View Full Version : canned meats
redzombie
06-15-2014, 23:58
So I know canned meats are extremely high in salt, fat, and nitrates. These help extend the shelf life, as well as being canned. But smoked meats like summer sausage are also high in salt,fat, and nitrates which cures it so it doesn't have to be refrigerated. Anyone have any luck putting canned meats in ziplocks, so you don't have to carry the extra weight of a can. I read the spam will last about a week in the fridge. I would love to be able to eat some spam on a thru hike. Suggestions?
Spam is available in foil pouches
http://www.spam.com/varieties/spam-single-classic
Ricky&Jack
06-16-2014, 00:06
yeah, they sell it at walmart.... also tuna comes in pouches.
basically where you see the tuna/spam, they also have other items in pouches.... i believe a chicken salad is available as well
redzombie
06-16-2014, 00:14
not every town is going to have the single packets, but every poor gas station has SPAM in a can. I am also thinking about vienna sausage, canned devil ham and others. Thoughts?
Tuckahoe
06-16-2014, 00:16
You can get corned beef, ground beef and spam in foil or retort packaging. These will work for you a lot better than opening canned meat and putting the contents into a bag. I can tell you too, that the can is a minor portion of the product weight.
Remember that canning works by sealing to food into a sterile environment that does not allow bacteria to grow. While salt aids the preservation its the sealing the contents often at high temperatures into that sterile container. To open that container and empty the contents into another package/container only exposes the food to bacterial growth again.
Just leave the product in the can.
Ricky&Jack
06-16-2014, 00:21
yeah, if you really want it, then its worth the weight.
In a 12oz can of spam, the can is probably 1oz. So It's not really a big deal.
I have a strong stomach after so many years as a trucker. So I have done spam in a bag and ate off it for the week, with no problems. But it is not a big deal to buy the can. Other than the can seems to be 2-3 servings. But you can Open it for dinner.... have a little for breakfast, and finish it with lunch the next day with no problem. Wouldn't go bad in 1 day. But I wouldn't open several cans and store in a bag
redzombie
06-16-2014, 00:26
All good points. Thanks
not every town is going to have the single packets, but every poor gas station has SPAM in a can. I am also thinking about vienna sausage, canned devil ham and others. Thoughts?
Of all the hiking meats I've tried, Vienna Sausages were by far the most foul. Once was enough. These days I hardly ever carry any food in cans. Too much weight in the container, remember -- you need to carry it out.
Underwood canned chicken spread is very good on crackers or pita for lunch. Pop-top cans weigh very little. People's aversion to them is more matter of how hikers are socialized than anything else.
Tuckahoe
06-16-2014, 12:06
Underwood canned chicken spread is very good on crackers or pita for lunch. Pop-top cans weigh very little. People's aversion to them is more matter of how hikers are socialized than anything else.
+1
i believe that there some old old threads a out there some where in the dark corners of WB. The truth is that there really is no difference in weight between a can and a retort package -- especially with regards to product like tuna, and chicken, or spam. And the weight of cans for Vienna sausages and other potted meats is pretty minuscule.
Ricky&Jack
06-16-2014, 12:13
I guess the only difference between can/pouch is size....
Spam Can: 12oz
Spam pouch: 3oz
Tuna can: 5.0oz
Tuna Pouch: 2.0oz
Pouches are meant for single servings. I like them cause I can yeah the pouch and eat erectly from it as I hike....... A full can seems to be a bit much. But if its for dinner, then its not bad.
+1
i believe that there some old old threads a out there some where in the dark corners of WB. The truth is that there really is no difference in weight between a can and a retort package -- especially with regards to product like tuna, and chicken, or spam. And the weight of cans for Vienna sausages and other potted meats is pretty minuscule.
A foil pouch weighs as much as a can? I'm somehow not convinced. But even so, the foil pouch seems easier to rinse out, pack out and dispose of. I'm also wary of the sharp corners, even (or especially) on pop-top cans. My trash for a 4-day section fits easily in a sandwich-size ziploc.
Except that day I got pizza at RPH shelter and had to schelp the carton for miles the next morning.
Potted meats and Vienna sausages often come in a can made of very thin aluminum that I'd bet weighs less than an ounce...its not the same tin can that comes with vegetables or soup. And to the original poster, canned food is treated with heat to kill all the bacteria...once you break the seal on the can the food will be exposed to bacteria in the air and in the Ziploc bag and will start to go bad. Your food would start to go bad as soon as the can opened, even if you put it in a Ziploc. The weight of canned food isn't usually so much in the can itself, but in what is in the can. A lot of hiker food is dehydrated, while canned goods are not...most of the weight is in water.
I like them cause I can yeah the pouch and eat erectly from them.
I think that is TMI.
That said, I have known eating French Bread and butter to have that effect on me. But that was many years ago when I would go ten days between resupplies, and I was much younger then, too.
1. Would someone please weigh an empty foil pouch and a can each containing similar amounts of food?
2. I have been cruising the canned/foil meat shelves lately. Most portions of foil packed meats (fish/chicken/etc.) are in the 5-7 ounce range. The 2-3 ounce portions seem to have disappeared.
3. I did see Armour Dried Beef in a foil pouch. The primary ingredient for S.O.S. that always came in a heavy glass jar.
4. In the right place, at the right time, with mustard and crackers, Vienna Sausage are awesome. My right time & place is in a boat fishing.
Wayne
rocketsocks
06-16-2014, 20:47
Carrying out a couple of few cans dose not even begin to scare me...it's pretty minimal.
Campbells bean and bacon soup...a staple
Frito lay bean dip spread on tortillas...good stuff.
