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Food
Matthew Wilson
- While it may taste different from fresh meat, canned meat lasts longer and is far cheaper.
- I tried six canned meat products — Libby's corned beef, StarKist tuna, Underwood deviled ham, Armour potted meat, Hormel chicken breast, and Spam — to see which was the best.
- Potted meat was the cheapest, but Spam had the best value for its price.
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People often buy canned products because they're both cheaper and last longer, but canned meat products can be something of a mixed bag. Some of them are enough to make a grown man shudder — I would know because I am that man.
I decided to taste test canned meat products available on store shelves to see which tastes the closest to meat and makes the best sandwich. For the taste test, I tried the meat first by itself and then with a slice of plain white bread. For this experiment, I tried Libby's corned beef, StarKist tuna, Underwood deviled ham, Armour potted meat, Hormel chicken breast, and Spam.
Here is how each canned meat product fared, ranked in order of my least favorite to my favorite.
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Getting Libby's corned beef out of the can was a frustrating ordeal.
I initially had difficulty opening the beef. On the side of the can was a tin key that, in theory, you would twist until it wrapped around the can and pulled off the lid. The key broke off when I tried, and I had to fish the can opener from the kitchen.
The corned beef refused to leave the can no matter how much I turned it upside down and smacked the bottom. Finally, half slid out and slopped onto my plate. Appearance-wise, it reminded me a bit of raw hamburger meat.
At $4.88 for a 12-ounce can, the corned beef was the most expensive canned meat product I bought.
In my opinion, the meat tasted like I was chewing on a mouth full of pennies or copper. A metallic flavor lingered and coated my mouth, which I found unsettling. I was also not expecting the corned beef to be so stringy and chewy.
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The corned beef tasted slightly better on a piece of bread, but I just don't think this product is one for me.
The bread helped mute the meat's aforementioned strong metallic flavor, but I was still left with a potent after-taste that made me want to swear off meat products.
Opening the can of StarKist made me shudder, but it didn't taste bad.
For this taste test, I went with Chunk Light in water, but the company has a variety of tuna products. I had to break out my trusty can opener again for this product. I must confess I'm not the biggest fan of fish, and fish packaged and sealed in a can sounded like my worst nightmare, but it wasn't quite as bad as I anticipated.
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A 5-ounce can of StarKist tuna was just 92 cents, making for a cheap meal.
The canned tuna definitely tasted like fish, with a game-iness tang.
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A piece of bread did little to improve the taste of the tuna for me.
My sister pointed out to me as I put the fish on the bread that I was eating it wrong. If I wanted the full experience, I should eat it with mayonnaise and relish. Sure, most dishes can be improved with seasoning or a condiment, but the product should be able to stand on its on merit.
The bread soaked up the juice from the fish and didn't really blend well with the chunks of tuna themselves.
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Underwood's deviled ham spread was covered in a skim of "meat jelly."
On the can of Underwood's deviled ham is a picture of a little dancing devil with a pitch fork. I knew the logo could either be ironic or a sign of things to come.
The ham spread was covered by what I can only describe as yellow "meat jelly," which stuck to my fork. To get to the actual deviled ham, I had to dig underneath.
Each 4.25-ounce can of Underwood's deviled ham cost $1.58.
It definitely tasted like ham, although the texture wasn't the same. In my mouth, it felt like a fine paste.
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In my opinion, the deviled ham wasn't bad with a piece of bread.
The bread went a long way in helping with the texture of the meat. It still tasted like a product that came out of a can, but I could better understand why someone would buy it.
Hormel's chicken breast looked like a can of chicken chunks soaked in water.
Though I prefer my meat when it's not submerged in water, the chicken in the can looked like actual chicken breast that had been sliced up.
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For $1.36 per 5-ounce can, I felt like I got a good amount for the price.
The canned chicken breast had the right texture and feel of chicken I might find elsewhere. With no salt added to the can, the chicken was too bland for my tastes, and in my opinion isn't meant to be eaten alone. I could see myself adding it to either a rice or pasta and creating a dish.
On bread, the chicken breast needed a condiment or sauce.
Eating the chicken with bread was a similarly bland experience. The lack of flavor in the chicken wasn't helped by the dryness of the bread. With a microwave, salt, and some ranch, I probably would have had a much better experience.
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Potted meat looked like pink slime in a can to me.
The can said it was made with chicken and pork. I was prepared to rate it the worst on just appearances alone, but sometimes appearances can be deceiving.
At 50 cents per 3-ounce can, potted meat was the cheapest product I bought.
What it may lack in texture, it makes up in flavor, in my opinion. The meat spread had a salty flavor — it may have too much salt for some people, but I liked it.
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Potted meat had a rich flavor that blended with the bread.
The potted meat went well with the bread, which balanced out some of that salt. For 50 cents a can, it was a cheap meal that I didn't mind eating.
While it comes in a block, Spam looked and felt like actual meat.
Spam's not going to win any beauty contests, but it reminded me of ham. Spam has a lot of different flavors, but for this taste test, I went with the classic version.
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At $2.92 per 12 oz can, Spam gave the most value for its price, in my opinion.
A slice of Spam was hearty, but like the potted meat, there was a lot of sodium packed in each bite. I know they sell a low-sodium version, which I haven't tried.
Spam felt the most like a sandwich when paired with bread.
Spam is a popular item in cooking recipes and is especially loved in Hawaii, but for this taste test, I wanted to see if it could pass as part a simple sandwich. Paired with bread, I would say that Spam mostly recreates the experience of deli meat. Add lettuce and tomatoes, and it would be the best I could hope a canned meat sandwich to taste.
- Read more:
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- I tried 5 brands of canned chicken noodle soup and Annie's broth filled me with dread
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