[US] Armed Forces Recipe Service

[Transmaster]

This is the master recipes of the US Armed Forces. It was realized after WW2 that for logistical reasons the recipes used in the US Armed Forces needed to be standardised this finally happened in 1969 with the combining of the recipes used by the 4 services into the Armed Forces Recipe Service. This is what feeds American service men and women on shore or at sea. The recipes feed 100 people. To get the portion needed for the number you are going to feed use the formula below. It is issued in boxed index card form, however the Recipe service has also been published in book form by the Defense Department and the 2 volumes are available on Amazon. If you have eaten at a military mess hall in the last 50 years what you ate come from AFRS.

This from the AFRS

The AFRS was issued by the U.S. Department of Defense and is jointly used by the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps. Recipes in the AFRS are typically based on 100 servings, but some recipes are based on count or volume, e.g., 2 pans, 8 loaves, or 6-1/2 gallons.

To convert the number of servings in an AFRS recipe to a different number of servings, you can use the following formula:

Working Factor = Desired number of servings / Standard number of servings
For example, if you want to convert a recipe that serves 100 people to serve 50 people, you would use the following formula:
Working Factor = 50 / 100 = 0.5
Then, you would multiply the quantity of each ingredient in the recipe by the working factor. For example, if the recipe calls for 1 cup of flour, you would use 0.5 cups of flour for the 50-serving recipe.

 

[Michi]

If you have eaten at a military mess hall in the last 50 years what you ate come from AFRS.

This is interesting, thanks for the link!

That's quite a comprehensive list of dishes in that index. My question is, how good is the food? With the need to knock out meals for a large number of people, often under difficult conditions, I would expect the recipes to have been adjusted accordingly, towards simplicity, speed, and repeatability. Are the resulting meals still good?

 

[Transmaster]

This is interesting, thanks for the link!

That's quite a comprehensive list of dishes in that index. My question is, how good is the food? With the need to knock out meals for a large number of people, often under difficult conditions, I would expect the recipes to have been adjusted accordingly, towards simplicity, speed, and repeatability. Are the resulting meals still good?

I was a trained US Navy chef, and after that for over 20 years I was a mess sergeant in Wyoming Army National Guard running field kitchens. It is actually easier to cook for large numbers of people than small ones. The recipes are top notch and comparable to anything out there. The important thing is consistency. The recipes are tested and recorded to make that happen, So a Turkey Noodle soup will taste the same everywhere. The AFRS is administered by the all service The Joint Culinary Center of Excellence, a division of the US Army Quartermaster School. They work diligently to keep the recipes current and healthy. This is the same outfit that works on the MRE's. First it was the US Army during the Spanish American War, read up on The Embalmed Beef Scandal. They realized that good food was as important to the fight as a rifle in a soldiers hands. This resulted the in The Manual for Army Cooks, 1896 ( you can download it here) The Army Cooks manual is interesting because is has Mexican recipes, and there is a early version of fried rice, Army style. The US Navy didn't have this problem because the Supply officer, Medical officer and the Chief Commissaryman were in charge of provisioning their ship and they purchased everything fresh on shore the Supply officer paying cash for it, and the medical officer inspecting everything, and the Chief Commissaryman seeing to it storage. US Navy ships had refrigeration starting c.1870. US Navy cooks had their own basic recipes, Which they took with them from ship to ship. Finally in 1902 The USN published the US Navy Mess Manual, and Cook Book It is not as comprehensive because of the Navy cooks had their own recipes. Ships Captains knew that a good ships cook made for a happy crew. The US Army learned that food poisoning was a killer of armies before they even got to the fight.

If you have not guessed it I am big on food history.

 

[Transmaster]

In the US Army manual for cooks there is a whole section on care and use of the US Army #5 cook stove. This 600+ pound cast iron behemoth has switchable grates so it could use coal or wood. It is a art form to cook with one. I have personally eaten bread baked in one of these stoves. It doesn't get any better. I have never learned the art of cooking with one. The USA purchased 1000's of these stoves, and they are still around.