What is your best recipes to make C rations taste better?

SPC Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 31 Dec 2015 22:50:51 -0500

Response by SGM Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 31 at 2015 10:58 PM

SGM Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 31 Dec 2015 22:58:48 -0500

Oh my, I'm not old enough to have been issued those. I used to get them from Army surplus as a kid until I figured out they were all equally unpleasant. If the chocolate is chalky white, pass on it. It tastes like bile. No kidding.

Response by PO1 William "Chip" Nagel made Dec 31 at 2015 11:05 PM

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel — Thu, 31 Dec 2015 23:05:09 -0500

The only thing you could make better was the Spam and that was the only edible part of it. Yeah I remember the Ciggys in a Can that were dry and awful same went for the crackers and the Wrigley's Gum. Bloody Hell that was Nasty and I didn't help they were dated from the Korean War before I was Born.

Response by COL Jon Thompson made Dec 31 at 2015 11:24 PM

COL Jon Thompson — Thu, 31 Dec 2015 23:24:08 -0500

C-rations were still the issue when I was a cadet in 1981. During my freshman year, a group of us flew up to northern Wisconsin to do a weekend of adventure training. Besides falling off a rope bridge and knocking myself out, what I remember is that my C-rats were frozen and I opened a can of something and lost my appetite. After that, it was a struggle for me to eat them. I was glad for MREs that came out a couple of years later, even with the dehydrated beef and pork patties.

Response by Sgt Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 31 at 2015 11:54 PM

Sgt Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 31 Dec 2015 23:54:23 -0500

Hot sauce made the C-Rations tolerable. There were times, we had to eat then cold, and they would sit in your stomach like a rock. The Peaches, Fruit Cocktail, and Pecan Roll were the best. Sometimes we combined our meals and made a good stew.

Response by SCPO Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 1 at 2016 12:05 AM

SCPO Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 01 Jan 2016 00:05:22 -0500

You ever eat mess on a 1970 aircraft carrier that had been at sea for a month? You prayed for General Quarters so you could eat C-Rats that were made in WWII.

Response by SSgt Terry P. made Jan 1 at 2016 12:30 AM

SSgt Terry P. — Fri, 01 Jan 2016 00:30:30 -0500

SPC Private RallyPoint Member Most definitely remember C's.
Best method for consumption--as fast as possible.
Best recipe ---Boned turkey or chicken on a C-ration cracker.For those not familiar --crackers and chocolate.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 1 at 2016 1:37 AM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 01 Jan 2016 01:37:59 -0500

When I was in the Infantry Officer Basic Course, we got Cs in the field (2-3 a day). There was one entree I couldnt bring myself to eat. I cant even remember which one it was. I think it was one of the meat ones where when you opened it up in cold weather, all the congealed fat sitting there just made it inedible. If I couldnt trade it away, I would just skip eating it.

A few months later I'm in Ranger School and getting one C a day and you're lucky if you get time to eat it. I remember opening up the box, and there was that entree I couldnt stomach at all in the basic course. I open it up, and start to eat it, and I remember thinking "this thing tastes great! In fact, it's fantastic! I then tried to understand how I ever could have rejected such a wonderful tasting meal back in the Basic Course. But I couldnt imagine how I ever rejected this fine entree.

It just shows that how good an Army meal tastes is directly related to the time between that meal and your last meal. I never had a single bad tasting meal in Ranger School. Funny how that worked.

Response by CAPT Kevin B. made Jan 1 at 2016 1:49 AM

CAPT Kevin B. — Fri, 01 Jan 2016 01:49:34 -0500

Recipe: Empty C-Rat main into pot and add an anvil. Boil two days, throw out the C-Rat and eat the anvil.

Response by SGT Jerrold Pesz made Jan 1 at 2016 2:40 AM

SGT Jerrold Pesz — Fri, 01 Jan 2016 02:40:13 -0500

The best way to make C rations edible was to heat the can before you opened it. Best done by putting the can in boiling water awhile before you planned to eat. Cold they really sucked.

Response by Cpl Jeff N. made Jan 1 at 2016 8:15 AM

Cpl Jeff N. — Fri, 01 Jan 2016 08:15:08 -0500

I was on Okinawa in 1983 when we received our first shipment of MRE's replacing the C-Rations. No one was impressed with the new Brown Bags of Death.

We used to make a hole in the Ham and Eggs, pour in some peach juice, heat it up over a fire (heat tabs were too much trouble) and that was a pretty good meal. This nice things about the C-Rats is you could experiment easier with them.

Response by SGT John " Mac " McConnell made Jan 1 at 2016 9:39 AM

SGT John " Mac " McConnell — Fri, 01 Jan 2016 09:39:27 -0500

Always bring hot sauce and honey... single serve packets of pickle relish, mayo, mustard, and ketchup. Enhanced c rats. Most of these items can be liberated....Laffs

Response by CMSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 1 at 2016 1:19 PM

CMSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 01 Jan 2016 13:19:55 -0500

Ketchup!

Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 1 at 2016 10:10 PM

SPC Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 01 Jan 2016 22:10:47 -0500

I have only seen C-rats in movies and read about then in books. My favorite MRE recipe is key lime pie. Vanilla pudding powder and the lemon-lime drink powder add water. Crumble snack bread/crackers into it and voila!

Response by SPC Rudy Hawkins made Jan 3 at 2016 5:11 AM

SPC Rudy Hawkins — Sun, 03 Jan 2016 05:11:27 -0500

Combining them and making a stew was ok, as long as you had hot sauce. I think the Marine Corps sent all the C-rats to us in Beirut, during the transition to MRE's. They were everywhere !!! I preferred the C-rats to MRE's, when they MRE's first came out.