I just ate one I found in the bottom of one of my old duffel bags from 1991. Anyone remember Meatballs in Barbecue Sauce?
It was actually quite good. The retorts were not puffy or showing any sign of spoilage, and the flavor was as I remember it (this one was discontinued long ago, and it was my favorite back when I was a young troop).
T+1 hour, now, and no problems yet 
I found a case that I put away in 1985. I opened some around 2005 & found several that had gone bad (ones with meat - chicken loaf, etc). The packages with the meat had busted open. The case was stored in a closet in an air condition house.
My favorite MRE from back then was dehydrated pork patties. I loved them. Luckily, every one else hated them & I could trade any time for them. It came with pork patty, 2 chocolate cookies, apple sauce, crackers & cheese. If they had changed the cheese for peanut butter, it would be the perfect meal.
I remember pork patties. Not too bad as long as you let them soften up a little bit. This one had dehydrated fruit cocktail in it, too, which I havenât seen in a LONG time. I liked it better dry!
I would kill for cherry nut cake.
I used to enjoy the ham slice.
My least favorite was fat (beef) stew.
I liked the cheese better than the peanut butter, though.
I enjoyed most of the âCâ Rations and the B-2âs were my favorite. Since the meat and fruits were canned the carnal sin at any meal time was to forget your âJohn Wayneâ as no one else would ever loan theirs out. I remember seeing many mutilated cans laying about (K-Bar attack) and there owners trying to bum your cookies or crackers.
John Wayne
John Wayne Bars = Boonie Currency
I LOOOOVED the Turkey Loaf.
Depends on how well they were stored. I popped open an MRE that I had in my deployment pack for a while. It wasnât but 3-4 years old, but it was wild. I ate the main entre which tasted a little funny. But I knew it had heat abuse when I openned the fruit cocktail stuff and it was all chocolate brown. :eek:
I didnât get sick or anything, but I wouldnât have eaten the thing if I saw what the fruit looked like. I donât know where it came from since it wasnât pulled out of one of my known cases. 
Who knows what sort of preservatives they put in those things? They may last longer than Twinkees.
I been in since early 99 and I have never heard of half this stuff. They have changed alot in my time already.
Try some Turkey Spam then.
Pound cake from C-rats. Open up the can, poke holes in the pound cake. Drizzle the juice from a can of fruit cocktail onto the pound cake.
Savor.
Pound cake was the best thing in C-rats. I always thought âGreen Eggs and Hamâ existed only in Dr. Seuss books, until I opened a can one dayâŚ
MRE âChickenâ sucks dick.
I have some barbecue pork and rice ones that I take backpacking with me during the fall. Theyâre still good. But I have a pretty good place to store them in the basement. Finished, climate controlled, and away from any heat or moisture sources. Nice and cool down there, all year round, no matter what the rest of the house feels like.
My oldest brother, who has been in since 1993, has some of the MREs that you just donât find anymore and some of them ainât bad.
H
You would have been good to trade with. I used to hate that one, as well as anything with âomeletâ in the name.
I remember Meatballs & BBQ Sauce and Ground beef in Spiced Sauce. Didnât matter - after enough MREs they all tasted the same anyway. No words exist in the English language sufficient to accurately describe the aftertaste of MREs.
Except for the pork patty. I too thought that was the best of the lot - especially with the ketchup powder.
I also liked the little fruit bricks dry. I preferred pears to fruit cocktail myself.
I liked some of the stuff in the new ones the Milkshake mix Just add water MMMMMMMM:D I remember sitting in our FOB and thinking i was in heaven HAHA
I dont know about how old is too old, but I loved when my dad would come home from the field with several MREâs. My brother (now in the Army) and I (never been in) would open and split the rations up. This was back in the mid 80âs, but the ham slice, dehydrated fruit square thingyâŚI think peaches, and chicken a la king were my favoritesâŚas well as the powder drink mixes.
Now there is a man who knows his C-Ratâs I enjoyed the same with peach juice also. Now Green Eggs and Ham never hurt anyone as long as the green came out the other end.:blink: