to open up and see how they have held up.
This meal was not that popular at the time if my memory is correct.
(More like a meal a rural construction worker would eat in 1976)
The unpacked contents struck me as looking more like a 1940's era meal. It was the shape, size and color of the boxes (imo)
It was a nice day and decided to go outside and heat them in the G.I. Canteen cup stove with red box Esbit tabs.

Then take a taste of each item, if it was no go give it to the dog or chickens

Beef Frankfurter TS 4 oz
Green Giant Le Sueur MN 56058
Code 0809A07 Pink code on foil 08 08 6EST
Package looked total intact No off smell or color. Took at bite and it tasted just like current production American canned Vienna Sausage. Very salty and greasy. Texture was about the same as Vienna Sausage. Not a real hot dog taste. My son tried a bite and said taste like potted meat formed in a cylinder shape.
I would say that is why the meal was unpopular. American troops know what both Vienna Sausage and real Hot Dogs taste like
Have to give credit to the packers for doing a great job sealing up the package. Not rancid

Beans with Tomato Sauce TS 5 oz
Shelf Stable foods inc Evansville Indiana 47715
Code 62833E1
Package intact and smelled just like current pork and beans. The flavor was that of heavy sweet tomato sauce, slightly BBQ
The texture of the sauce was paste like and beans mushy. Took two bites and thought they tasted about the same in 1986.
On a US Pork and Bean taste Rating I would give them a 5 on 1 to 10. Not a good base flavor
(if they were fresh)
Still they held up all these years and they were still edible

Jelly Grape
Kern Foods Inc Industry place Calf 91749
Tasted acidly and I spit it out in 10 seconds
Chickens did eat it

Crackers unmarked
Were crushed in the package but tasted about the same as 1986. Audible hissing noise when I opened the pack

Candy Chocolate Bar enriched sweet Type VII Style 1
Wilbur Chocolate Co
Lintz PA 17543
Looked normal on the outside and these were very popular at the time
Took one bite and spit it out in about 10 seconds. It tasted horrible
Had to wash my mouth out for a few minutes

Cocoa Bevarage Powder Type 1
KO-PAK inc
P.O. Box 201 Monence Ill 60954
Turned into a solid block, but I tried mixing it with the Instant coffee and creamer
Notice oily residue on top
Tasted horrible and I spit it out

Coffee Instant
RYT -Way Packaging Northfield NM
Smelled like almonds or nuts.
As noted mixed it with coffee and was un-drinkable

Sugar
Diamond Crystal Corp
Wilmington Mass 01887

Ketchup Dehydrated
Trans-Packer Service
Brooklyn NY 11222
Well we have been down this road before. Bad idea for American troops
Mixed it up and tasted it. Tomato paste is all it is, not Ketchup in the real form.
Ketchup needs vinegar to taste like ketchup
Why pack it in this meal? the meat was meant to be mixed with the beans (I think)


Pouch Stand
Spoon
Acc Pkt E ( :wink: )
Attachments
IMG_9309.JPG
Brown Bag
IMG_9312.JPG
meal laid out
IMG_9315.JPG
Old Style Jungle/NATO boxes
IMG_9318.JPG
field cooking
IMG_9322.JPG
beans and franks
IMG_9334.JPG
making coffee/coca with the chocolate bar off to the side
IMG_9329.JPG
coca as a solid block
IMG_9335.JPG
coffee smelled like almonds or nuts
IMG_9339.JPG
Ketchup powder form
IMG_9340.JPG
Ketchup mixed
Last edited by Norton on Mon Mar 30, 2015 6:33 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Norton
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Re: MRE Menus VI (1986) Frankfurter & Beans

Post by Norton » Sun Mar 29, 2015 10:05 pm

Better shots of the coffee and coca also the candy bar
Attachments
IMG_9341.JPG
oily residue on surface
IMG_9333.JPG
Heating up
IMG_9336.JPG
no good
IMG_9311.JPG
candy in old white wax paper

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housil
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Re: MRE Menus VI (1986) Frankfurter & Beans

Post by housil » Mon Mar 30, 2015 2:05 am

Thx for giving that ration a try! I still can remember these rations very well. I always liked the candies in that white, waxed paper.

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dirtbag
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Re: MRE Menus VI (1986) Frankfurter & Beans

Post by dirtbag » Mon Mar 30, 2015 1:08 pm

A variation on 'Beany Weenies'..
Still popular today.
Avid practitioner of the martial art: KLIK-PAO

cavguy
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Re: MRE Menus VI (1986) Frankfurter & Beans

Post by cavguy » Mon Mar 30, 2015 7:29 pm

Cool review! The candy bar (Chocolate Bar enriched sweet Type VII Style 1), is the 2nd holy grail of vintage MRE candy besides the oatmeal covered chocolate cookie. Too bad it went south...

