Submarine Cuisine

[Kent Wang]

Is coffee drinking prevalent? Are you in charge of that too? Are sailors permitted to carry their coffee around or do they have to leave all food in the mess? I can imagine some pretty embarassing disasters from spilling coffee all over the instruments!

[BubbleheadChef]

Is coffee drinking prevalent? Are you in charge of that too? Are sailors permitted to carry their coffee around or do they have to leave all food in the mess? I can imagine some pretty embarassing disasters from spilling coffee all over the instruments!

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A lot of people mistakenly believe that the reactor supplies the power to the ship. In truth, it is the coffee bean. Without coffee, the ship would never leave the pier. LOL. We are allowed to take our coffee wherever we go provided it is in a COVERED cup and most spaces onboard have a coffee pot in it, plus the 3 vacuum pots I have on the mess. My favorite quote on this website belongs to jsolomon, "It is inhumane, in my opinion, to force people who have a genuine medical need for coffee to wait in line behind people who apparently view it as some kind of recreational activity. " Speaking of, there is way to much blood in my coffee stream and I need to go get another cup. Please excuse me.

[arriba!]

Fascinating reading! I am curious about exercise onboard. Obviously, a wgt room is not feasible, but I cannot imagine containing all those guys for extended periods w/o them being able to expend some physical energy!

what about "downtime"? I read your schedule and realize you don't have much, but what do the guys do with extra time other than study for advancements? Are movies available? Games? I guess they must bring their own reading material?

Several years ago I toured the Growler in the Hudson river--that is where I got my first idea of what cooking on a sub is like! I am sure it is much smaller than the new boats and I cannot imagine planning and cooking in that space! Hello claustrophobia!!!

Thanks for your service and for sharing a slice of your life with us!!

[suzilightning]

Is coffee drinking prevalent? Are you in charge of that too? Are sailors permitted to carry their coffee around or do they have to leave all food in the mess? I can imagine some pretty embarassing disasters from spilling coffee all over the instruments!

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A lot of people mistakenly believe that the reactor supplies the power to the ship. In truth, it is the coffee bean. Without coffee, the ship would never leave the pier. LOL. We are allowed to take our coffee wherever we go provided it is in a COVERED cup and most spaces onboard have a coffee pot in it, plus the 3 vacuum pots I have on the mess. My favorite quote on this website belongs to jsolomon, "It is inhumane, in my opinion, to force people who have a genuine medical need for coffee to wait in line behind people who apparently view it as some kind of recreational activity. " Speaking of, there is way to much blood in my coffee stream and I need to go get another cup. Please excuse me.

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in grad school we used to have a saying: "Mainline that freeze-dried Folgers"

chef- what a fabulous q & a. thank you especially for your service. when you are on leave do you and your wife with or without your daughter have any places in the Groton area where you like to eat?

sorry but it is Go Army! Beat Navy!

[Fresser]

One of the things that I like to do for my crew is have an idea of what religious holidays will be coming up and have something special for them to commemerate.  Make a challah or get a kosher cook book and make something appropriate.

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That is so gracious of you, BubbleheadChef! You're a welcome guest in the Fresser kitchen anytime.

This is just the kind of courtesy that would generate loyal customers at any civilian restaurant you might work at, post-Navy.

[BubbleheadChef]

Fascinating reading!  I am curious about exercise onboard.  Obviously, a wgt room is not feasible, but I cannot imagine containing all those guys for extended periods w/o them being able to expend some physical energy! 

what about "downtime"?  I read your schedule and realize you don't have much, but what do the guys do with extra time other than study for advancements?  Are movies available?  Games?  I guess they must bring their own reading material?

Several years ago I toured the Growler in the Hudson river--that is where I got my first idea of what cooking on a sub is like!  I am sure it is much smaller than the new boats and I cannot imagine planning and cooking in that space!  Hello claustrophobia!!!

Thanks for your service and for sharing a slice of your life with us!!

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We stuff a few pieces of excercise equipment on the boat. We have an excercise bike, a few free weights and an elyptical (sp?) machine. Pretty obvious that I dont use it, huh? LOL. We do have a lot of movies. The major studios in Hollywood send us first run movies, sometimes even while they are out in movie theaters. I do play quite a bit of cribbage between meals or during slow days. On saturday nights, a lot of guys play poker. The most popular game on board I would say is spades. We do have an XBox and a PS2 that some guys play, but I just don't have that kind of time. I do read A LOT, on average 10-15 books a month. That is where I first read Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain. Imagine the looks I got laughing at that out loud.

