Further Thoughts on Survival Rations … 1962 Civil Defense Style

Canteen cup, measuring cup and survival bar, picture by the Author

After I had published, “Survival Rations … 1962 Civil Defense Style”, which can be found [HERE], I received several questions from readers.

Wegmans brand Oats & Honey Flakes, picture by the Author

 The first question was, “you demonstrated making the ration bar with Wegmans brand Oats & Honey Flakes, where I live there aren’t any Wegmans stores, what type of cereal should I use?”

This is a very good question.  The recipe was not very specific about the type of cereal that was used, stating only “3 cups cereal – Oatmeal or Barley, Corn or Wheat Flakes”.  I used two cups of rolled oats and one cup of Wegmans brand Oats & Honey Flakes, because breakfast cereal is heavily fortified and I wanted the ration bar to have a higher nutritional content.  If I wanted to have a more accurate 1962 look to the bar or if there were no Wegmans where I live, I would have used two cups of rolled oats and one cup of Kellogg’s Corn Flakes.  The nutritional content of the ration bar with Corn Flakes is:

Kellogg’s Corn Flakes, picture by the Author

Nutritional information of survival ration with Kellogg's Corn Flakes, information condensed by the Author

 In addition, if you wanted to change the texture and make the survival bar chewier, you could substitute ½ or even one cup of the rolled oats for an equal amount of steel cut oats.  Next time I make these bars, I plan to substitute one cup of rolled oats for one cup of steel cut oats.  I will report back and let you know how this experiment turns out.  Substituting steel cut for rolled oats would not only change the texture of the bar, but it would also increase both the calorie and nutritional count. 

Wegmans Organic Steel Cut Oats

Nutritional information of survival ration with one cup of steel cut oats, information condensed by the Author

Nutritional information of survival ration with half cup of steel cut oats, information condensed by the Author

 The second question that I received was, “the recipe said the bar could be cooked with ²/₃ of a canteen cup of water, how much water is that?”

Canteen cup and measuring cup, picture by the Author

 That is also a very good question and to answer your question I pulled out my 1941 US Army issue canteen cup to measure it.  During the 1960's, because of the sale of military surplus items, a canteen cup would have been very familiar to campers and other outdoors-people.  One full canteen cup measures three cups or 24 ounces and therefore a ²/₃ canteen cup measurement is equal to two cups or 16 ounces of water.

The last question that I received asked, “You told us how the survival bar tasted when it was dry, how did it taste when it was cooked?”

Up until I was asked this question, I had only eaten these survival bars in their dry, uncooked and un-hydrated state, so I decided to experiment.  First, I put an ¹/₈ of a survival bar into a ¼ cup of cold water (a ¼ cup, is ¹/₈ of the two cups that the recipe called for) and let it sit without heating it.  I ended this experiment after 15 minutes and discovered that while the bar had softened a little, only the out layer that had softened to the consistency of cooked oatmeal.

¹/₈ of a survival bar soaked in ¼ cup of cold water for 15 minutes, picture by the Author

Second, I put a ¹/₈ of a survival bar into a ¼ cup of cold water, but this time I set it to boil.  In this experiment, the bar crumbled easily with a fork and dissolved into a watery oatmeal within three minutes and 53 seconds.

¹/₈ of a survival bar boiled in ¼ cup of water for 3 minutes, 53 seconds, picture by the Author

 In both cases, it was the texture of the bar that changed and not the flavor, which remained a rather yummy orange-honey-oatmeal flavor.

I hope that these answers helped and until next time, Happy Trails!