Air Force SOS

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doxie3	Air Force SOS	Lead	[-]
Posts: 11 (04/11/09 06:07 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Tags : None I saw the Navy recipe for SOS. I was in the Air Force in 1966-1970 and the SOS we ate didn't have tomatoes in it. If anyone has the receipe for Air Force SOS please post it. Thanks. I make my own version and it is good but I don't think it is quite as I remember it.
m1 talker		#1	[-]
Posts: 6662 (04/11/09 10:39 AM) Veteran member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	I think every branch had their versions of SOS. I loved the Navy style when I was in the Navy. Then when I went into the Army, I got to liking the Army style, as it was a lot like mom used to make at home when I was a kid. Never have tried the Air Force style, so I can't comment on it. But no matter how screwed up it was, I always liked it, regardless of whether it was Navy style or Army style. Curt
glock40man		#2	[-]
Posts: 165 (04/11/09 10:20 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Man ! Reading this post sent a cold shiver down my spine. I will never,ever,eat SOS for the rest of my life. I would rather eat road kill. At least I wiil know WHAT I'am eating.
Budop		#3	[-]
Posts: 277 (04/11/09 11:24 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	The Air Force served SOS?
Jackbull49		#4	[-]
Posts: 219 (04/13/09 07:35 PM) active member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Air Force SOS was best eaten at Midnight Chow, served for Flight Line personnel working late. Two slabs of toast covered with SOS with two scrambled on top, add salt, pepper and Tabasco wash down with black coffee. It didn't get any better than that. Army SOS was very similar, but sometimes they would use chipped beef in lieu of hamburger. My wife makes it as good as I ever had it anywhere,
ball3006	The air force midnight chow plate...	#5	[-]
Posts: 1714 (05/14/09 06:14 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	was toast, hash browns, sos, medium over eggs. Piled up in that order. Sausage on the side....chris3
nothernug		#6	[-]
Posts: 11325 (05/19/09 12:42 AM) Forum Site Moderator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Actually, we run through this topic every now and then. Search this forum and you'll find a thread that even had a pic of my last batch. I was a cook in the Army my first hitch, and I still make the stuff now and again. The family loves it. Chipped beef was the old version for the army. By the 70s, (when I went in) ground beef was sop. The fat generated made it simpler than the much drier chipped beef. Once yet again for those who want to know, here's the recipe... Cook the beef (ground chuck or extra lean hamburger will generate enough grease to do) thoroughly until it no longer renders fat. Be sure to crumble it up finely. Then (amounts are vague because I use the TLAR rule) for 1# of GBeef, add about a cup of flour right in the pan with the beef and grease.* Stir it in until blended well. It will seem dry but thats ok. Stir frequently. * If fussy, you can strain off the fat and use vegetable shortening melted into the meat in it's place. This is important! cook slowly over medium low heat for about 20 minutes. If this time is rushed, the final product will have a pasty, floury taste. A good sos is not a quick fix meal but at least it's a one skillet dish. While doing this, I let about two cups of milk (whole to skim, your choice) to stand to room temperature. I will also run a pot of hot water. It speeds up cooking time a bit then adding cold liquids. After cooking the flour/meat for about 20 minutes, add the milk slowly, stirring it in. It will quickly turn to paste,- no problem-. Then start adding the hot water a little at a time, stirring until you have a gravvy consistency. DON'T STOP HERE! It will revert to paste again. Continue to add liquid while maintaining consistency until it ceases to thicken. Stir frequently, do not allow to scorch. You might lower the fire a notch. Add salt and pepper to taste. There you have it. Gen-u-ine U.S. Army SOS. Goes great over biscuits too. Diplomacy is the art of saying nice doggie until you can find a rock. Will Rogers
eli griggs		#7	[-]
Posts: 638 (05/19/09 04:03 AM) active member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Nothernug, thanks for your post. Let me ask, how lean is the ground beef you use for your sos or what was the army 'standard'? I've been using butter with drained beef and low fat dry milk with mine but the taste is not quite right yet; good but not the same as the original. I also have been using much less flour but I'll try a cup per lb. of meat this week. By-the-way, feel free to share any army biscuit recipes, especially any those use self-rising flour;-) Cheers "Those who hammer their guns into plows will plow for those who do not." ~ Thomas Jefferson ~ "In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity". - Albert Einstein WANTED - Lee Loaders - 6.5 Swede Mauser, 7.5 Swiss, 7.62x39, 7.62x54r, .303 Brit WANTED- Turkey and Goose feathers for fletching arrows Last Edited By: eli griggs 05/19/09 04:09 AM. Edited 1 times.