Believe it or not, the galleys haven't got much bigger since the days of the Growler, but have certainly become better equipped. You get used to it and it is to the point now where I actually kind of enjoy it.

[BubbleheadChef]

Is coffee drinking prevalent? Are you in charge of that too? Are sailors permitted to carry their coffee around or do they have to leave all food in the mess? I can imagine some pretty embarassing disasters from spilling coffee all over the instruments!

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A lot of people mistakenly believe that the reactor supplies the power to the ship.  In truth, it is the coffee bean.  Without coffee, the ship would never leave the pier.  LOL.  We are allowed to take our coffee wherever we go provided it is in a COVERED cup and most spaces onboard have a coffee pot in it, plus the 3 vacuum pots I have on the mess.  My favorite quote on this website belongs to jsolomon, "It is inhumane, in my opinion, to force people who have a genuine medical need for coffee to wait in line behind people who apparently view it as some kind of recreational activity. "  Speaking of, there is way to much blood in my coffee stream and I need to go get another cup.  Please excuse me.

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in grad school we used to have a saying: "Mainline that freeze-dried Folgers"

chef- what a fabulous q & a.  thank you especially for your service.  when you are on leave do you and your wife with or without your daughter have any places in the Groton area where you like to eat? 

sorry but it is Go Army! Beat Navy! 

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I have only been in CT since April, first in Old Lyme and then out here in Mystic. But since April I have only been home about a month and a half, been out to sea. When I am home, we typically eat at home. What we do try to do is support our local vendors and buy our fresh fruits and vegetables from local farmers and we have a farmers market down the road from us. We buy what they have and then figure out what to do. With the wife being pregnant, a two year old daughter, a modest military salary, and never being home, we really haven't had the opportunity to dine at some of the higher end places yet but look forward to dining in Olde Mystic at some of the great seafood places and hopefully this spring taking a trip to NYC to show my wife REAL FOOD.

sorry but it is Go Army! Beat Navy! 

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Check Sportscenter! GO NAVY Sorry Army

[BubbleheadChef]

One of the things that I like to do for my crew is have an idea of what religious holidays will be coming up and have something special for them to commemerate.  Make a challah or get a kosher cook book and make something appropriate.

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That is so gracious of you, BubbleheadChef! You're a welcome guest in the Fresser kitchen anytime.

This is just the kind of courtesy that would generate loyal customers at any civilian restaurant you might work at, post-Navy.

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I appreciate the invite, but I truly believe it is the right thing to do, ESPECIALLY with a captive audience. They can't really go to synagogue or mass or service or temple nor spend that time with their families. So, I try to bring a little of that to them. I feel that these guys are like family, so I try to treat them as such. The same way I would run a restaurant "out there".

[jamiemaw]

Thanks for opening the hatch and letting us all look inxide BHC.

I find the economics particularly interesting, especially when compared with cruise ships. Depending on the gross passenger per diem fare, most Panamax ships have a PPPD of $8.00 to $14.00. The higher end is for lines such as Celebrity that have a food intensive program. On super-premium lines such as Crystal and Seabourn, the PPPD is significantly higher. By those standards alone, you are performing some real alchemy with your budget of $7.56 PPPD.

My father sailed on the HMCS Prince Robert during WW II. To this day, and even if I crack them right in front of him, he will not eat scrambled eggs.

Are there any food items that your crewmates avoid ashore (besdies paprika and dried herb garnishes , I mean)?

Every restaurant has a couple of menu items that they dare not remove. What are yours? And what items provide the biggest bang for your buck?

What kind of coffee do you use? Do you grind it fresh?

To assist with the constraints of onboard ingredient storage, have you or the Navy experimented with sous vide for ready-meals?

Edited December 4, 2005 by jamiemaw (log)

[BubbleheadChef]

Thanks for opening the hatch and letting us all look inxide BHC.

I find the economics particularly interesting, especially when compared with cruise ships. Depending on the gross passenger per diem fare, most Panamax ships have a PPPD of $8.00 to $14.00. The higher end is for lines such as Celebrity that have a food intensive program. On super-premium lines such as Crystal and Seabourn, the PPPD is significantly higher. By those standards alone, you are performing some real alchemy with your budget of $7.56 PPPD.

My father sailed on the HMCS Prince Robert during WW II. To this day, and even if I crack them right in front of him, he will not eat scrambled eggs.   

