In the late 1990s, the military had a wide variety of ready-to-eat meals (MREs) at their disposal. They had created a line of foods that were served up in pouches and ready to eat anywhere in the battlefield. They could be dropped from 100 feet and be ripped open immediately for consumption.

However, there were a few meals that the military men and women still wanted.

- Military Meals Throughout History - 

“All of our meals are warfighter tested and warfighter approved,” said Gerry Darsch, Director of the Department of Defenses’ Combat Feeding Program, in an exclusive interview with The Ready Nation. “In the early ‘90s, we started getting feedback that they wanted a pocket sandwich in the battlefield. Something like you’d find in the freezer section, like Hot Pockets™.”

Up to this point, the military had created many MREs including spaghetti, lasagna, vegetable dishes and more. However, many food items couldn’t be packaged into a meal that would remain stable in a pouch for 5 years.

“We couldn’t package things like eggs, seafoods or sandwiches,” Darsch said. “They were just too delicate and wouldn’t be able to withstand the packaging process. So, we put our best and brightest into developing a system that allows us to create shelf-stable foods like these that would last for years and still provide the nutrients that we needed.”

There were a few hurdles to overcome in those early days. It wasn’t as easy as preparing a bowl of food and throwing it into a pouch. Since the MREs had to be shelf-stable for 5 years, there was a lot of testing and science that went into the process.

“There are many aspects that have to be controlled while you create an MRE,” Darsch said. “You have to control the oxygen content, making sure that bacteria can’t grow in there. However, sometimes you have to make sure that natural bacteria, found in the atmosphere, are available for the food.

“The pH balance also needs to be closely monitored and control things like the water activity and micro-biological activity. You also want to pack as many calories into as small a space as possible so they have enough energy to keep them running.”

- Make Your Own MRE Style Packages - 

Darsch shared that in those early days, certain funding was slim and the department was forced to visit local hospitals to place pouched foods in MRI machines. They would closely monitor how bacteria or water movement was affecting the food on the inside of the pouch. Now, the department has its own machine and doesn’t have to borrow from local hospitals.

Through MRI scanning, packaging testing, nutritional analysis and more, Darsch’s department was able to crack the code and figure out how to combine all of those required aspects. The department began using methods like pasteurized sterilization, microwave-assisted thermo stabilization, pressure-assisted thermal stabilization and more. All of these methods combined to create a more effective packaging process.

“The new method is incredible,” Darsch said. “The difference between the old retort method and the microwave assisted method is eye-opening. And the best part is that the nutrient retention is better.”

The new process allows for better nutrient retention, a more familiar taste and a wider selection of foods.

“We were first to revolutionize microwave-assisted sterilization and move past simple retort packaging. But once you can break that code, there is a whole family of foods that you can work with and create shelf-stable meals that will last a long time.”

Figuring out the process did take a while though. What started in the early ‘90s wasn’t actually used in the battlefield until 2008 in Afghanistan.

So, what’s next for the Combat Feeding Program?

- Alternative Uses for MRE Heaters - 

“We have some very exciting problems to figure out,” Darsch said. “We’re currently looking into a few projects including machines that would use all the waste from the food (packaging and dropping equipment) to power itself … We’re also looking at nutraceuticals that would allow our military to increase muscle usability, have extended durability and higher physical effects.”

All-in-all, the current position and future of the Combat Feeding Program is exciting and an important aspect of our military efficiency.

MREs have been feeding our military for decades and there is a lot of science and testing that goes into these Meals-Ready-to-Eat.

In fact, the military has a whole department that is in charge of development of these unique meals. These meals are scientifically designed and crafted to have a 5 year shelf life and be immediately edible at any time. The metalized bags are also a high enough quality that you can throw them on a heat source and it won’t melt the bag or leak onto the food.

So, while creating your own MREs, there are some limitations. While a typical MRE has prepared, wet food inside. These homemade MREs will contain freeze-dried food and include a packet of water. Most Mylar bags are able to handle hot liquids (like boiled water) but aren’t necessarily meant for cooking in. You’ll have to find a military-grade metal bag that is strong enough to cook on a direct heat source if you want to make a true MRE. When you’re ready to eat the food, just open up the homemade MRE, pour in the water and eat away!