eli griggs	Success!	#8	[-]
Posts: 645 (05/20/09 07:00 PM) active member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Well, I fixed a pot of this in my cast-iron dutch-oven this evening as dinner for my Rozeann and myself and other than a more than liberal handling of pepper, it was nearly perfect, the best I've ever made! Thanks nothernug, here's what I did. I had 27% ground beef at hand, about one and a half pounds raw, and cooked it over a low medium heat in my largest Lodge pot, covered. I then lifted out the oversized 'hamburger' to drain while I strained the remaining grease, etc in a gravy separator and returned the dry beef and strained gravy/scrapings to the pot to cook the liquid down, after which I added three tablespoons of the grease. I sprinkled in the cup of flour, cooked it slowly over a medium low heat, stirring/chopping the mix frequently for a bit over 20 minutes. I had put out two cups of water when I started laying out the ingredients, as well as putting on a kettle of hot water and I mixed two thirds of a cup of dried milk into the room temperature water, added it at once to the mix and let it thicken, while turing up the heat slightly. once I was satisfied it was incorporated I started adding the hot water about half a cup at a pour. This all took awhile, with constant stirring and scraping and when I was sure it was through thickening, I did as nothernug directed and added a bit more, as needed, while I seasoned with kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper, about three quarters teaspoon each. The salt is just right and I need to cut the amount of pepper back to one half a teaspoon for it to be perfect. I now have plenty of leftover and I'm wondering if I can freeze this without the milk separating in the reheating? Cheers "Those who hammer their guns into plows will plow for those who do not." ~ Thomas Jefferson ~ "In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity". - Albert Einstein WANTED - Lee Loaders - 6.5 Swede Mauser, 7.5 Swiss, 7.62x39, 7.62x54r, .303 Brit WANTED- Turkey and Goose feathers for fletching arrows Last Edited By: eli griggs 05/20/09 07:04 PM. Edited 1 times.
m1 talker		#9	[-]
Posts: 6741 (05/20/09 07:23 PM) Veteran member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Better watch it or nothernug will be knocking on your door with a big sack of Texas Toast in it and wanting to chow down! I heard that the Air Force also offered steak and eggs with hashbrowns for breakfast. Is that true, or is it just a joke for the Navy and Army guys? Curt Last Edited By: m1 talker 05/20/09 07:26 PM. Edited 1 times.
eli griggs		#10	[-]
Posts: 647 (05/20/09 08:29 PM) active member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	As I was in the Army, I can't verify that, however I do seem to remember that our mess hall did occasionally serve small steaks at breakfast. Not often and I always suspected they were just meats they needed to clear out of storage but they were tasty none-the-less. The best chow I was served in the Army was while serving on the Enewetak Atoll in '78-'79. Civilian contractors supplied first class food and competent cooks and every Wednesday was Prime Rib Night and Saturdays were Steak Nights. I was in the dust-off unit, the Body Snatchers, and we had a sweet set-up at the hanger with a covered area that included a fountian made with giant clams and coral and a large grill where we would broil our steaks ourselves, together with the occasional blue lobster pulled fresh from the waters. Garlic bread, baked beans and canned mushrooms were always in attendance and if you were off duty, well a case of Premo beer was .99 at the px liquor store and premium brands not much more expensive. Somehow I can't remember ever seeing SOS there, but there was always fried rice available with every meal. Fruits and omelets were my breakfast of choice there. Eli "Those who hammer their guns into plows will plow for those who do not." ~ Thomas Jefferson ~ "In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity". - Albert Einstein WANTED - Lee Loaders - 6.5 Swede Mauser, 7.5 Swiss, 7.62x39, 7.62x54r, .303 Brit WANTED- Turkey and Goose feathers for fletching arrows Last Edited By: eli griggs 06/12/09 11:54 PM. Edited 2 times.