Ricky&Jack
06-16-2014, 20:51
oh dang. I forgot about the bean dip. I bet the beans and cheese are a good sours of calories.
oh dang. I forgot about the bean dip. I bet the beans and cheese are a good sours of calories.
Yup. Cheese is A+ trail food, any time of year. It's got all the goodies, protein, fat, lotsa calories. Beans got protein along with well known side effects. ;)
Pepperjack cheese melted into Ramen soup makes a simple tasty trail meal. Cheese gets greasy in warm weather but still mostly manageable in 1 or 2 layers of ziploc.
rocketsocks
06-16-2014, 21:11
Beans got protein along with well known side effects. ;)
Gonna put a sticker on my pack....Wind Assisted hiker
redzombie
06-16-2014, 22:43
I had someone suggest I add ear plugs to my pack in another thread. I guess its not that snoring that going to bother me....Maybe I should bring nose plugs....but then again do I want to taste the side effects of bean dip:D.....real world problems! lol
Different Socks
06-16-2014, 23:40
I dehydrated all my canned meats and some pouch meats.
redzombie
06-16-2014, 23:45
so when resupplying along the AT how do you dehydrate your canned meats?
I saw these yesterday in a catalog and wondered if they might be suitable for dehydrating.
https://www.lehmans.com/c-89-canned-meat.aspx
Not cheap, though.
Ricky&Jack
06-17-2014, 11:01
lets dehydrate this!
27452
Different Socks
06-17-2014, 11:22
so when resupplying along the AT how do you dehydrate your canned meats?
Dehydrate everything on a dryer before you start your thru hike.
Rolls Kanardly
06-17-2014, 11:38
I dehydrated all my canned meats and some pouch meats.
I am sorry but dehydrated Spam is just plain funny. Rolls
redzombie
06-17-2014, 13:34
yeah, I am just going to buy supplies along the way. Simpler.
Canned meats and fish (sardines, kipper snacks, etc) used to be used a lot more than they are now, and we didn't have any problems besides stinky tins to carry out. I think it's good to eat some protein and fat to augment the usual highly carb-rich hiker's diet.
I have felt huge boosts in hiking energy from a rare fat-rich meal at a time when the diet was otherwise mostly carbs.
Chipped Beef, the stuff sold in the vacum sealed glass jars will keep for weeks in a plastic bag. Stuff is super salty too. Been using it for years. It is however a bit pricy. Mixes well with other sauces too. My Mom used to use it for SOAS that old army breakfast staple. Kinda wondering if any ex submarines know any storage tricks for meat.
Different Socks
06-17-2014, 15:33
I am sorry but dehydrated Spam is just plain funny. Rolls
Can't dehydrate Spam, it has too much fat--and who knows what else.
Different Socks
06-17-2014, 15:35
Then there is TVP you can try also.
Tuckahoe
06-17-2014, 16:48
lets dehydrate this!
27452
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbuJQYpXMUg&sns=em
Ricky&Jack
06-17-2014, 16:54
video
"Chicken in the can challenge" from Tosh.0
http://tosh.cc.com/blog/tag/chicken-in-a-can
Then there is TVP you can try also.
I would rather eat the container that Spam or Vienna Sausage came in. I never eat Spam. He said with a big grin.
Wayne
All of this talk of a chicken growing inside of a can reminds me of my favorite Far Side cartoon...
27458
Wayne
Ricky&Jack
06-17-2014, 18:22
All of this talk of a chicken growing inside of a can reminds me of my favorite Far Side cartoon...
27458
Wayne
That just made me chuckle more than expected. I printed it out.
Glad you liked it. An oldie but goodie.
Wayne
Sent from somewhere around here.
Wise Old Owl
06-17-2014, 20:34
I dehydrated all my canned meats and some pouch meats.
You da Man!
I am sorry but dehydrated Spam is just plain funny. Rolls
Can't dehydrate Spam, it has too much fat--and who knows what else.
Serious - I have posted threads with dripping sweet BBQ sauce with a 2/3 weight reduction... very UL... saves space and no can... and tis for breakfast!
All of this talk of a chicken growing inside of a can reminds me of my favorite Far Side cartoon...
27458
Wayne
I believe that's the first Gary Larson cartoon I've seen posted here on WB. Well done!
It may not be the last.
Wayne
Sent from somewhere around here.
redzombie
06-18-2014, 00:26
That chicken in a can looks pretty good, maybe I will try to roast it over a little fire, then suck the marrow out of its bones! Finger licking good...with hot sauce of course!
rocketsocks
06-18-2014, 00:59
lets dehydrate this!
27452Tried that once, Thumpa da, thumpa da. My wife said, did you put your sneakers in the dryer again? I said No...it's a chicken!
My wife's face :eek:
squeezebox
06-18-2014, 11:15
About 25 yrs ago, I shopped at the local Italian grocery frequently. At one point last year's salt cod. $6 lb. next week $4 lb. next week $3 lb. Next week $2 lb.
Finally $1 lb. i asked how much was left ? 20 lb. I bought all of it. It lasted a year. Best fish stew ever. But to do a good stew you had to soak and rinse the fish several times.
So my suggestion ! Soak and rinse the tinned meat several times to get rid of the excess salts
I do not think it's the right kind of salt for electrolite replacement.
One day ages ago on Oregon Rte. 101 somewhere, I stopped at a roadside stand and bought this amazing salmon jerky. It was delicious, had a very odd texture. Not thin strips, more like a brick. Break off a hunk and chow down. I'd love to know if anything like that is commercially available.