- Read about Military Meals throughout our history - 

However, these homemade MRE packets are great for camping or emergency supplies. If you add an oxygen abosorber into the bag, you should be able to get a pretty long shelf life out of the packet and they could easily fit in the trunk of your car or in a 72-hour kit.

You’ll need:

• Metalized Mylar Bags
• Freeze-dried food (or powdered drink mix)
• Heating element (hair straightener or non-steaming clothes iron)
• Vacuum sealer
• Scissors
• Measuring tape

Directions:
1. Measure a square on the Mylar bag that is the size of homemade MRE that you desire. Below, I’ve made one that meaures 6 inches by 11 inches.

2. Use your heating element to seal the metal together along the measurement to create a metalized pouch (one side should be open). Make the seal outside of the square that you’ve drawn.

3. Commercial MREs come with wet food inside and are specifically tailored to last inside of a metalized pouch. However, you can get a longer shelf life by using freeze-dried just-add-water meals. Add 1-2 cups of food into the metalized pouch that you’ve created. For an extended shelf life, you can also add an oxygen absorber inside the pouch – but remove it before you eat the contents.

4. Once the food is inside, use a vacuum sealer to suck the air out of the bag (if you desire) and use the heating element to securely seal the open end of the bag. After you seal the end, you are welcome to cut a half inch of the sealed bag off the corners to save on space in your pack.

5. Repeat this process with your other snacks and sides.
6. Bundle all of the homemade MRE bags and water pouches together inside of your pack.

Eating the Homemade MRE
When you’re out camping or in an emergency situation, eating your homemade MRE is simple. Just rip open the MRE bag and pour the pouch of water inside. If you have a military-grade metal bag, you can use a MRE Flameless heater to heat the contents.

You might also be interested in these articles:

What to pack in a bug out bag
 What is a Julian Date?
8 Creative Ways to Heat an MRE

Throughout our nation’s history, our troops have had many different kinds of meals. From the large bulky rations during the civil war to the new Meals Ready to Eat (MRE), the food has evolved.

To honor our veterans, we take a look back at the foods that our troops have eaten to keep themselves ready to protect our freedom.

Civil War

Food and rations during the Civil War varied by location, quality and quantity. A typical ration would include:

• 20 oz. of Salted Pork or Beef
• 12 oz of Hardtack (bread)
• 1 oz. of a compressed cube of mixed vegetables

Every 100 rations a soldier would receive:

• 8 qts of Beans or Peas
• 10 lbs of Rice
• 10 lbs of Coffee Beans
• 10 lbs of Sugar
• 2 qts of Salt
• 1 gallon of Vinegar

Civil War Rations

WWI

During World War I, food was a precious resource and the government wanted to make sure that no food was wasted. The Army’s Division of Food and Nutrition of the Medical Department conducted a survey showing that they were actually giving too much food to troops. They subsequently created smaller ration sizes that were easier to pack around and more efficient for the troops.

WWII

Between 1941 and 1946, the military conducted more than 30 surveys to assess military health and nutrition. The military introduced different rations including K-rations (breakfast), D-rations (chocolate) and C-rations (lunches and dinners). These meals were pre-cooked and were easy to eat on the go. However, they were also bulky and loud.

WWII Rations

1950s

The military introduced the MCI – Military Combat Individual during the 1950s. Despite the new name – they were still popularly referred to as C-rations because they resembled them in most respects. They introduced a wider variety of items and encouraged a better daily nutrition. The military eventually phased them out for the MRE.

1980s

MREs – Meals Ready to Eat – replaced the C ration in order to create a lightweight, easily transportable meal. Instead of the bulky cans, they come in metalized bags and are ready to eat in a moments notice – no heating required.

The Invention of MRE

2000s

MREs continue to be the meal that fills our troop’s bellies but they’ve improved. There has been advancements in nutrition and taste. The suppliers have also created MRE meals that are more friendly to campers and hikers called HeaterMeals. These heater meals have improved taste and larger portion sizes.

