As you may recall, I earlier mentioned that my local WallyWorld had started carrying some Keystone meats. I’m not a huge fan of canned meats, but I’m even less a fan of going through any type of prolonged crisis having to forego meat.
I had tried the diced beef and found it quite good. Todays adventure is the ground beef. The biggest drawback I’ve heard regarding canned ground beef is that, since it is pressure cooked, the meat gets quite tender. So much so, in fact, that some people have mentioned the consistency of the ground beef as ‘mushy’…similar to the beef youd get at a Taco Bell.
One way to find out…..
I would definitely remove as much of the fat as possible before cooking. I went ahead and cooked it as-is out of the can and it created a lot of liquid.
I understand that in a survival situation ( a la ‘The Mandibles‘) you’d want that energy-rich fat, but it sure takes a while to cook off.
Consistency-wise I would not say it was ‘mushy’. It just wasnt firm and crumbly like most ground beef. What I did notice was that it had a much beefier flavor than normal ground beef. That can be good or bad depending on what youre planning on doing with this stuff, but for something like tacos (or taco sald) this would be a fine choice. Probably a go-to for sloppy joes as well. Didnt try it in a spaghetti sauce but the strong flavor might require you to adjust your seasoning in that particular entree.
For my needs, I’d combinethis with some salsa and cooked rice with maybe a lttle taco seasoning thrown in for a fast purely ‘storage food’ meal. Might also add some crushed tomatoes, peppers, onions, spices, rice, and go that route. Up to you, man…ground beef is just a sort of ‘basic building block’ to create a meal around. Sure, I can get protein from beans and rice just like the rest of the Third World, but why Third World it if you don’t have to?
As I’m sure someone will mention in comments, yes I know I can pressure can my own ground beef and save some money. Absolutely no doubt there….I have the skill and equipment. But there are times I prefer the resilience and durability of a can rather than the fragility of glass jars. Also, and this is a very -low-on-the-totem-pole consideration, if I ever need to trade or sell these to someone in Mad Max world the commercial product will be more attractive than the home-canned version.
Thank you for the review.
That product sounds like a natural for a cored out green bell pepper and filling it with ground beef, small cubed potato and some cheese. You could use some of that beef fat for pan frying the potato cubes in same pan (especially if you heating element is tilted slightly where liquid collects). I don’t bother with cooking the pepper, I just core it leaving bottom intact, removing the seeds and filling up with above filling described.
Thanks for the review – I haven’t seen that down here yet but I’ll keep my eyes peeled.
A couple of cases live in my deep pantry. I enjoy it occasionally as tacos, or in white gravy over your carb of choice. As you said, it’s a meal building block.
Following. Thank you for the cooked up product field reporting, helpful for assessment to add into inventory. Your closing paragraph points are all accurate and spot on. As a survivalist / prepper we generally have a more than average knowledge base from all the research and study in this area as to the importance of having ample storage food as a just in case measure for any potential variants of spicy events. Having pantry shelves chocked full of high nutrition performance canned meats should be as much of a warm comfy feeling to you as having a bunch of muh guns, mags, ammo, precious metals coinage, or any other goods. Go long in this investment area, as current events should be indicative of a coming necessity.
Thanks for the review, have had similar results with it and just recently saw it on sale at the local store on clearance. Bought up the last five cans of it. The one I can’t seem to find anymore is the turkey for some reason.
Do you remember the dehydrated hamburger fad from years ago? Called them Hamburger Rocks? People were constantly posting the good deals on hamburger and dehydrating it for long term storage. Putting it into jars or mylar bags and basically only getting about 4-6 months of storage from them when the online posters saying 1-2 years of storage life?
Anyways, after rehydrating that or even the freeze dried stuff, this is the consistency of the Keystone hamburger I think it has.
Not at all looking for the sporky times ahead–I’m rather fond of hot showers, etc. But as the old saying has it, we prepare for the worst and hope for the best.
The only thing I have to add to the above discussion is that I have been going through some long term storage bins. Had some canned meat with dates around 2012 or older. I tried a can of roast beef just to see what condition it was in. Not bad at all. Passed the smell test, so I added it to a can of soup to boost the meat content and it was just fine. I only shared it with the dog, but she thought it was great too, and neither one of us had any gastro-intestinal issues. Storage has been moderately climate controlled; I doubt it ever got over 80f in summer, and only rarely frozen in winter if at all. I will be using more of the old stuff as I’m able to resupply with newer.
I’ve been using it to make chili for years .Works great.
I’ve seen it in Walmarts (and occasionally other groceries) for many years now, from the Southwest to the lower Rockies and even the DC-region. A bit salty but seems the usual for canned meats. Fairly long “Best By” shelf life, cans that aren’t going to shatter if dropped… I like to keep a few cases on hand but it’s not the cheapest product out there. Costco’s canned beef is another option to look into. I remember seeing a Walmart house-brand version (“Great Value” label) but haven’t tried it out to date as the price was not all that much less than the Keystone or Costco versions. Perhaps I shall see if I can find a can or two of the GV stuff and test it for the betterment of society, etc?
Kind of reminds me of when I do a can of corned beef hash in the skillet.
Thanks for the review! I don’t shop at Mall-Wart, but I may find it elsewhere.
Oh, and: “…similar to the ‘beef’ you’d get at a Taco Bell.” FIFY. Whatever that is at Taco Hell, it ain’t beef.
I’ll second what you said about the strong beef flavor. I used my inaugural can to make hamburger helper. I thought it was pretty good and have bought several cases for storage.
I will say I only see this like once every year and a half or so at the local Wally world though so buy it when you see it or you may have to wait awhile.
My local Sam’s Club has canned beef(not ground) with a “Buttterfield” label (out of Minnesota). At $15.00/48oz that make the cost ~ $3.20/lb. “Course you are paying for some water there. . . Thinking about giving it a try.
When it gets to the water stage, add in an equal amount (to the liquid) of either instant oats or minute rice. It will adsorb the liquid faster than cooking off the water, not be mushy like oatmeal or rice (if not over cooked) and will be beef flavored. It can extend the amount to 1 or 2 extra portions. Remember fats are essential not only for energy but for vitamin adsorption (A,D,E,K). That is why vegans are not always so healthy, not enough fats in their diets.