Military Scientists Developing Pizza That Stays Fresh Up to Three Years

[big_dog]

Researchers at a U.S. military lab are getting closer to perfecting what some call “the holy grail” of food prepared for soldiers: a pizza that stays edible for up to three years and does not require refrigeration or freezing, the Associated Press reports.

“It pretty much tastes just like a typical pan pizza that you would make at home and take out of the oven or the toaster oven,” Jill Bates, who runs the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center in Natick, Massachusetts, told the AP. “The only thing missing from that experience would be it’s not hot when you eat it. It’s room temperature.”

Soldiers have reportedly been requesting a pizza version of the “meals ready to eat”, or MREs, ever since the products replaced canned food over three decades ago for soldiers in combat zones.

David Accetta, a former Army lieutenant colonel and the lab’s spokesperson, argues that the pizza will also help lift soldiers’ spirits in the field. As he explained to the AP, “In a lot of cases, when you are cold and tired and hungry, having a hot meal that’s something that you like and you would get at home, it increases your morale — and we consider that to be a force multiplier.”


http://newsfeed.time.com/2014/02/14/scientists-developing-pizza-that-stays-fresh-for-up-to-three-years/#ixzz2tKqEi811

[brooklynite]

1. ...with Twinkies for dessert?

[1000words]

2. You know what's best when you are cold, tired and hungry?

Being home. Bring them all home.

[Fearless]

7. +100000

[shenmue]

12. Amen

Indeed.

[aquart]

3. Preparing Mars take out?

[big_dog]

6. the holy grail

[idendoit]

11. All bow before In-Perpituity Pizza!

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. Anybody who's ever eaten an mre...

Will tell you, while better, nothing to really write home about.

And kneading peanut butter inside a boot while walking is an experience all on it's own.

[big_dog]

8. the only thing good about an mre

is the m&m's

[NM_Birder]

10. asprin and salt

[nadinbrzezinski]

14. We gave the better ones to grunts.

So no m&ms for me, when we had to issue them

[underpants]

48. And the Kool Aid mix (finger dipping) .... And the little toilet paper

Left cargo pocket-cig butts. Right cargo pocket-toilet paper. Fingers blue/red from the Kool Aid mix. Living off baby wipes and the NBC heating system in a Bradley. 3 years , no heat EVER.

[rdharma]

16. Kneading peanut butter inside a boot?

I've eaten so many MREs that I throw up a bit in my mouth even just looking at them.

But I've never heard of "kneading peanut butter inside a boot". Why the heck would you do that?

[Brother Buzz]

28. Could have been a field expedient moleskin® substitute for blisters

On occasion, boots have be brutal on this intrepid reporter
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022785133#post3

[rdharma]

30. Hmmmm! I'm not sure if it would be a good idea ........

.... to have a ruptured packet of oily peanut butter inside one's trusty "leather express".

[zappaman]

40. Well, I never thought peanut butter and bacon would taste good together!

So, maybe peanut butter and Dr. Scholl's is something I need to try!

[rdharma]

44. Peanut butter and jam?

Toe jam that is!

[underpants]

49. Ha! I remember kneading the PB

My joke was, "Do I really NEED this?"

[11 Bravo]

19. Ham and Lima Beans (or ham and mother-fuckers as we called them) could ...

have been classified as a war crime.

[pinboy3niner]

21. Amen, brother

Truth!

[nadinbrzezinski]

22. We got really old, near expiration date, MRE's

During the floods to feed displaced people. We decided to see if culturally people would eat them. In the end, fire, police, EMS, shelter workers were issued these. The higher in the food chain the least palatable. Yes, we asked the marines who brought them about that. I remember the peanut butter since it was so old it required kneading to remix it.

Ham and Lima beans..I agree with you. They were, well.. Just that memory and god...I lost my appetite.

We used locally gathered canned food, cooking it even, for shelter residents. Yup, plenty of griping on the responder side. But, I learned that lesson with the Mexico City quake, no matter how hungry people are they at times will not touch very unfamiliar food. (That was pickled herring, it ended up in delis with proceeds going to beans and tortillas)

Been told that British MilRats make ours seem gourmet. I can't imagine. Not after ham and beans or the PB and J, or the...well you know. I will give them this, kept us full and going. That I will give them.

