Rations and brew

[nevetsjc80]

I was wondering, back in my army cadet days when the british army ration packs came with tinned main meals, I remember being told that when you heat the can (ie half submerge the can in water and bring to the boil as decribed on the menu sheet) you cant use the water for a brew something to do with the zinc on the outer tins.
Any how now the ration come in the foil type packets can you boil them in the bag and use the water for a brew?
Steve

 

[ArkAngel]

Well i don't use army rations, but on occasions have used the boil in the bag "Wayfayer" meals.

Yes i use the water for a brew after i am finished with it....and i'm still here

 

[scanker]

That's what I tend to do. I think the reason they come in an outer clear polythene packet is so that the pack is clean when it goes into your brew water.

 

[spamel]

The clear polythene wrapper is to stop contamination from NBC, or so I have been told. I drink water after using it to heat boil in the bag, but then again I used the water after heating the tins!! After basic training I learnt the joys of all ins so I didn't have to do that any more!!

 

[ArkAngel]

The clear polythene wrapper is to stop contamination from NBC, or so I have been told. I drink water after using it to heat boil in the bag, but then again I used the water after heating the tins!! After basic training I learnt the joys of all ins so I didn't have to do that any more!!

and of course the "racing spoon"

 

[nevetsjc80]

Well cheers everyone for the feed back, sounds like i ll be having a brew and a meal in one then. Cheers

 

[bikething]

Quoted from a menu sheet in front of me

Pouched Foods
All pouched foods may be eaten hot or cold. If required hot, the reheating instructions are given on the wrapper of each pouch. These wrappers should not be removed until the pouches are about to be consumed. The water used for heating may be used again for making beverages or shaving

 

[rik_uk3]

Do Wayfarer make the ration pouch meals I wonder? The rat packs are a cheap way of getting 3 retort pouch meals, I pay no more than £5 a pack delivered (buy 10 packs at a time), 3 Wayfarer packs will set you back double that, plus you get all the other goodies in the rat pack

I use the water for a brew after as well

 

[nevetsjc80]

Where do you buy them from ten at a time for less than £5 each?

 

[bikething]

I got mine here:
http://www.genuinearmysurplus.co.uk.../name=british-army-24hr-ration-pack/rowid=419

 

[Tadpole]

I was wondering, back in my army cadet days when the british army ration packs came with tinned main meals, I remember being told that when you heat the can (ie half submerge the can in water and bring to the boil as decribed on the menu sheet) you cant use the water for a brew something to do with the zinc on the outer tins.
Any how now the ration come in the foil type packets can you boil them in the bag and use the water for a brew?
Steve

There is a real risk of tin and zinc poisoning from the older style of tin cans (un-coated) used in conjunction with high-acid foods, like tinned fruits, tomatoes. The risk is increased if the can is dented or scratched as this can expose uncoated tin to the acid in the food.
In an experiment for the WHO (The toxicity of tin in canned fruit juices and solid foods 1971) a group of volunteers drank tinned concentrated orange juice with 703ppm (parts per million) of tin experienced no effects but after the orange juice was pasteurised by heating and stirring in the tin can, the measured ppm was found to be 1370, this caused nausea and/or diarrhoea.

No adverse effects were noted in 9 volunteers fed a C-ration diet consisting of canned fruits and meats which had been stored for 20 months at 37°C (Calloway & McMullen, 1966). The tin content in the food ranged from 254 to 538 ppm, expressed on the basis of dry solids. It was estimated that these subjects consumed an average of 163 mg of tin per day (ranging from 116 to 203 mg/day) and that virtually all of the ingested tin was recovered in the faeces. Nitrogen absorption from the gastrointestinal tract was decreased, suggesting that the tin in the food was associated with protein as an indigestible complex, as previously proposed by Goss (1917). C-rations stored at 1°C for 20 months contained less than 50 ppm tin, and also produced no adverse effects in the volunteers.

Now the foil pack, in modern longlife food according to the data on manufacturing specification, is made up of three ply bonded under pressure. Comprising of an inner layer of polyester at 0.005mm thickness, an aluminium layer of 0.010 mm thickness and an outer layer of polyethylene 0.0051mm. That is designed to keep the food away from the aluminium, and the aluminium from the heat source. I don’t know is this is still the case today, but the American MRE packs are of a similar construction

 

[scaleyback]

wasnt there some thing about the north west passage expidition from the early 1800s on tv recentley? they found some of the canned food , some was contamiated with lead, but the tin platted steel cans were still safe to eat????? but it had been at -20 for 200 years, lol