In 1889, the Knorr instant-food company bought the license. Knorr, which is today a Unilever brand, discontinued the production of Erbswurst on December 31, 2018.

We still used Esbit cookers in 2001 during my time in the Austrian Army.

I've noticed a serious lack of hissing in this video.

And for dessert, some Scho-ka-Kola

As for the fuel tablets, during my service in the Bundeswehr, for heating a single serving, we used half a tablet to ensure we didn't need to wait for the rest to fully combust and so that the stove could be packed away faster because it cooled faster.

Today in "Kochen mit Karl: Die herzhafte Erbswurst! Lecker!" (Cooking with Karl: The hearty Erbswurst! Delicious!)

When I was in the British Army in the late '80s into the mid '90s, we used those cookers too. They were known as hexamine cookers, or hexieblocks. The cooker was basically the same too. Ours came folded shut with a waxed cardboard box of the hexieblocks inside. At one stage I had literally hundreds of boxes of these things in my shed and used them as firelighters because you always had way more blocks than you could ever use cooking a 24 hour ration pack. Pro tip - once you've brewed your tea, keep the used teabag as they're perfect for scrubbing the soot from the hexieblocks off of your mess tin.

Still waiting on that Steve1989 collaboration

fun fact: ESBIT is the Backronym for "Erich Schumms Brennstoff in Tablettenform"e.g. Erich Schumms fuel in pill-form. Works great, stinks like hell and was also used for fuling toy steam engines.

The ERBSWURST is gone, since 01.01.2019 the production is ended. Sadly there ist till now nothing for a replace ti.

History: This is what is your ancestors did and it is still practical. University Students: Angry ramen noises

Well as seeing as we have original pieces of hardtack that's edible from the civil war I believe it's a great long term food

"thank you, apocalypse gnome!" 😁

Sadly Knorr discontinued the Erbswurst :(

Actually still part of the German military kit. We carried those in our vehicles. I am very familiar with the kit there. Btw open the stove fully or it can collapse

Fun fact: The German military still uses the very same type of Esbit burner and the same cooking set. And the Erbswurst is a common item in many German supermarkets!

Out of my own Bundeswehr experience I can tell you to always open the Esbitkocher all the way, ask me how I know the semi open stove is a bad idea :)

I just looked at the Google Trends page for Erbswurst. This video caused a giant spike over the week.

I still have 4 sticks. Meanwhile they are ridiculously expensive on Ebay. Some months ago I prepared it for my neighboours. All of them liked it espacially with some wiener saussages in, as I knew it from my childhood. Outdoorfans used it as a former cheap and rich meal during hillclimbing tours. A shame that Knorr closed the production place for maximising their profit.

On the channel townsends ( which is an 18th century channel) they have videos on how to make hardtack, pemmican, and "portable soup" wich is like the erbsvwurst.

Haha! 2:35 "Örbswörst" (love you Carl, greeting from the country of the Örbswörst)

The Swedish army rations also heavily depended on pea soup. It's been a staple food since the 1200's here, and every single blue collar restaurant still serves pea soup and pancakes every Thursday. It's traditionally eaten with a dab of mustard to give it some kick. The "Army recipe" pea soup is still sold in shops under the name "Soldatens Ärtsoppa" (the soldier's pea soup), and today it's manufactured by.... Knorr.

I can confirm that Esbit pretty much keeps forever. My father has a crate of the stuff sitting in the basement that my uncle -swiped- acquired when he was a truck driver in the Bundeswehr in the early 80s. I take a hand full with me on my annual camping trip with some buddies and the stuff still works flawlessly to this day, almost 40 years later (and god knows when it was produced).

I bought my coworker one of those Gnomes since he is always giving me patches and such. He loves the thing! It sits proudly on his desk, at home for now but once this is over it coming to the office lol

Love the show, Karl! In the mid 80's there was a train car derailment in the canyon I grew up in. One car full of cans of beer and one of cases of C-rations. I ate on those for years!

We still use the same Esbit Stove and Mess-Kit in the Austrian Army.

Closest thing I've seen to hardtack in local stores is saltines, which last a while but will go rancid due to the oil in them. Usually easier to just make it. Flour, water, salt, bake, bake again, and maybe again. Kept some in my tool box at work as a last ditch snack and three years later it was still edible. Will look into the Erbswurst though, some commenters are saying its discontinued, but it cant be that hard to make.

I really dig the InField-kitchen videos. Offers you a topical, yet broader net to bring in new viewers with as well.

I have one package of Erbswurst at home :) I was freaking out when I saw that you made a video about it. I will eat Erbswurst tomorrow for lunch. Nice regards from Germany

Erbswurst is sadly unobtanium in the US at this point since it was discontinued by the manufacturer and had some conflicts with FDA food import regulations. Fortunately, there are clone recipes floating around the internet for those who like this idea

I bought a Esbit Stove and fuel tablets when I was still in the Army, specifically for FTXs. They worked great and a morale boost for cold nights when you needed something warm to drink.