[Brother Buzz]

33. Ham and Lima beans made it to the MRE munu?

I was under the impression the Pentagon wisely retired Ham and Lima beans when they ditched the cans.

[rudolph the red]

37. They did

There has never been a ham and lima bean MRE.

[Brother Buzz]

38. That's what I thought

After a quick Google® search I felt like Bob Dylan reading cans on the shelf in Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid:

Ham & Chicken loaf, Boneless Pork Chop w/ Noodles, Omelet with Ham, Pork w/ Rice, Ham Slice, Boneless Pork Jamaican, Ham slices, Jamaican Pork Chop w/ Noodles, Escalloped Potatoes w/Ham, Pork Chow Mein, Pork Rib....

Not one demon Lima bean to be found

[zappaman]

39. We used to have to walk miles with lima beans in our boots.

That is all I will say for now.

[Brother Buzz]

42. LOL

In my demented world, that's a DUzy!

[loli phabay]

55. lol, makes as much sense.

[loli phabay]

56. best stuff ever was the chicken curry and bacon grill in a can

loved ratpacks, the bacon grill was a hard mass of some meat and fat that although eaten cold was okay it was heaven when sliced and fried at least in the field. loved the canned curry mixed in some soaked ramen noodles though if you were a real chef then it was best eaten with a chicken and musheoom pot noodle, food of the gods. spent the majority of my career eating rat packs though loved the field kitchens airbourne stew with half a loaf of bread to soak in my mess tin. happy memories.

[Brother Buzz]

60. I never encountered that gem in the US Army

This 'Black Boot' draftee mostly ate MCI's (C rations) that appeared to have been manufactured during the 'Brown Boot' Army days. Augmented with a bottle of Crystal® Hot Sauce, eating it was always an adventure; to Hell with expiration dates.

Good eating is subjective, and an orphan can of Fruit Cocktail could be a genuine treat.

[rdharma]

66. Ham and Limas were last seen in Viet Nam era C-rats

They never were in MREs.

They were before my time. I entered the military when the last of the C-rats were still being issued ..... and they didn't have the dreaded "ham & MFs" at that time. I guess I missed out on them!

MRE's have changed quite a bit over the years. Here's the menu over the years: http://www.mreinfo.com/us/mre/mre-menus.html

Back in the old days we had LRPs, which I preferred to MREs. Drawback is they required water. They were like the freeze dried versions of the commercial Mountain House type entrees that came out later.

I also remember those trays of shelf stable group meals. That were usually steamed and served where refrigeration was unavailable. I remember the lasagna was pretty good.

[Bigmack]

67. Actually edible....

... sort of.

Take one steel pot... liner and cover removed.

Set fire to chunk of C-4.

Put homemade can stove over burning C-4.

Add numerous C-rat can contents to helmet, and put on stove. (Usually add only entree items, but really, what difference did it make?) With enough other entrees/whatever, you might as well throw in the Ham and Mothers. Everything you eat just turned to shit anyway.

Stir and break up identifiable chunks.

Serve piping hot to your fire team/gun/tube crew.

Enjoy.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

5. Sounds almost as good as Beanies and Weenies we got in C-Rats.

But, Peaches in Syrup were the big sellers.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

18. Hey, beans & weenies were among the very best of c-rats.

Do MREs have cigarettes in the package? TP?

I only had one MRE, and it was a stinky experience with the heater-thing.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

31. I agree. B&W was great compared to "Boned Chicken".

One had to be verrrry hungry to force that down. I was out before MREs.

[underpants]

46. No smokes but they did add M&Ms and hot sauce in the early 90's

Huge improvements during my time,1990-93, including the water heating element just before I got out.

[idendoit]

9. DARPA triumphs again!

I predict this will go the way of the Intertubes!

[sakabatou]

13. Is this for space travel?

[NightWatcher]

15. Just deploy the Pizza Hut drone next to the Predator drone

If it were in the MRE pouch, why couldn't you heat it up with the same green heaters that work for everything else?

[pinboy3niner]

17. Hot Damninos!

[nadinbrzezinski]

24. I suspect it's in the preservatives.

[gerogie2]

20. Why don't they just order pizza from Dominoes?

Our tax dollars at work!

[nadinbrzezinski]

23. I don't believe Dominos delivers

To a forward base, or for that matter to the National Training Center in the middle of exercises.