Are there any food items that your crewmates avoid ashore (besdies paprika and dried herb garnishes  , I mean)?

Every restaurant has a couple of menu items that they dare not remove. What are yours? And what items provide the biggest bang for your buck?

What kind of coffee do you use? Do you grind it fresh?

To assist with the constraints of onboard ingredient storage, have you or the Navy experimented with sous vide for ready-meals?

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In regards to the budget, just like anything, you learn to adapt and cost it out. Being the military, they have procedures to cost EVERYTHING down to the 1/1000th of a cent. I am not exagerating (sp?). So, when you get the system down, you can pretty much do whatever you want, because that is the only way you know how.

As far as what meals my shipmates avoid ashore, I can't really answer that very well. The crew is such an eclectic bunch, it is very difficult to nail down any one thing or even any 10 things. I will ask a few of my friends tomorrow. But, now that I am thinking about it, most of the guys can spot a dehydrated egg omelet from 10,000 yards. And won't touch it either.

As far as what meal is a non-negotiable item, it would have to be 3 meals in particular.

1. Fajita Day. The guys love it. I love it, albeit for different reasons. The hardest part is keeping all the fresh for the L,T,O and sour cream. We make a pretty mean salsa fresco with canned tomatoes (yes I know putting canned and fresco in the same sentence is counterintuitive, but it works!).

2. Anglo-Chinese day. I call it anglo-chinese because it is like nothing you have had in any chinese restaurant. It has the same names, but not at all the same taste. That being said, the guys kill it. I do a szchewan chicken, beef and broccoli, sweet and sour pork and chicken, fried rice, sesame green beans, steamed rice, whatever it is (BTW not all of those entrees at on the same day, I have two anglo-chinese meals).

3. Pizza Night. 20 sheet pans of home made pizza with toppings that you wouldnt get anywhere else. We do a buffalo chicken pizza, a BLT pizza (if you have never had one, TRY IT!!!), bacon cheeseburger, sausage and peppers, clams casino, and the list goes on and on. With that, we also run a good bit of pub grub (buffalo wings, mozzarella sticks, jalapeno poppers, things like that). It is a SACRED RITUAL to have pizza the night before pulling into port. Gotta have, no doubts about it.

As far as coffee, we use a pre-ground Starbucks Light Note coffee on crews mess and Starbucks French Roast in the Wardroom. We shy away from grinding beans for the main coffee pots on crews mess due to the sheer volume of coffee being made. We couldn't keep a machine long enough. Then there is the noise issue. We do grind it for the wardroom on occasion though and I usually steal some from there. Daddy likes his coffee

[BubbleheadChef]

I posted a few pictures of me with my cooks. Here is the link http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?act=mo...lbum&album=2127

I am the oldest one in those pictures at a whopping 27 years of age. In the group picture I am the one on the front left (as you are looking at it). The guy in the middle is my right hand man, CS2 Vincent Gregonis, 27 (6 months younger than me), ENS Jacob Bartunek, the Supply Officer.

Back row Left to Right: CS3 Chad Glissen, 21, from New Mexico, Middle is CS3 David Vigil, 24, from San Jose, California and Zachary Schmitz (20) from Auburn, NY

Not pictured is CS3 Matthew Smith, 22, from Vermont. Poor guy got stuck with the duty that day.

[Fresser]

I posted a few pictures of me with my cooks. 

I am the oldest one in those pictures at a whopping 27 years of age.  In the group picture I am the one on the front left (as you are looking at it). 

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You guys make for quite a stylish BOH staff picture!

I see by your stripes BubbleheadChef that you're a Chief--a rank well-deserved. Are the colored insigniae on your breast pocket really called "fruit salad?"

[BubbleheadChef]

I posted a few pictures of me with my cooks. 

I am the oldest one in those pictures at a whopping 27 years of age.  In the group picture I am the one on the front left (as you are looking at it). 

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You guys make for quite a stylish BOH staff picture!

I see by your stripes BubbleheadChef that you're a Chief--a rank well-deserved. Are the colored insigniae on your breast pocket really called "fruit salad?"

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Some people call them that. I have also heard salad bar.

[jamiemaw]

Thanks BHC--you've been very generous with your time.

Because Vancouver is a major cruise ship port, we read occasionally about Food-borne Illness (FBI--such as Norwalk Virus) on the cruisers. I know they take elaborate precautions, especially with the obvious perps like poultry and ground beef (separate stainless break rooms) etc. Of course all contained environments are especially susceptible.

