MRE poisoning? (grain, acres, wild, winter)

[MissingAll4Seasons]

Real MREs (the ones issued by the military) are chock full of everything a growing soldier needs to fight the good fight.

The MREs you get in the private sector are "military spec" usually produced by the same contract food vendor, but don't contain some of the higher fortifications that the gov't uses.

And then there's just the plain old freeze-dried meals that like to say they're MREs, but really aren't.

I've eaten real MREs, commercial MREs, and commercial FDMs well past their expiration and not had any adverse affects other than the normal intolerance issues... unless they are contaminated, they don't go "bad" after expiring just lose a little vit/min content.

MREs of all kinds are notorious for causing gastro-intestinal distress from bunged up to blown out. A lot of it is due to the use of TVP, which is a little hard to digest if you're not used to it or have any soy/wheat/corn sensitivities. But switching over to a rice & beans & dried veg diet would do the same thing to most people since their guts aren't used to it.

Wilson -- throw some sausage (or bacon TVP :P ) in that veggie omelet and it's pretty tasty. The veggie burger can be made palatable with cheese, onions and mushroom... a little worchestershire sauce helps too

[Wilson513]

Originally Posted by MissingAll4Seasons

Wilson -- throw some sausage (or bacon TVP :P ) in that veggie omelet and it's pretty tasty. The veggie burger can be made palatable with cheese, onions and mushroom... a little worchestershire sauce helps too

Truth is I have been afraid to even open the vege omelet.

I'm a little queasy about eggs, period, and the whole omelet thing kind of weirds me out. I don't eat omelets in a restaurant so its nothing against the MRE's.

I buy only military MRE's and rotate the stock by giving them away and eating them myself. I've had most of the menu items and some are better than others. But some, like the tortellini really stand out. Speaking of bacon, what do you think about that canned pre-cooked bacon? I had some on the trail last year and maybe I was just hungry but it was pretty good. The guys had heated it up on the grill on some tin foil so it was piping hot.

PS, My office is in an area of downtown Cincinnati now under renovation but with a lot of homeless people around. Most are just drug addicts but I've gotten to know a couple of guys that are pretty deserving fellows and they absolutely love the MRE's. Far better than the homeless hselter stuff they get. And, I showed one of them how to use the sodium heater and he was blown away. So I always have an outlet for my expired MRE's.

[MissingAll4Seasons]

Ah... see I love eggs, but powdered eggs and weird "fake" eggs in some ready meals are sometimes dubious and downright nasty!

I like the tinned bacon, although I find that they over-hickory it a bit. I don't know if that's because they add "smoke flavoring" or if they naturally smoke it and it concentrates during the canning process... but if I have more than a couple slices it tends to give me hickory burps for hours It's great to be able to open a can, take a few slices out and slap it on some bread for an instant BLT without even needing to heat it or anything since it's pre-cooked.

Bega tinned cheese & Red feather tinned butter are also very awesome. They actually have a whole chicken in a can (like just crammed the bird in there whole)... but I haven't brought myself to try that one out yet

[Wilson513]

Originally Posted by MissingAll4Seasons

Ah... see I love eggs, but powdered eggs and weird "fake" eggs in some ready meals are sometimes dubious and downright nasty!

I like the tinned bacon, although I find that they over-hickory it a bit. I don't know if that's because they add "smoke flavoring" or if they naturally smoke it and it concentrates during the canning process... but if I have more than a couple slices it tends to give me hickory burps for hours It's great to be able to open a can, take a few slices out and slap it on some bread for an instant BLT without even needing to heat it or anything since it's pre-cooked.

Bega tinned cheese & Red feather tinned butter are also very awesome. They actually have a whole chicken in a can (like just crammed the bird in there whole)... but I haven't brought myself to try that one out yet

50 years ago, the product "boned chicken" in a jar was very delicious. Good pieces of real chicken meat in a jellied juice. I tried to buy some recently and everything was the consistency of cat food. I did get a whole chicken a few years ago in a can and its was pretty beat up. I don't remember it too well. It was one of several items we had along on an off road adventure.