They have been trying for years to make MilRats better for grunts for decades. It is a morale issue. Why McDonald's has outlets in bases. It's a problem since you need something that is somewhat palatable, nutritious and with a lllloooonnnnggg shelf life. The latter has actually been reduced from even 20 years ago.

The results are ...shall we say mixed and meals ready to eat are the but of many a joke.

[underpants]

45. At Ft. Hood they did deliver to coordinate

I was talk by several Scouts who were stationed at Hood that they could order pizzas and have them delivered to them, often by GI's working a second job, directly to their Bradley or 113. I think they said there was a Pizza Hut freq.

[Brother Buzz]

47. I have it on double super secret background...

Domino's is beta testing drone pizza delivery to forward bases.



http://money.cnn.com/2013/06/04/technology/innovation/dominos-pizza-drone/

[underpants]

50. LOL

Back then it was GIs in their pickup trucks- probably money under the table

[loli phabay]

57. where there is a will there is a way, advantage of being in a recon unit

was not hard to do a patrol during excercises that brought you close to a chinese or other fast food. beer and food runs were the norm.

[nadinbrzezinski]

61. I stand corrected.

[RandiFan1290]

25. Red 6 Approved

Cover me Porkins!

[Blue Owl]

26. Pepperoni, mushroom, and embalming fluid

[MattBaggins]

27. 20 years later and I still remember the numbers

11 was the chicken and rice... had the cheese and hot suace so you could mix them and make a passable meal.

7 was beef stew

5 was spaghetti


Better than k-rats

[flying rabbit]

29. 5 was the best

it also had the cheese spread. The tabasco bottles could have been bigger though.

[underpants]

43. 90-93 ... So dreaded anything with "loaf" in the title

But you could eat around the main dish and leave it out on the OP (Cav Scout) for the local critters to find on the next two watches

[Renew Deal]

32. This is actually a very good reason to increase defense spending

Now if only they can do the same thing with Popeyes I'd be happy.

[grilled onions]

34. Pizza Before Peace

If they would put half the effort on peace as they do tools for war the world would be a better place.

[nadinbrzezinski]

35. MREs are really a debatable thing

Since in disaster areas they can be useful. They also issue them to wild land fire fighters every time there is a major fire, and you benefit if you like camping. Hell, having a few in your to go disaster kit, if you do not have food allergies, is not that crazy. Not that tasty, but not that crazy.

Remember, canning did come from the needs of Napoleon and his troops in the field. So next time you open a can...raise a glass to the French army.

[Initech]

36. Soylent pizza is people! Soylent pizza is people!

[underpants]

41. Wow MRE's have come a long way - HATED the ham loaf

You could eat around the main dish and still not be hungry.

[undeterred]

51. Define "Fresh"

[underpants]

53. Fresh

Sitting in the middle of the woods in Germany in Feb/Aug skipping the hamloaf and biting on something that crunches and has salt, other than saltines, is fresh.

God that was misery

[loli phabay]

59. now i git a hankering for some ratpacks, cant believe my memory makes me think it tasted good

was just talking to my kids and we looked online at the menus, gotta admit they like the idea of the instant rolled oats mixed with hot chocolate with crumbked brown biscuits and garibaldi. god that tasted so good on the plains of germany

[underpants]

52. ------effect of the government shutdown

The pizza was unveiled to the public at this year’s annual Association of the United States Army exposition in Washington, although the government shutdown leading up to the event meant that no samples were produced in time for convention-goers to get a taste.
http://www.stripes.com/news/pizza-ready-to-eat-military-closes-in-on-holy-grail-of-mres-options-1.248727

[Brother Buzz]

58. That AUSA exposition was my uncle's show for decades

He and his beltway cronies made tons of money on stock options and ended up with portfolios The Carlyle Group would have been envious of; some things never change.

Oh, I bet dimes to donuts, my uncle's 'Command presence' would have made those pizza samples magically appear, come Hell or high water. He was scary, that way.

[lame54]

54. it's made from McDonald's fries

[Spirochete]

62. Cool. Dominos can revert to

delivery by oxcart, instead of burning fossil fuels...

[Warren DeMontague]

63. Sure, why not.

While we're at it, lets put Gino's in charge of the joint strike fighter.

[WinkyDink]

64. How about working on "Truth and Peace that Stay Fresh for Longer than Three Years"?

[BelgianMadCow]

65. sold out n/t