Are Navy ships affected very often? Have you ever seen an outbreak?

Cheers,

Jamie

[BubbleheadChef]

Thanks BHC--you've been very generous with your time.

Because Vancouver is a major cruise ship port, we read occasionally about Food-borne Illness (FBI--such as Norwalk Virus) on the cruisers. I know they take elaborate precautions, especially with the obvious perps like poultry and ground beef (separate stainless break rooms) etc. Of course all contained environments are especially susceptible.

Are Navy ships affected very often? Have you ever seen an outbreak?

Cheers,

Jamie

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OH DEAR GOD, NO. Knock on wood. The biggest complaint you hear about on Navy ships is that the food is "overcooked". That is because we are required to cook to the correct temp and hold. Sunny side eggs? Not on my boat. Do I love sunny side eggs? Yep, pretty much the only way I'll eat them. Do I love a slab of BARELY medium rare steak? Yep, anything more than that is burnt. But, these are two things that you wont see on navy ships for fear of getting guys sick.

[MichBill]

Thanks so much for enlightining us on this very interesting topic. What changes would you make if you could have an unlimited budget or unlimited resources to feeed your crew?

[MGLloyd]

My gosh, an E-7 at 27 years of age? You are either what my wife, the retired CPO, calls 'shit-hot' or CS must be a fast-promoting rating, or both.

PS: And I am further impressed to see the E-7 with only two hash marks, indicating at least eight years of service so far. With what rank did you enter the Navy? Did you come in as a E-2 or E-3? My wife came in as an E-2, and made Chief on her third try, at year 13. The first two times, although she passed the tests and the selection board, there were not enough open E-7 slots in the corpsman rating.

PPS: And again for the non-Navy types, being promoted to E-7, or Chief Petty Officer, is a major, major milestone in a sailor's career. The CPOs are the middle-managers of the Navy, without which the Navy could not function. Becoming a CPO not only requires passing difficult tests, having excellent annual reviews (including 'sustained superior performance at sea') but also being judged by a selection board who makes the final decision if you are eligble to be promoted to Chief. And then, your rating (or job) only has so many CPO slots open per year for promotions, so if you there are not enough slots open one year, you have to try again the next year. There are many, many sailors who finish a twenty year career in the Navy without being promoted to Chief. In many ratings, it would be easier for an enlisted sailor to become an officer rather than a Chief.

So Bubblehead, are you going to be a lifer?

Edited December 4, 2005 by MGLloyd (log)

[BubbleheadChef]

Thanks so much for enlightining us on this very interesting topic.  What changes would you make if you could have an unlimited budget or unlimited resources to feeed your crew?

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The budget is not the problem, the storage constraints and equipment are. I wish more cooks thought outside the box as far as military food service and instead of saying, "we can't" try "why not" every once in awhile. We could do a lot more classical cuisine, but service and prevalent attitude is the problem. If it is "french" or french sounding (concerning food), then it must be "hoity toity". Such a shame. If they only knew that the majority of french food was created by people just like them, the working class.

[BubbleheadChef]

My gosh, an E-7 at 27 years of age?  You are either what my wife, the retired CPO, calls 'shit-hot' or CS must be a fast-promoting rating, or both.

PS: And I am further impressed to see the E-7 with only two hash marks, indicating at least eight years of service so far.  With what rank did you enter the Navy?  Did you come in as a E-2 or E-3?  My wife came in as an E-2, and made Chief on her third try, at year 13.  The first two times, although she passed the tests and the selection board, there were not enough open E-7 slots in the corpsman rating.

PPS: And again for the non-Navy types, being promoted to E-7, or Chief Petty Officer, is a major, major milestone in a sailor's career.  The CPOs are the middle-managers of the Navy, without which the Navy could not function.  Becoming a CPO not only requires passing difficult tests, having excellent annual reviews (including 'sustained superior performance at sea') but also being judged by a selection board who makes the final decision if you are eligble to be promoted to Chief.  And then, your rating (or job) only has so many CPO slots open per year for promotions, so if you there are not enough slots open one year, you have to try again the next year.  There are many, many sailors who finish a twenty year career in the Navy without being promoted to Chief.  In many ratings, it would be easier for an enlisted sailor to become an officer rather than a Chief. 

So Bubblehead, are you going to be a lifer?

