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Cooking fresh in the field

Dissident

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What would stop a reserve unit (platoon-ish strenght) from getting together to buy eggs and bacon to make fresh breakfast on Coleman stoves in the field?
 
Time to cook and eat it, space to store it/carry it, properly cooking it so as not to get those nasty little worms in your guts from under/improperly cooked pork, eggs all over the inside of some lucky troop's ruck... you know, the usual.
 
We used to get "crew served meals" on exercise onceand a while.  Basically we would be given some eggs, bacon maybe a can of beans and as a section we would cook it.  Have not seen it done in a long time basically for the reasons that Kat mentioned.  It is easier and probably cheaper to give us IMP's or hay box it.  The last time I had something like that was on adventure training, the Coy purchased a sheep and then one of the guys in the Coy that was big into hunting showed us how to kill it and then skin it and we roasted it over a fire.   
 
So basically,  very little except it's inconvenient...

I've cooked plenty of fresh food in the field, even cooked sushi (vegetarian) once, though it's always been as a personally purchased alternatively to rations, for a bit of change. Though it's always been when I had a truck to carry my kit.

As far as the unit purchasing it, it's cheaper for them to go with rations, they've got an allocation for rations, they've got to purchase the food (As it was explained to me anyway after grumbling about being served rations in a field kitchen)
 
Well, that's really cool that you've cooked a gazillion field meals and not gone down with 4 days of rotten guts because you tried to keep bacon viable for 5 days in plus temperatures. I've eaten one or two crew served meals myself since 1979, and there's a reason they've been mostly done away with.  So no, not just inconvenient, potentially dangerous.
 
That's why you TSR the Flying Kitchen w/cook and prime mover.....

;D
 
Kat Stevens said:
Well, that's really cool that you've cooked a gazillion field meals and not gone down with 4 days of rotten guts because you tried to keep bacon viable for 5 days in plus temperatures. I've eaten one or two crew served meals myself since 1979, and there's a reason they've been mostly done away with.  So no, not just inconvenient, potentially dangerous.

If you're eating bacon that's been sitting in the heat for five days, that's either a supply problem or a personal problem, either way, a life lesson.

Though you're quite right, it is potentially quite dangerous, and certainly rations are far safer and easier, but it can be done, choosing foods that "keep" (Bacon, yeah, probably a bad idea, and in all fairness, he did originally ask about buying bacon and eggs, which no, I've never bothered to cook in the field on my own) over time is a hardly an advanced wilderness survival skill (If you're looking for a reference, try the Boy Scouts Handbook).

Sanitation in the field is also another serious issue, keeping pots and such clean in the field is "inconvenient" so as a result, definitly dangerous. But this is where the chain command comes in, have a master-corpral tell a corpral to watch a private scrub a pot. (Of course, you'd also have to either use disposable plates/cutlery or watch the section scrub their kfs/plate/cup)

So if it's issued fresh, and used immediately after issue, then I maintain, it can be done. But it's inconvenient

Now that being said, honestly, I barely trust most of my troops with a fork, let alone cooking perishable foods.
 
Way back when I was a Pvt. and Christ was my Sgt. we would be given fresh rat all the time. we Nflders loved to boil salt meat, potato's turnips, and carrots for a field Jigs dinner.
 
We used to do up crew served breakfast all the time on the tanks back in the early to mid 90's, nary a gastro problem to my knowledge.

Mind you the food was eaten within 24 hrs. We also didn't (for the most part) have coolers on the tanks either.

Crew served got less and less frequent as a push commodity in the recent past, more than likely a supply issue (read paperwork) than a sanitary issue. Then again, we (the troop/ Sqn I was in) was consistently hammered the point home about sanitation and food prep. Oh, BTW, melmac was the only thing available to eat off of and we brought in our own frying pans for cooking.

Fresh breakie was the one time of the day where a crew/ troop could get together and shoot the breeze about pretty much anything to include going as far as going over tactics with the guys. It was a great experience that I wish was still around today. Greasy banger and egg sangies on English muffins with tomatoes with some pan fries first thing in the morning and some fresh hot coffee to wash it all down....all in -30C weather.

There really is no reason, to my knowledge, why fresh rations can't be ordered 24 hrs in advance for the troops. As for sanitation, the CoC should be able to ensure that it's enforced.

