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MRE ration Reviews, Round 3!
12 years ago
General
It's been WAY too long since I posted anything on FA (let alone *artwork*, but I'm still working on that), so I'll put this up here for now.
As you may remember from before, the MRE (Mean Ready to Eat) is a type of Field Ration issued by the US military. The entrees for MREs come in a super-strong laminated foil pouch, and may be eaten cold if no heat source is available. For a detailed info on MREs, check out this webpage, which is all about that subject;
http://www.mreinfo.com/
I don't eat MREs very often (you'd have to be a soldier, a backpacker, a survivalist, or a Walt to do that!), but I do like to try new ones occasionally to see how each variety tastes. I only managed to get a hold of 3 varieties this time --- I wanted to wait until I'd tried several more, but I haven't put anything on FA in far too long.
The examples below were made for public use by Ameriqual Foods. They aren't actually military-issue, but are made almost exactly the same way as the real thing, and many are actually duplications of mil-spec MRES.
In any case, here's how they turned out...
CHILI WITH MACARONI
Quality: 10/10
This one is another winner. The Chili itself is perfectly spicy, savory, and a little smoky, while the ground beef is tender and plentiful. The macaroni is... well... macaroni. I had never eaten chili with pasta in it before, but after trying this entree, I have to make it a regular dish.
Highly recommended!
(NOTE: Chili With Macaroni is a recurring entree in US military-issue MREs, and has been on the official GI menu since 1995)
POTATO CHEDDAR SOUP, FLAVORED WITH BACON
Quality: 5/10
This one was kind of neither here nor there.
The flavor of the stock was difficult to describe. It was creamy, but seemingly less in a cheesy sort of way; it seemed almost oily in flavor, even though there was negligible grease. The flavor was only sort of cheesy, and seemed sort of... short. The texture was pretty good, though.
The bacon bits were tiny, chewy, and didn't really taste like much. They didn't add a whole lot to the soup, which would otherwise have had the bonus of being a vegetarian dish.
The potato slices were tiny, and there were only about two-dozen of them. It's too bad, because their texture and flavor were pretty good. In fact, there wasn't very much of *anything* in the package at all.
Overall, it was pretty bland. It was disappointing, because I've had many excellent MRE entrees.
(NOTE: "Potato Cheddar Soup" has been part of the US military's MRE menu since 2009, but I don't know for sure if it's the same variation of that recipe as this entree)
CHICKEN AND NOODLES WITH VEGETABLES IN SAUCE
Quality: 6/10
This one was also a disappointment. "Chicken and Noodles with Vegetables in Sauce" is basically a euphemism for "Chicken Casserole", but tven *then* it disappointing.
After I heated this ration and opened the package, it all hit the bowl at once, in one ration package-shaped rectangular mass. Charming. It didn't look very good, and I feared it would smell vaguely like vomit (this had actually happened with one MRE that actually LOOKED like vomit as well), but it fortunately smelled pretty good (though not *excellent*, mind you).
The vegetables were actually quite good, but there weren't many of them --- there were WAY too many chicken pieces, which did limited the consistency and flavor of this entree. This casserole wasn't formulated well.
The noodles were mushy, and seemed to split with no effort when you pressed a spoon against them, although this has also been the case with every other MRE I've ever eaten with noodles in it.
I gave this dish a "6" though, because it still looked and tasted alright, and still had good nutritional value. Ameriqual has done much better with more otherwise-inferior recipes though; so they could have done better with this one.
(NOTE: "Chicken With Noodles" has been in official military MREs since 1997, but I don't know if it's the same recipe as this one, or if it is, how close to the real thing this entree is)
As you may remember from before, the MRE (Mean Ready to Eat) is a type of Field Ration issued by the US military. The entrees for MREs come in a super-strong laminated foil pouch, and may be eaten cold if no heat source is available. For a detailed info on MREs, check out this webpage, which is all about that subject;
http://www.mreinfo.com/
I don't eat MREs very often (you'd have to be a soldier, a backpacker, a survivalist, or a Walt to do that!), but I do like to try new ones occasionally to see how each variety tastes. I only managed to get a hold of 3 varieties this time --- I wanted to wait until I'd tried several more, but I haven't put anything on FA in far too long.
The examples below were made for public use by Ameriqual Foods. They aren't actually military-issue, but are made almost exactly the same way as the real thing, and many are actually duplications of mil-spec MRES.
In any case, here's how they turned out...
CHILI WITH MACARONI
Quality: 10/10
This one is another winner. The Chili itself is perfectly spicy, savory, and a little smoky, while the ground beef is tender and plentiful. The macaroni is... well... macaroni. I had never eaten chili with pasta in it before, but after trying this entree, I have to make it a regular dish.
Highly recommended!
(NOTE: Chili With Macaroni is a recurring entree in US military-issue MREs, and has been on the official GI menu since 1995)
POTATO CHEDDAR SOUP, FLAVORED WITH BACON
Quality: 5/10
This one was kind of neither here nor there.
The flavor of the stock was difficult to describe. It was creamy, but seemingly less in a cheesy sort of way; it seemed almost oily in flavor, even though there was negligible grease. The flavor was only sort of cheesy, and seemed sort of... short. The texture was pretty good, though.
The bacon bits were tiny, chewy, and didn't really taste like much. They didn't add a whole lot to the soup, which would otherwise have had the bonus of being a vegetarian dish.
The potato slices were tiny, and there were only about two-dozen of them. It's too bad, because their texture and flavor were pretty good. In fact, there wasn't very much of *anything* in the package at all.
Overall, it was pretty bland. It was disappointing, because I've had many excellent MRE entrees.
(NOTE: "Potato Cheddar Soup" has been part of the US military's MRE menu since 2009, but I don't know for sure if it's the same variation of that recipe as this entree)
CHICKEN AND NOODLES WITH VEGETABLES IN SAUCE
Quality: 6/10
This one was also a disappointment. "Chicken and Noodles with Vegetables in Sauce" is basically a euphemism for "Chicken Casserole", but tven *then* it disappointing.
After I heated this ration and opened the package, it all hit the bowl at once, in one ration package-shaped rectangular mass. Charming. It didn't look very good, and I feared it would smell vaguely like vomit (this had actually happened with one MRE that actually LOOKED like vomit as well), but it fortunately smelled pretty good (though not *excellent*, mind you).
The vegetables were actually quite good, but there weren't many of them --- there were WAY too many chicken pieces, which did limited the consistency and flavor of this entree. This casserole wasn't formulated well.
The noodles were mushy, and seemed to split with no effort when you pressed a spoon against them, although this has also been the case with every other MRE I've ever eaten with noodles in it.
I gave this dish a "6" though, because it still looked and tasted alright, and still had good nutritional value. Ameriqual has done much better with more otherwise-inferior recipes though; so they could have done better with this one.
(NOTE: "Chicken With Noodles" has been in official military MREs since 1997, but I don't know if it's the same recipe as this one, or if it is, how close to the real thing this entree is)
Also, ever since I tried Chili With Macaroni, I *always* put macaroni in my chili. :D