MRE (Meal, Ready to Eat) Single MRE with Heater : Chili and Beans

We ordered 2 different MRE's - Meatballs in Marinara Sauce & Sausage patty. I had heard various stories about how unpalatable some MRE's were and decided that ordering a couple would give us a chance to try before stocking up on something we would only eat in a dire emergency. Both meals were very good. a few of the side dishes were "so-so", but would definitely do in a pinch, but most were as good as the entree. The fortified cocoa mix was a little watery, but drinkable anyway. The heating system works extremely well, heating the water in the heater to boiling (actual steam is released at times). Follow the instructions and place something on top to keep the steam from popping the heater package open.A couple of things to note.1) the picture of the product doesn't give a real idea of the size - the package pictured is about the size of a shoebox (duh - with the number of items listed for the contents of the MRE, it should have been obvious, but somehow it still surprised me)2) You need to add water in varying amounts to some of the contents - some of the packets have a "fill" line, but several do not - a small measuring cup (marked in 1 oz increments) would definitely help3) When adding water to the fill line in the heater, go slow - it takes very little waterIn the ad for the box of twelve MRE's it would help to mention that you can order single MRE's as well. I thought the singles were a great way to check out the quality, but I am considering ordering specific entrees in bulk, rather than the box of twelve - it would cost a little more, but would guarantee a better selection of meals we like.

I purchased this to sample MREs to see if they would be a viable option for my 3 day bag. When it came it was well sealed, and everything was there, so I cooked it with the provided heater. I followed the instructions, but when the time was up on the sausage, the bag was barely lukewarm. I added a bit more water, and put the hash browns in. When I checked on them after 5 minutes (cook time was 10 minutes) it was still ice cold, and the heater had not gained any heat back, as I was hoping it would. I tossed the heater and instead just boiled it all for 10 minutes. It came out nice, the sausage tasted like something you would get in a middle school lunch meal, and the hash browns weren't bad either, just very tasteless. The jam and bread were good, and the hot chocolate was delicious. All in all, not bad, but I wouldn't recommend wasting precious time and water on the heater, just boil them in water, and then use that water for the hot chocolate (and OJ if you want, I saved mine).

As the child of a single father with a military background, MREs were a constant in my upbringing, and often replaced sunday dinners when there wasn't anyone around to cook or the people there were just too lazy. As a result, I've had some astonishingly terrible MREs in the past, like barbecue pork, chicken ala king, or literally anything involving "eggs". I'm pleased to say however that this is definitely one of the better products of the line I've consumed.To start off, the Pork Sausage patty is pretty reasonably appetizing, even if it's basically an adorable McRib knockoff. It can easily be consumed with the spoon that's included with the package, and mixed in with the hash and bacon if you have a bowl on hand (If not, you can sort of carefully mix them together in one of their pouches or in the larger container bag if pressed.) The snack bread and the blackberry jam are pretty filling as well, and owing to the "a la cart" packaging style of an MRE, can easily be stored separately from the rest of the meal to be consumed later as a snack; Which is what I happened to do. The same can be said of the... uh... "chocolate chip cookie" which, let's just be honest here, is a pop tart. The package also comes with a sort of sports drink mix, a chocolate drink powder, and the utensil pouch comes with coffee, creamer, sugar, salt, pepper, and a sanitary wipe; Pretty standard for something like this.Now, let me talk briefly about two or three things you may want to know about this MRE in order to maximize any enjoyment you might get out of it. To start off, the hash and bacon is easily the worst part of this package if taken as-is, and that's simply because they're potato shavings and bacon bits in a heated packet. If you happen to have access to a fire of some kind when you're consuming this, I highly recommend finding some way to fry or bake the contents of that packet for your enjoyment, which is probably how they're intended to be consumed in an ideal scenario anyhow.Next, regarding the sports drink mix: The instructions will tell you to pour roughly half a canteen cup's worth of water in to mix. I used about 150 mL of water to start, and gradually moved up to about 500. You are really better off watering this stuff down a bit, since it can be pretty strong if you don't.Finally, the heater itself, is a fairly standard wrap-around type, though I'm personally more used to the "Stuff in a box and lean up against a rock or something" variety. There's nothing wrong with the heater, and it can easily double as a hand warmer once it's cooled off a little bit in colder climates. But if you're consuming this MRE indoors, I'd recommend boiling some water and putting the associated packets in that instead. Not only does this allow you greater control over the heating of your meal, but the non-flammable heater materials can emit a pretty noxious odor if they're not in a well ventilated area. I'm not an expert, and I wouldn't go so far as to suggest inhaling this stuff is bad for your health without looking it up, but it probably isn't worth risking it if you already have alternatives. Besides, having a non flammable heater can be pretty useful in other scenarios.Otherwise, you know, not bad. I'll definitely mark this down as something to consider the next time I need an MRE.

Does not appear to be genuine military-issued MRE. Came packaged in clear plastic with labeling in multiple languages.

Has been a while since I ate many MREs so I ordered several brands and have been working my way thru them. Of all the ones I had this tasted the best and the food even smelled good. There are some that taste good, but the smell is a little off, not these! The smell gives you a hit at the contents. Don’t get me wrong, you are not going to ditch restaurants and go to 100% MREs, but when your outside it will remind you of that home-cooked smell (don’t know if it’s the actual food, or that these heaters will bring food almost to a boil). Used an IR thermometer and the food was 195 when I pulled it out of the heater so these babies are MUCH hotter than the others I’ve tried. Will definitely be ordering more of these!

So I had this stored in a safe place and found it after many years.The quality of the meal was right, banana bread still nasty as always, tortillas and cheese were fine so no complaints about the durability of the food.Problem was that there was no heater inside for some reason, I've used plenty mres before but this is the first one without a heater... so yeah, thats that, food was cold but so as well my last ex heart, and I still love it.