My        :2c:

Regards
 
I'll go with what DP said. I've been eating fresh in the Corps longer than some soldiers have been on earth, with no problems. I can't recall any armoured guys getting sick from it. Lots of times when exercising on the economy, we'll make a quick pit stop and grab some stuff at the local market for the crew\ patrol. It's not that big a problem as each crew carries stoves and pots. Failing that, the SSM always BBQs sausages at the back of his truck ;)
 
Just so we're clear, I'm not against crew served grub either,  if any of you ever saw the goody boxes we strapped to the AVLBs, you'd understand what I'm talking about.  They would make Julia Child's pantry look like a second graders lunch box.  I have seen young troops go down with the gut due to poor sanitation and/or food storage.  The OP asked what's to prevent it, I answered.  Besides, the system can't push boots and socks forward on time, good luck getting brockies pushed up 2 per man per day.
 
This topic reminds me of when I was watching a WW2 documentary and it showed German troops in Russia suffering from the cold, and then German troops in Africa wiping off their tank, pouring oil on it, and frying eggs :D
 
I remember we use to get fresh a good many time in the early 80's when I was with 1RCR ( mostly winter exe's if I recall; Earlton, Norway etc). It was a real morale booster in that some of the (new at the time) IMP's left something to be desired (before that we had the old tin can rations -  :-X) We only had gut problems once that I remember; & that was because one of the sections decided to fill their water jug from a stream instead of through the CQ. They used the water for cooking; drinking etc...They must have forgotten that upstream ran through a well-used farmer's cow pasture... Needless to say the section ended up with gastro & the squats - coming out both ends.  :eek: Section commander & his 2I/C got their knuckles rapped for that one....
 
Good points made all around, my experience was that the good old RCASC always took care of any big or small problems of Messing and Supplies, (they were the most inventive and resourceful guys you'd ever come across), but I regress.
As to the Pork issue, while in Germany, the Germans at that time regarded Bacon as the poorest cut of the pig and it went to Animal Feed.
Apparently, no Self Respecting German would be caught eating it.
Well I never heard of it, but the RCASC boys found Canned Danish Bacon. It was delicious, problem solved, and it had a good shelf life.
You guys complain about IMP's, when the Cooks and Field Kitchens weren't around, it was "C" Rations, and no 7/11's around.

Cheers.
 
Fresh breakfast (crew served) was a standard part of Armoured Corps ration plans until about 2003. We had been getting tortured by PMed and Cook folks for sometimes on hygiene grounds, though, and it came to a final head on BTE 2003 when they can canned about half way through (several crews had got sick to point that doctors got involved).  Two years later as 2IC HQ Sqn I couldn't get crew served ordered in Petawawa due to hygiene reasons. It had nothing to do with money or convenience/inconvenience.

Perhaps the situation has changed and they can be ordered again, but I haven't seen them in Gagetown either.
 
Thread Hi-jack

Hmmm, just had a visual of certified Organic field rations.  What a concept.  But then again I remember the RP-4s. If you were lucky enough to get the particular menu, I think it was menu 7, there was a can of the aforementioned Danish bacon.  Only had it once though, we always seemed to end up with the very uninspiring menu 3 - luncheon meat anyone ?

Seriously though I second Fast Eddy's compliments towards the old RCASC cooks.
 
Tango2Bravo said:
Fresh breakfast (crew served) was a standard part of Armoured Corps ration plans until about 2003. We had been getting tortured by PMed and Cook folks for sometimes on hygiene grounds, though, and it came to a final head on BTE 2003 when they can canned about half way through (several crews had got sick to point that doctors got involved).  Two years later as 2IC HQ Sqn I couldn't get crew served ordered in Petawawa due to hygiene reasons. It had nothing to do with money or convenience/inconvenience.

Perhaps the situation has changed and they can be ordered again, but I haven't seen them in Gagetown either.

Yeah I remember that as well. Perhaps PMeds will shut down all the flying kitchens in the FOBs as well, seeing as there's always a case of gastro every week during my last tour. The cooks were scrubbing the hell out of them at least once a week and there were only 2 hot meals a day.

/rant
 
oh come on you all know you would rather have the nice green eggs and ham IMP served cold. Don't know why they got rid of it.  >:D
 
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