Where’d you get them? I’ve seen some at Sportsman’s Warehouse but I haven’t tried them. Got my son some for a Boy Scout hike some years ago, he said they were pretty good.
From my time in the service, we always just stored them at room temp. I think freezing them would probably end up separating the stuff like peanut butter and cheese spread packets. Might effect the heaters performance too.
pro tip - the chili Mac heated up with jalapeño cheese spread mixed in and crackers crumbled up is the best you’re gonna get outta those cases.
Word to the wise- if you can help it try not to eat them more than a few days at a time, you will regret it later if you don’t.
ecowper we didn’t have the five fingers of death, but the god forsaken omelete was still around. I hear they have a "pepperoni pizza" one these days. They also took the Charms out while I was in. Replaced with expired M&Ms, aka chocolate discs, candy coated.
USMCCrashCrew89 from Aug 22, 1990 to sometime in late March, 1990, I ate 2-3 MRE’s every day. Hot meals might have happened once a week at best. Reprogramming the digestive system after that was .... interesting.
I can not confirm the "unloading" issue, well from my experience anyway. In the early 90s I ate them everyday and consumed a case of the military ones (civilian ones are different I believe). Although it was rumored that if you ate them for longer than 30 days they would raise your cholesterol.
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I wouldn't freeze them. MRE's have been so sterilized that they don't even qualify as biodegradable anymore. Just store them in a relatively cool place and " ... enjoy ... ...".
​​​​​​​doesn't say anything about refridgerator or freezer. pretty sure U.S.A. military MREs don't require any special storage. used to bring them on overnight moto rides down Baja and kept them in a box in the garage until i used them.
My favorite MRE-ish story: I say "MRE-ish" because the ones I'm talking about were likely a commercial, freeze-dried product from someplace like REI. Anyhoo, a co-worker and his two sons went elk hunting. After spending the entire day tramping up and down hills and such, they got back to camp and ate some kinda freeze-dried food. They all agreed it was awfully good, so when they got home, they bought some more and cooked 'em up. None of the family thought they were even edible, including the hunters who ate them in the wild.
I've been on many camping trips where no matter what was cooked, no matter how full of ashes, no matter how burnt, or whatever, etc, it was great...but probably not so great in a home kitchen. LOL
there's gotta be a thread on this! i've been designated camp cook since i was 16 when the friends i was with didn't know how to crack an egg let alone open a can using a manually-operated can opener. i ruined so many meals over the years that ended up being devoured and still talked about only because everyone was so hungry!
In other news, we always referred to them as Meals Rejected by Ethiopians, but at least they were better than the C-rations that my dad served on camping trips...
Ya, mine carried a P-38 with him as well. Never know when you need to open a can and not have a can opener. I pretty much existed on the peaches and other canned fruits whenever we went camping.
Lived on MRE's fer th same time period that my esteemed Brother ecowper did, same scarcity / entire lack of hot chow as he described.
In years/tours previous, went fer months on end, livin offa C Rations...
An, yup...
Still gots me a P-38 on my danged ol key ring, lol
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Wait, why do you need to refrigerate, or otherwise coddle, MRE’s? I stuck ‘em in the rack on the butt end of the turret on my tank, whether it was 0F or 120F. Never noticed it made any difference to the MRE. They are literally designed to go to war with a soldier. They have a stable shelf life for something like 10 years. I really think you can just toss ‘em in a box on a shelf in the garage and be just fine.
So the MREs they were giving us down range were all questionable if not expired (according to the storage data). Lifespan stored at around 70 is 5-10 years, at 80-90 I think it's 2 years, at 100+ degrees it's weeks. I know ours were on pallets sometimes in a tent, sometimes just out in the open with a tarp, months before we cracked into a pallet
Two a day for 7 month in the Saudi desert was enough for me. Once you open a bag of spoiled turkey a la king, you never want it again. I did like the ham slice though.
For th record, we were often able to gobble down 3 a day...
I'll tel some stories, later, but, fer now, I'm thinkin strongly on goin back to bed, curled up with a beautiful Tuxedo Kitty...(My brain kinda hurts, today! )
Last edited by Mr. Bones; April 13, 2021, 06:58 AM.
Bob Hicks, from Mormon Mecca
I'm 81 years young and going as hard as I can for as long as I can.
Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind.
I get mine at the commissary on base and have stored them at home for up to 4 years. None ever turned bad. They are okay to eat on outdoor day-trip adventures but I wouldn't make a steady diet of them. On a 1-10 taste scale I'd rate them maybe a 4. Shelf storage is more than adequate for at least a few years.
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