Modern Day Military Food Technology

MRE heaters are water-activated food heater that are included in Meals Ready to Eat (MREs) by the military and other emergency relief organizations. They allow you to heat up your food without having to make a fire.

MRE heaters work through a chemical reaction called a oxidation-reduction reaction.

Mg + 2H₂0 → Mg(OH)₂ + H₂ + heat

These flameless heaters are great for heating up food but they can also be used for other things. Check out some of these ideas below:

Hot Drinks
Imagine you’re out camping but don’t want to make a fire. You can still make some hot coffee or cocoa. Simply mix up the instant coffee or cocoa, pour it into a plastic bottle and place the lid on top. Place the bottle inside the MRE heater and activate it with the water. You’ll have some hot cocoa or coffee within minutes!

Make a Fire
As we mentioned above, the MRE heaters use magnesium powder to create their heat. In that case, you can open the bag, extract the powder and use it as tinder to start a fire. You can also start a fire by throwing sparks into the fumes that are put off by the heater. You have to be pretty careful though with this since you don’t want to light the plastic or the food on fire.

Thaw Frozen Water Lines
Now that winter is soon approaching, MREs are a great way to thaw water lines if you find yourself in a quick freeze. Wrap the heater around the pipe and activate, the heater will thaw out the line and allow you to empty it.

Heating Pad
Many of the heaters will be too hot to place on your body directly. But if you wrap the heater up in a towel or cloth, you should be ok. You can use the heater to relieve sore muscles, treat injuries and more.

Toast?
So, we’ve never tried this one but it’s been reported that you can make toast with an MRE heater. By placing the bread on top of the heater pad and activating it, it should crisp the bread while you rotate it to the other side. Not having tested this one out, I imagine you’d have to be careful not to let the bread get into the steam that’s escaping from the bag – no one likes soggy toast.

What have you used them for?
Comment below to tell us what you’ve used MRE Heaters for and share the knowledge. Part of being fully prepared is knowing how to use items for multiple purposes. Share your knowledge below.

You probably already knew this, but October is International Squirrel Awareness Month!

According to the International Squirrel Lover’s Club, October is a time to raise awareness of the cute fury animal. So, check out this graphic below to see many little-known facts about squirrels!

Have a great Squirrel month and we’ll celebrate again on Squirrel Day – Jan 19th!

MREs – Meals Ready to Eat – are durable pouches of food first created by the military. These metalized pouches can withstand a lot of wear and tear. They’ve also come a long way in taste.

The great thing about MREs is that you can eat them cold or hot! However, I would probably recommend eating them hot – no one feels fully satisfied with a cold MRE.

Our newest MRE meals come with water-reactive self-heaters. However, if you get an MRE that doesn’t come with a heater, how can you heat them up? Check out some creative ideas on how you can heat up an MRE.

Boiling
Before opening up the MRE throw the metalized bag into a pot of boiling water and allow the contents to heat up. Carefully take the package out after a few minutes and open the contents. The food inside will be heated and ready to warm your belly.

On the Car
If you have MREs in your emergency car kit, you can easily throw them on top of the engine and take the heat from your car. The metal bag will transfer the heat to the food while keeping the grease and fumes out.

Clothes Iron
You can even heat your MRE with a clothes iron! Because some irons are too hot, you may need to wrap your food in a cloth to buffer the metalized bag from burning. You can also put the iron on a lower setting and rub it along the bag. Be careful not to melt the bag – that’s too hot.

Dishwasher
Now, we haven’t tested this one out yet but we thought it was an interesting idea – using the dishwasher to heat up your MRE. The idea is that you put the MRE in the top rack of your dishwasher and let it run through a cycle with the dishes. Depending on your dishwashers heat/dry system this would probably work. If not, you’d have a really clean MRE.

Coals & Rocks
When you’re out camping, simply place the MRE on some rocks next to the fire. White hot coals would probably burn through the MRE bag but if you placed flat rocks down and then placed the MRE on top of that – it should do fine.