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I came in the Navy as an E-1, did what the Navy told me to, studied hard, picked the hard jobs, went to sea when I didn't have to (I spent an average of 2 weeks a month deployed while on SHORE DUTY!). The CS rating is horrible for advancement, but if you do what they tell you to, and be a "good Sailor", things happen. As far as my time in service, I went hit my nine year mark on October 31st this year and was frocked to Chief at my 8 year, 11 month point. I wont get another hash mark for a couple more years anyway. I made Chief my first time up. When did your wife retire? There is a fairly new program out for time in rate waivers if you get an early promote on your yearly evaluations. I have been an early promote every time I took the test for E4, E5, E6, and Chief.

For the non-Navy types, I'll give a brief overview of the Navy Eval system:

Once a year, every sailor gets an evaluation from the Chain of Command. There are 7 blocks that are graded 1.0-5.0. 1.0 being the worst and 5.0 being the best. Then there is a space for a write up. That space is used to describe/justify the numerical grade you have already recieved. Finally, there are 5 promotion recommendations, these are the really important blocks.

There is a "significant problems". I think that is pretty self explanitory.

There is a "progressing" block. That is for a sailor that may have had a few speed bumps but is getting better.

There is a "promotable block". That is for the guy that does only what is expected of him, neither a bad sailor or and extremely good sailor. As you get more senior, it isn't such a bad block, because percentages start coming into play, but that is way too much to go into here.

There is a "must promote" block. That is for the guys that go over the basic requirements, really above and beyond. That can only be 20-40% of your sailors in a specific paygrade.

The last block is "early promote". That is for the real "hard chargers", your go getters. This is for the top 5-7% of your sailors in a specific pay grade. As you can imagine, competition for these spots is really fierce. The big benefit of this mark is you get one year off the time you have to wait to take the next paygrade test. It basically means you are already performing at the next paygrade.

That is an extremely basic breakdown, I could expound on that for hours, but this is a FOOD thread, right?

[BubbleheadChef]

 

So Bubblehead, are you going to be a lifer?

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It would seem pretty silly for me to get out now doesn't it? LOL.

[MGLloyd]

 

So Bubblehead, are you going to be a lifer?

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It would seem pretty silly for me to get out now doesn't it? LOL.

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Well, Chief, if you ever get transferred to the Pacific, and either go back to the boomers at Bangor, or if your fast attack makes a port call at Bangor, let me know and the Chief and I will buy you a drink and a good meal. There are some good places to eat on the Kitsap Peninsula. You can explain to Mrs. Chief here the folly of treating me like an E-1 sometimes....

[daves]

Chief, thanks for the insights into the food side of the boat.

About 15 months ago, I went on a tour of the USS Nevada at Bangor. We started with a visit to the museum near the base, and then off to lunch at the Bangor Mess. The sailors were quite proud that the mess had won a bunch of awards. We were also quite lucky -- we were one of the last civilian groups to be allowed to eat in the mess.

Then we got onto the boat. The Nevada is a boomer, and I was amazed at the room aboard, although crew quarters were still a little tight. We dropped by the mess but couldn't enter as they were using it for a meeting. Bummer.

Edited December 5, 2005 by daves (log)

[djbeers]

I posted a few pictures of me with my cooks.  Here is the link http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?act=mo...lbum&album=2127

I am the oldest one in those pictures at a whopping 27 years of age.  In the group picture I am the one on the front left (as you are looking at it).  The guy in the middle is my right hand man, CS2 Vincent Gregonis, 27 (6 months younger than me), ENS Jacob Bartunek, the Supply Officer.

Back row Left to Right: CS3 Chad Glissen, 21, from New Mexico, Middle is CS3 David Vigil, 24, from San Jose, California and Zachary Schmitz (20) from Auburn, NY

Not pictured is CS3 Matthew Smith, 22, from Vermont.  Poor guy got stuck with the duty that day.

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Hmmm, the Ensign isn't wearing dolphins. Is he qualified submarines yet? <g>

This thread is taking me back in time. I was a nuke ELT on targets (targets are surface ships for those non-Navy types out there). The old Texas (CGN-39) and then the Nimitz (CVN-68). While I always thought the food was very good, the baked goods were excellent. I'd put a fresh baked loaf of Navy bread or some sweet rolls up against any civilian challenger. I always appreciated the effort the cooks put out for Thanksgiving and Christmas meals. It was always top knotch and truly from soup to nuts. Most of us had to be wheeled away from the mess deck.

A good thing about a carrier is that we pretty much always had fresh supplies of food. Not too hard when you are the airport! We'd load up on that good Italian ice cream in Naples - and we knew we were getting close to U.S. waters when they'd bring up all the remaining ice cream and tell us to eat it - all of it - because otherwise it would be thrown over the side.