Well made pea soup is liquid happiness in winter.

Never heard of Erbwurst before but I do have a new when purchased 1950's Esbit stove that was apparently East German Army issue. Love it and it goes where ever I go. Folded up fits in a shirt pocket with fuel tablets inside.

Thank you Carl. You guys stay safe & healthy as well. -Proud Patreon supporter since 2015.

I owned an Esbit when I served in the US Army in Germany in the 80s. Great bit of kit. Small [it fit in a field jacket pocket], incredibly light, and the fuel was readily available... even at gas stations. When I served we were eating the last of the C-rations and the first of the MREs [these did not yet have the heat packs] and being able to dump your food into a canteen cup and heat it up in 15 minutes was DAMNED handy.

I love the quality history you guys bring to the platform

Such a divers content makes Inrange great provider of information. Keep the good work and stay safe.

Absolutely LOVE this type of content!!! Thank You, Karl!!!

Karl, thank you for the historical content, always one of the best bits of this channel. I love the food aspect too.

The dried pea element to the ration is interesting, high protein and stable. I make my own iron rations sometimes inc jerky/biltong, hardtack and oatblock. Re mess kits I favour those bucket types (rather than issue Brit tins) and have a few, use them outside alot and found out recently us Brits had this bucket/kidney type for more than 100 years! til we went in 30s to the open type now. I realise it’s doctrinal due to ration types etc but prefer the bucket if need to forage, process water, carry food or coals etc etc. Best wishes to all stay safe.

now this is a cooking show i can get behind

Hardtack best to be crumbled and mixed with the soup. Thickens it back up quite nicely.

The hardtack reminded me of ship's biscuit, except not riddled with vermin. (And that, in turn, caused the "lesser of two weevils" joke from _Master and Commander_ to replay in my head.)

It would appear that Knorrs has stopped production in January ‘19 ☹️

Great message at the end! Happy to see videos from you, and Ian as well, both of you guys always keep me entertained and more importantly, knowledgeable.

The stove and mess kit where used basically unchanged in the west german army at least into the 1990s. Still works and useful in close combat...

The commentary section is now under german speakers reign. So, wer aus Deutschland, Österreich oder Schweiz da? :-D

When I was a kid Santa brought me a small table top steam engine that used small Esbit tablets as fuel. I think it was German made. Lot's of fun :-)

At 4:30 you get the authentic experience of the allies flying overhead while cooking rations!

I live in the same city where the Erbswurst was produced until relatively recently. According to my parents and grandparents, depending on the wind the whole city smelled like that. in the 80s they heightened the smokestacks, so now you don't smell it in the city, you smell it around 25km away. You can also absolutely eat it like that, and making it yourself isn't too hard either.

It's really fascinating, to see someone from a completely different country be very interested and pationate about stuff from your own country (and it's predecessors). Thanks for the video! Greetings from Kraut country.

Great content as always !

Definitely adding that to my backpacking kit and cupboard. Awesome video!

Great video, Karl. More videos along the lines of this one, the recent cavalry carbine comparison, and the historical vignettes you bring us would be most welcome. Stay well, stay safe, and bon appetit!

With nordic hardtack or "knäckebröd" you have to be bit more careful with it's storage. It has been baked form a sour rye dough and it can go "off" if stored improperly. You can eat it even it's "off" state but the taste is bit weird. In correct conditions it will last for years, but i recomend taking a nibble every now and again to check if it's still good.

Love the content Karl!

Fun fact: Esbit is short for "Erich Schumms Brennstoff in Tablettenform" (Erich Schumm's tablet fuel) - definitely recommended to pack the tablets airtight, because they are hygroscopic and really stink if you burn them wet.

The German "Knorr" company announces in Dec 2018, they discontinue after 129 years the production of the "Erbswurst"

Usually Americans pronouncing German is very hard to listen to but I enjoy hearing you say "Örbswörst" again and again. Great video to showcase these rations from yesteryear

Thanks for the broadcast. This is truly "Food for thought & contemplation".

Awesome video, thank you!

you don’t do food often on the channel but I always enjoy the content.

That stuff is real easy to make at home. Made some years ago, and now that you reminded me time to go at it again. Thanks!

Thank you Karl..I look forward to trying some of that. Please Stay Well...

Thanks, Karl. I learned something from you today as always.

I've read a former West German naval officer talk about their rations. He said they include a hardtack that is essentially an extra large butter cookie cooked extra hard that serves the role of an energy bar, that the troops call them 'panzer platten' (armor plates) because of how hard they are, and often use them for other purposes than eating but that he enjoyed them.

Nice and very informative 👍👍

There is a KZfaq channel called Townsends that teaches a lot of 17th to 18th century living and cooking is one of the main things they do. They have a hardtack recipe that shows how easy it is to make in large batches. It is a very simple process and they also have a recipe for the portable beef soup that Lewis and Clark carried. As a flintlock hunter, I always carry these two things in my pack. Mixed with wild greens and berrys and such (including a small fishing kit) if I find myself lost, I'm confident that I'll survive to find searchers or civilization. You should ALWAYS get familiar with the plants in your area that are good to eat and those that are poisonous.

