KITCHEN IN A CARTON

The box is actually a carton packed with food, condiments and serving ware. Built-in heaters warm the food without stirring or supervision, “so soldiers can go off and do other things and come back to a hot meal,” according to Peter Lavigne, a chemical engineer on the Equipment and Energy Team.

The “Remote Unit Self Heating Meal” or “kitchen in a carton,” as its developers call it, is designed to be used by small groups of soldiers on patrol, or performing other missions that take them far from their unit’s field kitchen, Lavigne said in a Monday telephone interview...

The current instruction sheet for the cartons is almost comically simple. Along with a few cautions that include not to drink the heating water and that contents are “hot!” after heating, there is all of one step for soldiers to take: “Pull activator tab to release water to heaters.”...

The first soldiers to field-test the cartons — 35 Rangers at Fort Lewis, Wash., during two days in December — loved the simplicity, Lavigne said.

“The first time, they all sat around reading the directions,” Lavigne said. “By the second time, it was, ‘Pull the tab, dummy.’”