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Norton
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Re: MRE Menus VI (1986) Frankfurter & Beans

Post by Norton » Mon Mar 30, 2015 9:13 pm

cavguy wrote: The candy bar (Chocolate Bar enriched sweet Type VII Style 1), is the 2nd holy grail of vintage MRE candy ..
Candy Chocolate Bar enriched sweet Type VII Style 1
Wilbur Chocolate Co
Lintz PA 17543

Still in Business in this small factory in a equally small town. The make the Chocolate Bunnies you see at Easter
I may contact them and ask them about supplying candy for MREs in the 1980's They have a Candy museum on the premises.
So somebody must care about history. If they talk to me I will post what they say.
Attachments
WILBAR CHOCOLATE 2.jpg
Still in Business
WILBAR CHOCOLATE 2.jpg (9.01 KiB) Viewed 15527 times

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Ruleryak
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Re: MRE Menus VI (1986) Frankfurter & Beans

Post by Ruleryak » Thu Apr 02, 2015 3:56 pm

Great vintage MRE review Norton, and thanks for reaching out to the candy company - definitely share what you find out with us, we'd love to know!

norge
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Re: MRE Menus VI (1986) Frankfurter & Beans

Post by norge » Mon Apr 06, 2015 7:16 am

very nice :D

the marines called them 4 fingers of death :mrgreen:
but loved this menu to,hot beans and chopped furters in yum.

cheers ken

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steve1989
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Re: MRE Menus VI (1986) Frankfurter & Beans

Post by steve1989 » Mon Apr 06, 2015 10:38 am

Norton,

This is an absolutely fantastic and BOLD review!

You champed out a vintage Four Fingers of Death & lived to tell the tale.

Also, what a well detailed description on how some of those components went bad.

The Ryt-Away packaging Coffee Instants never seem to last - and I seem to only find them in those 1985-86 MRE's. I had a whole case that I did photos on.. oohh man it was so gross I never even did a review.
The whole case I had was stored in a hot shed in New Mexico for over 20 years, it was something to behold. Even the Chocolate Covered Cookies went bad. I taste tested a ton of spoiled food in that case and got numb tongue like 5 separate times.
I should just get all the photos I took from that mess on here one day - I wonder how many photos of rations I have.. oh boy.

Anyways - back to your MRE! This was a neat one! those Chocolate Style 7 Sweet W Toffee or w/e are also in early RCW's. I always had good experiences with em' so I am so sorry yours weren't good! I'll bet the almonds went rancid in it and you got that swelling in your mouth maybe and had to wash out for like 100+ years, right? hahah join the club on that one - ya gotta champ out a few bad rations but when you DO find a good one that is old - it can be pretty exciting to say the least!


Love your ww2/korean era mess kit - I had a couple WW1 era ones and maybe 30 of those WW2 one's and I went & sold em' off to a bunch of people at the local Flea Market.. paid $2 each and sold em for $6 per and they sold fast.
Still have 2 of those like the one you have in this photo set - I think it's a nice mess kit!

It's strange when the cocoa goes bad - the flavor of spoiled mre cocoa is something that is hard to explain.. for me, I always found it to burn my throat and it was a little rancid too.. Burning throat numbish tounge.. then all that sugar its sweet on top of everything.. yeeecchhhh!!!

I think the old MRE catsup was one of those ideas that sounded nice, but in the end, it was just a thing that simply didn't work out as planned. Trial & error..! hehhe

I love the green packaging.. eat your meal and tuck it under some tropical foliage.

You ate some vintage Beef Frankfurters, thus now deeming you in the "Iron Stomach" rank of ration eaters.

Congrats! :lol:

Thankyou for such an excellent and well laid out review, Norton! Well done!


PS:

Here is a random photo set of 2 of my dreadful MRE's I'd mentioned. Menu 2 Ham & Chicken Loaf. & Menu 7
Diced Turkey with Gravy

Menu 2:

I didn't taste test this thing.. none of it was good. Fruit looks fine but it was moist & Flexible ever so slightly.. no chances taken.
Ham & Chicken loaf smelled like meat & metal. No go.
Pineapple Nut Cake turned black.. no can do!
This was a scary, scary meal. hehe

Menu 7: I tasted one small bite of turkey & Gravy.. very strange metallic flavor & something wrong that made me feel gag. I couldn't do it. :(
Attachments
DSCN0886.JPG
Entree was no good on Menu 7

Maple Nut Cake was rancid - I could tell just by the smell.. it's a specific "fruity" oil smell and it is distinct.
Crackers smelled like bleach.. no go
FD Fruit was perfect.. peaches were A-OK and I ate that thing.. oh man I love those FD fruit Squares.
Coffee & Cocoa had a slight off putting flavor.. not sure exactly but this happens with most drink mixes of any kind when stored in terrible conditions.. things change under heat and quite a bit over time.. especially over 25 years like in this case.
DSCN0877.JPG
1986
Menu 7
Diced Turkey with Gravy TS 5 oz
Fruit FD
Maple Nut Cake
Jelly
Crackers
Cocoa
Pouch Stand
Spoon
Acc Pkt A
DSCN0787.JPG
DSCN0779.JPG
DSCN0770.JPG
DSCN0768.JPG
DSCN0763.JPG
sorry for blurry pics.
DSCN0760.JPG
1985 DoP

norge
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Re: MRE Menus VI (1986) Frankfurter & Beans

Post by norge » Mon Apr 06, 2015 11:19 am

cool another vintage mre review :D :D

i gues the crackers was stil good?
to bad they dont make the old menues more.would love to gett a fresh case to eat everything 8)

cheers ken,norway

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