Quite apt at a time like this, thank you Karl.

BTW the hard bread is colloquially known as Panzerkeks or Panzerplatten (tank/armour cookie or tank/armour plate). Makes for a great fire starter together with some shoeshine.

I know this won't get as many likes as other videos but I appreciate this kind of content; fascinating.

Those stoves and foods like that are in every car and truck in my family. My grandfather had done so and dad made sure we all have and know how to use the mini mess by the time we get one at age 10. Severe winter weather and being trapped in a car were the main reason but I'd take mine and water out camping and at least I always had something. It is actually very easy to make hard tack, and I usually add pepper to mine. Watch what you add though because spices can have a nasty effect if you end up feeding someone who has been malnourished. Bland, warm, and in small portions and servings, even for water. I believe I picked my sisters kids up a few kits at a fleet and farm.

Like a surprising number of German product and company names, Esbit is an abbreviation. It originally stands for "Erich Schumms Brennstoff in Tablettenform", i.e. Erich Schumm's fuel in tablet shape.

One of my new favorite videos

Love this style of video.

Cheers Karl. Nice vid!

One appreciates a ration setup of this kind in cold weather...There is nothing like a warm soup and tea/coffee on a fresh winter night on the Ostfront...

Thanks for your well-wishes Karl -- thanks for your leadership and entertainment big dog

Thank you Karl. This was fun.

Nice. Yall should do more of this.

Fantastic vid ty! I love survival programs, pls make more.

Erbswurst might be gone, but hard tack is still commercially available at least in Alaska as “pilot bread”. Just bought a bunch today.

I lived in Winnipeg Canada there’s a very large Mennonite population there. A bunch of the old guys where Yatzy‘s:) The old guys would make the soup on site, but they made it more like a porridge. With the hard bread. Dried hunter Langer sausage on the side . They would also a drink South American Tea Out of a bull horn with a metal straw. When I knew the most of them they where in their 60s. And they would haul concrete forms like nobody’s business.

Huge fan of anything with pig fat, Mausers and solid fuel stoves. the same stove I carried in my webbing back in the day. Enjoyed and now I have subscribed, cheers from Queensland.

Thanks for the idea,i’ll get all the neccessary stuff as soon as possible.

InrangeTV make some of the best damn content there is. I would very much like this as a series, there aren’t much videos on German rations

The British army still uses an esbit style stove but recently replaced the hexamine fuel tabs with alcohol based ones. The new tabs have less energy but don’t give off toxic fumes like hexamine does.

you can use multiple or less Esbit fuel tabs to increase the cooking time and control the heat

One thing also you could do to thicken the soup is crush a bit of the hard tack and throw it in the soup, might make it a bit easier to eat

Just for cooking: Field Cooking Set has pressed marks in the Kettle. 250ml / 500ml and the first rivet in the pan is a 300ml mark. So you know how many water you need when you use "Instant" food.

Thank you, bro, stay safe and take good care of yourself!

Very nice presentation. There are quite nice recipes out there with Erbswurst, made by soldiers for soldiers, for example "Hühnchen Erbswurst" (Chicken a la peasoup), I'm really trying to remember the title of the book I've read it in some years ago. That chicken recipe kinda stuck witrh me. I for myself hord "Panzerkekse" everywhere in my house, (some day my wife found a pack in the wardrobe) they are the german standard military cookie, I absolutely love them, the older recipe was much better though, but harder to come by these days. "Hoarding" isn't the right word, I'm actually constantly gnawing them and have to top up my supply regularely. Then I cannot see them for a month or two and the circle starts from the beginning. Just love them.

Greetings from Germany, just a tip, if the aluminum in the big pot draws black dots, you shouldn't eat and drink from it anymore.

Great content 🤓

Pea soup with bacon? Sounds like Pease Pudding, which is mostly a North of England thing, though you can get it tinned (by Foresight) in many British supermarkets. But rather than being dehydrated its natural texture is somewhere between butter and cheese. I've always eaten it cold, but apparently it also works hot, or as a soup base. Pease pudding hot, Pease pudding cold, Pease pudding in the pot - nine days old. Some like it hot, some like it cold, Some like it in the pot - nine days old.

The production of "Erbswurst" was stopped on 31. December of 2018 due to low demand. Its now hard to get anywhere.

do more of this please , it gives a lot of context to the gun vidios

I always liked Pilot bread which is basically hardtack, because when I visited grandparents in Alaska as a kid they would have it. Unfortunately whoever makes it started putting some kind of oil (I forget which) so it goes rancid and doesn't keep that long any more.

It survived until the end of 2018. Now no longer produced due to lack of demand. I thank the Erbswurst for 130 years of service.

The fuel used in hexemin stoves is a precursor to c4 explosives