nothernug		#11	[-]
Posts: 11326 (05/21/09 09:42 AM) Forum Site Moderator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Eli, I have to say I consider you made more of a chore of it than needful, and your use of dry milk will have an affect on the taste, but if the end product is what you're looking for, that's just fine. I'd say your 27% g'beef is about right. One standard rule was/is crumbling the beef while browning so that the flour coats the beef evenly. In the army, we just cooked all in a "hundred ration" pan, a large, 3/16" thick aluminum roasting pan, laid over two burners. I know you can freeze milk, at least we (home, here, not the army) have done with no ill effect so I don't see why you couldn't freeze your sos. Actually, we did serve steaks in the mess hall about once a month, about 6 oz ribeyes they were too. But we never did at breakfast. But then, too, I was in a basic training unit. I ate in an Air Force mess hal... make that dining facility at the AFB in Frankfurt Germany and it was the finest military dining set up I saw in 7 years of service. It had a western decor complete with wagon wheels. There was a chow line like a Luby's or Golden corral. A cook had a huge chunk of beef roast that you could choose sliced just about from char to dripping blood as you liked it. Take all you want but eat all you take. Leave the trays on the table to be cleaned up by staff, who went around refilling drinks too! I never saw the like in any army mess. If you waited to the last 10-15 minutes before chow was over, you could, maybe, get seconds, if there was any. As for army decor, colored plastic chairs and laminate table tops was as fancy as I ever saw in an Army mess. I have had good food and bad. The worst was at Ft. Silly, er... Sill. It was a 10 minute march to the mess hall and five minutes to get to the latrine after eating, especially if you went through the short order line which I seldom did. That line was always way longer than the regular food line anyway. Diplomacy is the art of saying nice doggie until you can find a rock. Will Rogers
eli griggs		#12	[-]
Posts: 648 (05/21/09 09:38 PM) active member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	nothernug, thanks for the feedback. I'll use whole or caned evaporated milk for my next batch of SOS and see if I can tell the difference. The dry milk does seem to 'sweeten' food slightly but I'm so use to using it for cooking it's the first thing I reach for, just like my cast-iron pans. I've never been comfortable using the thin aluminum and steel stuff my wife likes and I hate teflon. I did crumble the meat quite well when I returned it to the pan, before adding the flour to make the roux, though it did not have a great deal of free fat in the pan. I'll allow a bit more fat next time in addition to milk and see if that gives me what I'm looking for, however, this batch was the best so far and I'll do what I need to get it right. I had some of the left over for lunch today and it micro-waved just fine so when I do the next batch, I make extra and freeze it in serving sizes for fast meals. Eli "Those who hammer their guns into plows will plow for those who do not." ~ Thomas Jefferson ~ "In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity". - Albert Einstein WANTED - Lee Loaders - 6.5 Swede Mauser, 7.5 Swiss, 7.62x39, 7.62x54r, .303 Brit WANTED- Turkey and Goose feathers for fletching arrows
nothernug		#13	[-]
Posts: 11332 (05/24/09 11:12 PM) Forum Site Moderator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	As it happens, we had SOS for supper tonight.. Diplomacy is the art of saying nice doggie until you can find a rock. Will Rogers
ball3006	The mess halls at U-Tapao AB Thailand...	#14	[-]
Posts: 1717 (06/11/09 06:39 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	did a good job on SOS. However, after a night of pounding down Singhi beer, anything would taste good. Now that I am back I Texas, most eateries serve a decient SOS and biscuits........chris3
m1 talker		#15	[-]
Posts: 6805 (06/11/09 06:58 PM) Veteran member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	All this talk about SOS makes me hungry. I am going to try my hand at making some of it one of these days. I got all my teeth pulled back last September and fitted with false teeth, but it takes a lot of getting used to them, as it feels like I have a mouth full of marbles. But once I get used to them, stand by! I made some Navy style SOS a month or so ago and after a few bites, it was all under the teeth, so I yanked them out and gummed the rest of it. That was good, but I got to watch my intake of foods with tomatoes in them, it seems. They go down good, but not so good when coming out! It is one of the darn things associated with getting old, I guess. Curt
eli griggs		#16	[-]
Posts: 691 (06/12/09 11:50 PM) active member Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	I've made it several times since my original post and each time we've enjoy it more. My now adult sons remember the SOS I made years ago with some fondness and when one of them found out I made some a week ago, threatened to move back in if I didn't save him some. I'm sure he and his brother will enjoy this version as much as they did the old one, but they better be in the house visiting when I make it, this stuff doesn't stand to last once the toast starts coming out of the oven ;-) "Those who hammer their guns into plows will plow for those who do not." ~ Thomas Jefferson ~ "In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity". - Albert Einstein WANTED - Lee Loaders - 6.5 Swede Mauser, 7.5 Swiss, 7.62x39, 7.62x54r, .303 Brit WANTED- Turkey and Goose feathers for fletching arrows