Fair winds and following seas, Chief!

[Rodfog]

Hello,

I must apoligize in advance I did not read all the responses before posting this and I will go back and read them when I am done here. I was aboard Three submarines one boomer and two fast attacks, the USS Sea Devil (SSN 664) the USS Lewis and Clark (SSBN 644) and the USS Jacksonville (SSN 699). I was in the navy from sept 1988 to sept 1996. I have not eaten any food but from a sub or a land based mess hall. All I can say is sub food is head and shoulders better than the rest.

Some of my food memories of subs some good some bad. The bug juice (a kool aid like drink) we drank and we also used it to clean the toliets because of its acidity. Powdered milk is the worse thing with UDT milk being not much better, Regular milk only lasted about two weeks on a long deployment due to storage issues. Once while doing a stores load a package of chicken came across that was labeled "REJECTED BY USAF". I used to help the night baker and the Captain we occassionally do "angles and Dangles" (putting the ship into a series of huigh angle dives and rises) right when we put the sheetcakes in so the sheet cakes would be extremely thin on one end. The worse part of it was that we were always told to even it out with icing.

Now the good memories Halfway night (on a major deployment the night you are half done) we were always served prime rib and lobster tail. I grew up in the midwest and the navy began my love of ocean fish in particular Hailbut. We always took on local product when we pulled into foreign ports and once when pulling into Bergen, Norway we got some of the best smoked salmon I have ever had and the best part the MS chief, myself and a coule of officers were the only ones who would eat it.

By the way I was not a mess specialist but a nuke Machinist mate but I did my time cranking and I also enjoyed cooking so I also did some cooking and not just on pizza night.

thanks for the time MM2 (SS) Rodfog

[BubbleheadChef]

Hello,

I must apoligize in advance I did not read all the responses before posting this and I will go back and read them when I am done here. I was aboard Three submarines one boomer and two fast attacks, the USS Sea Devil (SSN 664) the USS Lewis and Clark (SSBN 644) and the USS Jacksonville (SSN 699). I was in the navy from sept 1988 to sept 1996. I have not eaten any food but from a sub or a land based mess hall. All I can say is sub food is head and shoulders better than the rest.

Some of my food memories of subs some good some bad. The bug juice (a kool aid like drink) we drank and we also used it to clean the toliets because of its acidity. Powdered milk is the worse thing with UDT milk being not much better, Regular milk only lasted about two weeks on a long deployment due to storage issues. Once while doing a stores load a package of chicken came across that was labeled "REJECTED BY USAF". I used to help the night baker and the Captain we occassionally do "angles and Dangles" (putting the ship into a series of huigh angle dives and rises) right when we put the sheetcakes in so the sheet cakes would be extremely thin on one end. The worse part of it was that we were always told to even it out with icing.

Now the good memories Halfway night (on a major deployment the night you are half done) we were always served prime rib and lobster tail. I grew up in the midwest and the navy began my love of ocean fish in particular Hailbut. We always took on local product when we pulled into foreign ports and once when pulling into Bergen, Norway we got some of the best smoked salmon I have ever had and the best part the MS chief, myself and a coule of officers were the only ones who would eat it.

By the way I was not a mess specialist but a nuke Machinist mate but I did my time cranking and I also enjoyed cooking so I also did some cooking and not just on pizza night.

thanks for the time MM2 (SS) Rodfog

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Welcome aboard, glad to have you here, Rodfog. Bug juice is still pretty prevalent, it is just way too difficult to load and store enough bag in box soda and CO2 for and entire underway and quite frankly, as much as I hate Crystal Lite, Kook Aid, and others of that ilk, it is much preferable to Coca Cola syrup with no CO2 to liven it up.

And, you touched one of my peeves. The US Navy has never, and never will, accept meat that is rejected from anywhere. It is however, a very wide spread urban legend. Funny, the first 50000 times you hear it, but in a forum like this, I don't think it has any place. We get the same food as any restaurant in town, as our food comes from Sysco, the IJ Company, Monarch, American Foods, whatever. Unless the Air Force gets first crack at all the beef in the Northeast Region before, say, the Fisherman in Mystic, I don't think we'll ever see any rejected sticker.

Also, while there are still some boats that still use sheet cakes, I have never, and never will. I have used round cake pans on every submarine I have been on. There are still some boats that use them, but they are not so prevalent as they once were.