I'm gonna order some of that bacon now and try it out and maybe add it to my survival larder. One that butter did you try the clarified or the regular?

[MissingAll4Seasons]

I've used both the clarified and the regular, both were tasty and worked fine for cooking but regular works a little better on toast Beware that canned butter and cheese doesnt' quite melt the same as fresh since the proteins have been heated which alters them a bit, but otherwise good to go!

Yoder's canned meats, including bacon, are some of the best IMO. The regular meats are canned in their own broth (maybe some spices), without a lot of salt or funky additives (the sausage and bacon both nitrates for the curing process but nothing terrible). They're good plain out of the can cold, or reheated; although I'd recommend adding in the broth and floating fat chunks if you're going to cook with them since they can be a little dry on the second heating cycle Our only problem with the meats is they come in 20 oz cans, which is more than we can eat in a single sitting... so we have to prepare several meals with the same meat base for that day (or two!). Definitely have better flavor and texture than the FDM or MRE meats to my palate.

I've canned chicken with the bones in before and it's pretty good, but I can't get over cramming the whole bird in a can with the skin on. Canned skin is vile unless it's chopped up or pureed... kinda like leathery rubber ***BLECH*** Although true broth made with chicken skin, bones, and feet then strained is yummy and very gelatinous, a meal unto itself!

(in case you haven't noticed, textured plays a large role in whether I can eat most foods -- if i were starving, I'd eat anything, but if I had a choice, I'd rather not eat something that feels nasty)

[Wilson513]

Same here on texture. I'm not skilled at preserves and canning. Can one can their own cooked meats safely?

My son is quite the chef and he has smoked and/or dehydrated just about everything that one can eat and some of his jerky is utterly delicious. He did some beef rib jerky that was off the hook.

But I wonder if fish or meat can be safely canned at home?

[MissingAll4Seasons]

You sure can home-can your own meats and fish safely!! You do need a pressure-canner unless the meat is pickled since the acidity is low, but most meats and meat dishes are processed for 70 minutes at 10lbs (always use whatever times your recipe calls for though!!). Fish is usually better to can in pints or smaller (smaller size heats faster so it doesn't get overcooked), and meat shouldn't be canned in anything over a quart. It's also possible to can smoked and cured items like jerky/bacon/sausage without adding any liquid in the jars since they're already preserved and just need the vacuum seal and thermal-kill. Some salted items don't need acidity at all because the pH is way too alkaline (not just a little alkaline), and those can be canned in a normal water bath canner with less heat. We got excellent salmon roe "caviar" canned in salt this way... YUM! Same goes for a lot of stuff packed in granulated sugar (sugar is acid)... that's the best way to preserve whole berries without a freezer IMO.

I truly believe that the dangers of home canning have been greatly exaggerated. Yes, there is a real risk if done improperly; but a little common sense, a good pressure canner, and a decent recipe book is really all you need to can everything... even milk!

[Mac_Muz]

Originally Posted by Gungnir

I've eaten many ORPs (also known as Rat-Packs) the British Equivalent, and I've also stolen (while on exercise) many MRE's from the Rangers (typical squad games, go steal a couple of cases of the Rangers MRE's while stopping them stealing our ORPs).

IIRC Cheese Tortellini is #12 or #13, it's classed as one of the best, but personally I've always find it to taste a little like Kraft Mac n Cheese, but made with pencil erasers. The Beef Stew #9 and Four Fingers of Death #6 were ok though.

yuk, I assume the value is in the theft over the food gained.

To me MRE's are like eatting 10 pounds of dry cheese mixed with black beans. Not too bad gettin it in, but gettin' out is whole nuther deal....

[Wilson513]

Mac, you're nuts.

When was the last time you have a military MRE? DM me your address and I'll send you one to turn you around.

[Mac_Muz]

I have MRE's but sure!