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Heater Meals Review

4K views 1 reply 2 participants last post by  MikeK 
#1 ·
Since many people are looking at various meal plans to supplement their preps, I thought I would give Heater Meal a try. I met the vendor and got two of them for free at the National Hurricane Conference the other day.

BLUF: I thought they were bland tasting despite adding the included seasoning packet, salt and pepper. The meal did have good texture however. An interesting item I have not see included in a retort packed meal is the white tray (similar to what your butcher might use for hamburger meat) for placing the hot meal on prior to eating. Though some kind of chocolate peanut butter was included, there was no bread or cracker to spread it on. A nice surprise was the fruit packet contained raisins and dehydrated mangoes and pineapples. A powdered fruit drink was included, but regrettably not tried. I was expecting to find a traditional MRE style heater, but this one included a separate salt water packet to activate the heater. This is most likely to satisfy air travel requirements.

Would I buy these meals? Only as a last resort. For me, I would rather spend the money on MREs or something similar. Yes, I know, buckets, freeze dried, etc, BUT these are supposed to be similar MREs as a quick on the go type of meal.

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#2 ·
Heater meals. I know them well. I used to eat them as my gun show lunches. Mine weren't the fancy ones like yours though. They just contained an entree, and it was packed in a tray rather than a bag.

I learned to dislike them very quickly. They advertise a massive 3/4 pound entree, but it's mostly liquid. The beef and mushroom gravy has a glob of mashed potatoes in it that is more like plastic than food. The pepper steak with rice isn't too terrible if you don't mind undercooked rice. But they are all extremely bland and nothing I tried would rescue them.

To my taste, they make an MRE seem gourmet in comparison. And I got where I'd rather pop open a cold can of Chef Boyardee ravioli than try to choke down another Heater Meal and in fact, that's exactly what I carry to gun shows now.

Maybe the food quality is better in the deluxe kind, and having the extra variety is nice. But I just was not impressed at all. I still have a pile of the things left. They passed their best by date in 2009. I guess I should try one to see how they have fared.

They also make a type that has a drink can included, as well as the side dishes. I've never got to try any of the deluxe kind. I was buying them at the local truck stop and this is the only kind they sold. They were also expensive for what little you got.
 
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