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McSpergin
Sep 10, 2013

So I have just ordered an MRE out of my own curiosity, a Russian one. I'm slightly concerned after seeing the posts, but am interested to know how/where people are getting their American MRE. I can get Korean, and some European as well as the general ones from camping stores etc but am curious to try a few after reading this thread.

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McSpergin
Sep 10, 2013

The Korean rations I saw online might have been South Korean but were basically all different bibimbap with varied proteins

McSpergin
Sep 10, 2013

Does anyone have any info on the Russian MRE's I've acquired? I can't ready Russian lmao

McSpergin
Sep 10, 2013

McSpergin posted:

Does anyone have any info on the Russian MRE's I've acquired? I can't ready Russian lmao

Disregard me, I worked out a way to translate. I managed to get one with loving caviar in it!

McSpergin
Sep 10, 2013

Alright so I've got around to starting to get into this Russian MRE. It contains a number of components:

Tea and coffee
Beef stew
Buckwheat and beef porridge
Patè
Caviar
Meat and potato stew
Several packets of biscuits
Napkins
Sterilised processed cheese dip
Two different fruit spreads, Apple and apricot
Salt pepper and sugar packets
Hexamine tablet stove and matches
Can opener thing


This is the cheese spread. Bonus points for being full. I had this with one of the packs of biscuits, as they had busted in transit. It tasted like generic cheese and biscuit snack cheese, so it was passable. I've definitely had worse. It would've been nice to be a tad runny, maybe if you threw it over the stove for a few mins

Next is the beef stew with some biscuits, and the Patè.

I don't own any military eating stuff so I threw it over the hex, let it heat up, and dumped it into a cup. The taste wasn't too bad, but it was very fatty. The meat was soft. I don't know if it's true but I assume that some soldier would have a salt and pepper container of some sort, because the packets they give are way too big to put onto one meal and taste anything except salt or pepper. So I cracked a bit of salt and pepper into it. The pepper definitely made it a tad nicer.


The Patè just tasted like any other Patè from a cheap off-brand store. Fairly bland, but it wasn't unedible. With a touch of salt and pepper it was lifted a bit.

The fruit drink i think was an apple drink. It tasted like an apple juice box.

I will post more when I've had a go at the shelf stable caviar :(:( and everything else in the pack but seeing as I'm on work holidays it makes sense to not eat 3000 calories in a day.

McSpergin
Sep 10, 2013

Mr. Wiggles posted:

That doesn't seem.....awful at all. Good job Russia?

The meat stew was pretty lacklustre but I mean it was surely edible, that's for sure.

McSpergin
Sep 10, 2013

I'm currently eating my way through the rest of the Russian ration that I got

Verdict:

buckwheat and beef stew - I think by beef in this instance, they mean homogenised blended beef and fat with buckwheat. It's not terrible, it just is fatty and oily. Overall not inedible but leaves a salty, oily taste.



Shelf stable caviar - this was basically a paste. A taste remiss of the orange fish roe some sushi places do in those ship style ones. Fairly bland, near flavourless. Some salt and pepper actually did it some justice but overall it was incredibly bland, slightly fishy paste.



Beef and potato stew - I couldn't find the heater thing so I put my electric stove on medium and let this sit over it for 5 mins or so. Taste wise - pretty decent. If you've ever had a Campbell's chunky beef and potato stew, it's basically that. Not too overpoweringly flavoured, or salty or fatty. A 8/10 for what it is. The beef tastes and feels like it's been sous vide cooked.



Apricot bar thing - this was nice. Basically like fruit leather but softer. It hit the spot between lunch at work and dinner at my aunt's yesterday.

Apple jam - pretty much what you'd expect. Not too overpowering but palatable.

Overall I would rate this a 6/10. I had photos but I'm phone posting and it's giving me grief

McSpergin
Sep 10, 2013

Grand Fromage posted:

Some people.

There's a buldalk ramyeon that is pretty solid though. This stuff:



Buldalk means fire chicken, the real thing very much lives up to the name. Hottest food you can get in Korea.

E: Beaten, that's what I get for not clicking links.

gently caress yeah, I buy these in 5-packs locally. They're great with a squirt of kewpie Mayo mixed in

McSpergin
Sep 10, 2013


According to a book I bought about cellaring beers, anything boozy (8% and above ABV), made with smoked malt, or sour/farmhouse will keep for upwards of 20 years. There was a story about people finding 200+ year old beer in shipwrecks and it was still drinkable because it was high ABV stuff that was kept in incredible condition due to the depth of water not over pressurising and bursting it, and the ambient temperature being close to optimal cellar temps (12C)

Source: me, I'm a big spergy beer nerd

McSpergin
Sep 10, 2013

chitoryu12 posted:

Not yet. Like German ones, prices shoot up to nearly $100 for a day's worth of food. Especially since I have a vacation coming up at the end of May, I should probably refrain from dropping $200 on military food for the Internet.

Mate I have a friend in the army who's offered me them for nothing. If I come good on that order, I'll let you know asap

McSpergin
Sep 10, 2013

Gridlocked posted:

Any lucky getting more Australian ones chitoryu?

chitoryu12 posted:

Not yet. Like German ones, prices shoot up to nearly $100 for a day's worth of food. Especially since I have a vacation coming up at the end of May, I should probably refrain from dropping $200 on military food for the Internet.

I have run into two menu b australian ones. Chitoryu, PM me if you want one. Will do you a significantly better price (cost of postage to you). I'm keeping the other for me. Trip report - so far I have only had the chocolate ration and it was basically just cheap shelf fresh chocolate. Not great but not terrible, edible at best

Menu B is as follows:
Braised Beef
Chicken pasta and vegetables
Golden pumpkin soup
Plus the usual stuff

Feel free to PM. We can organise something independently

McSpergin
Sep 10, 2013

I was actually considering saving the food for my next camping trip but I think ill just buy a few camping store MRE's closer to the day. I may work my way through my menu b this week but i also now have 55kg of pork to get through

McSpergin
Sep 10, 2013

Yeh we have a 280L chest freezer in our house that has a few kg left of our half lamb and the majority of the whole pig.

Speaking of I need to get some scales this afternoon so that i can mix up my cures for the bacon I'm making.

McSpergin
Sep 10, 2013

Shooting Blanks posted:

The one time I ate camel it was incredibly greasy and not good. Kangaroo, on the other hand, is fantastic.

Roo is good poo poo. One of the guys in gbs was saying he sous vide'd it to good results

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McSpergin
Sep 10, 2013

Chitoryu I haven't forgotten about you!! I have been super busy, but will try get this Aussie pack over to you ASAP

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