Tailpipe
Like we mentioned above, you can place your MRE on the engine of your parked car. However, you can also get a lot of heat to prepare your MRE off the tailpipe of your car. Balance the meal on top of the tailpipe and let it heat for a few minutes.

Armpit
If worse comes to worse, you can always use your own body. Let’s say that you were out snowmobiling (I’m jealous) and wanted to heat up your MRE. Besides possibly using the motor on your snowmobile, you could also put the MRE inside your coat near the hotter parts of your body to heat it up a bit. It probably won’t get it as hot, but it’s better than a frozen MRE.

Sun Cooking
You can also use the sun to heat up your MREs. Whether it be with a sun oven or placing it on a rock in the desert sun, they’ll heat up pretty quickly. We’ve also heard of people fashioning tin foil to reflect into a single area that would transfer the sun’s heat to the MRE’s metalized bag – thus heating up the MRE.

How have you heated an MRE?
We’ve listed a few ideas that we’ve heard of, but what do you know? Comment below to tell us how you have, or plan to heat up an MRE.

While many of us are excited for the hot weather of summer, others are worried about another type of heat: Wildfires!

Groups like the Westcoast Wildland Strike Teams, based in Portland, Ore., spend weeks on end camping out fighting wildfires across the coast.

And while fighting fires to protect our communities, who do the Westcoast Wildland Strike Teams depend on? The Ready Store!

We were so excited to receive this letter last week from Kevin Hawke, Engine Boss and Emergency Medical Technician for the WWST.

“Dear The Ready Store,

On behalf of Westcoast Wildland Strike Teams from Portland, Oregon, I would like to extend a big “thank you!” for providing us with such great products for our busy fire seasons.

While out fighting forest fires all summer my engine crew is often “spike camped,” which means we must stay out in the woods for several weeks at a time, and we are in charge of our own food and water supply. Proper nutrition is vital while working 20 hour shifts, and we appreciate an easily prepared hot meal to keep us going strong.

The MRE’s, #10 cans, and freeze-dried food pouches store perfectly in our engine compartments, and can withstand the bumpy conditions of our engines driving up and over bumpy logging roads all day.

While covered from head to toe with black ash, and nodding off from exhaustion, the last thing I want to think about is how to prepare food for up to 16 firefighters. The MRE’s, the freeze-dried food in #10 cans, and the pouches are considered delicacies out there compared to the “food” we are given by the commanding agency.

We also have a few vegetarians in our company, so we appreciate the vegetarian options available.

We will continue to use The Ready Store exclusively as our food and water supplier!

Once again we extend a big THANK YOU, and we will continue to use your products while we are protecting life, property, and the environment. Have a great day!“

Kevin Hawke
Engine Boss & Emergency Medical Technician
Westcoast Wildland Strike Teams

Thank you Kevin for protecting us! We hope to continue making good products that your strike team will enjoy!

If you’d like to send us an e-mail about our products, you can e-mail customerservice@readystore.com. You can also review a specific product by clicking on “Add Your Review” next to the product photo after logging into your account.

You can also receive 50 ReadyRewards points for each review you do! (Limit 10 reviews per day.)

We often get questions about the manufacture dates printed on our #10 cans.

Cans of food.
Previously, The Ready Store placed a Julian calendar date on our #10 cans, however, we have recently simplified the everything by printing new, easy-to-read manufacturer dates!

MREs.
Meals-Ready-to-Eat are primarily used by the United States military, which uses a Julian calendar. Click on this link to see how MRE manufacture dates are figured.

Expiration Dates
Many times, people will ask us “Why don’t you just put an expiration date on the can?” The reason is because the expiration date depends on your storage environment. Ideally, you would store the food in an environment with temperatures between 60-75 °F.

Manufacture Dates
The Ready Store is in the process of changing the way we label our cans. While we previously listed a Julian Calendar date, we will now be labeling our #10 cans with easy-to-read dates!

MREs, which are manufactured by the same companies who provides MREs to the military, will continue to use the Julian Calendar system and we have no ability to influence a change. You can learn more about decoding the MRE manufacture dates here.

Julian Calendar
We realize that many people will have food they purchased in their food storage pantry with the julian date stamps. So, we thought it would be important to highlight how you can figure out the numbers date based on the Julian Calendar.

The Julian Calendar has been around for centuries. In our day, it is widely used on a wide variety of manufactured products as a standard means of dating. It is also used by parts of the military and as an astrological measurement. The Julian Calendar is basically a continuous count of days starting January 1, 4713 BC.

The Ready Store used a modified version of the Julian Calendar. Let me show you some examples:

So in the first example, you can see that the Julian date is 10229. This means that the product was manufactured in 2010 on the 229th day of the year.

In the second example, the Julian date is 11067. This option includes a bath reference number and a product code. The Julian code will show that 11067 was manufactured on March 8, 2011.

The third example highlights the Julian date a little more. It puts a dash between the batch reference number and the Julian code. 11143 would translate to May 23, 2011.

The last example is what shows on the label of some Saratoga Farms cans. It shows the Julian date in red. That day would translate to the 289th day of 2012 – or October 15, 2012.

Print Out
We’ve also prepared a printable sheet that you can keep with your food storage documents in order to reference the dates in case of an emergency or power outage.

Click here to view the PDF.

Calories can be one of the most important aspects of a food storage meal. It is important to find a food storage supply that is balanced and provides enough calories in case of an emergency. EverydayHealth.com states:

As a general rule, people need a minimum of 1,200 calories daily to stay healthy. People who have a strenuous fitness routine or perform many daily activities need more calories. If you have reduced your calorie intake below 1,200 calories a day, you could be hurting your body …

“Consuming less than 1,200 calories per day may make it difficult to meet vitamin and mineral needs via food,” says nutrition therapist Andrea Spivack, MA, RD, LDN, with Penn Behavioral Health at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. (Read the original article.)

Typically, the first outward sign of undernutrition is a drop in body fat, according to Medline Plus, a service of the National Institutes of Health, or NIH. In serious cases, bones protrude, cheeks appear hollow, hair falls out and skin becomes inelastic and thin.

Other symptoms of undernutrition include loss of appetite, irritability, unresponsiveness, fatigue and an inability to stay warm. Patients will find it hard to complete everyday tasks due to weakness. More serious complications can also occur, depending on the severity of the calorie deficiency. (Read the original article at LiveStrong.com)

MREs are great!  The MRE flameless heaters are great.  There is no denying that, but how do you heat up your MRE without one?  One of the most common ways, besides the MRE flameless heater, is to boil some water and put your pouch in the boiling water.

What if you are without a pot, heat and water?  For the answer I went to the best source I knew: a retired Lt. Col in the US Army.  Here are just a few of the ideas he gave me.

Option 1. Your car is one of the best heat sources for your MREs.  Just lay your MRE pouch on the intake manifold after driving around for a little bit.  Lay the pouch flat and wait about 5-8 minutes, turn over for even heating.

Option 2. When the sun is out for long periods of time dashboards are wonderful for heating them up.

Option 3. In the winter you can put your MRE pouch on the defrost vents of your dashboard and crank up the heat.  Added bonus is you stay warm all the while heating up your dinner.

Option 4. If you are in a desert area you can put the MRE pouches in about one inch deep of sand.  You can simply leave the pouch out on a hot blacktop road, or any surface that is hot.  The roof of your home gets pretty warm at times too!

Option 5. You can make a solar oven out of tin foil.  Make a box inside another box and line it with foil.  Put your MRE pouch inside the box and wait for the sun to reflect its heat inwards.   If that is to much work for you, you can empty your MRE contents on a piece of foil and have the sun heat up your food that way. Think tinfoil dinners.

The Lieutenant mentioned that you can use the exhaust pipe of your car though I wouldn’t recommended it.  You can easily burn yourself and sometimes the metal get too hot for the pouches and melt or blow up.

If all of this fails, you can simply just eat the MRE as is.  You don’t have to heat up MREs but they sure taste better when you do!

Got a creative way to heat up your MREs?

Leave us comments and suggestions!