So, I was thinking about post-apocalyptic menu planning and I was ruminating about breakfast. It is, as they say, the most important meal of the day. Now, while I can appreciate the nutritional and caloric benefits of grain-based diets I am not prepared to go through the apocalypse as a grazer. I need meat. So….what are some traditional breakfast meats that lend themselves to long-term storage? The most obvious is everyone’s favorite – canned bacon. Plenty of it out there and it’s definitely on my list. But, while I enjoy bacon as much as the next guy what I really like for meat at breakfast time is corned beef (or roast beef) hash. Fortunately, this is also easily available in cans. Here’s the problem – most of this stuff is available in the #303-size cans…which is around 15 oz. I might eat half of that at breakfast and if no one else is going to have any then half a can of hash winds up being wasted since, presumably, there’s no refrigeration in this apocalypse. Ok, maybe there’s a way around that. Sure enough. Hormel (who makes the hash that I rather like) does offer their product in the small pop-top ‘single serving’ size. Awesome! As I perused their website to see if they had the roast beef hash available in that small can as well, I came across this promotional photo:
As you can see, there’s the convenient single-serving pop-top can up front. Nice, right? But..wait..are those…???? Yup, single serve ‘retort pouches’ there on either side of this family portrait of dead animal flesh. So, now it becomes interesting. See, while the small cans are good I would really like to have some of the retort pouches as well…they’ll travel nicely, fit MRE heaters, and should be a bit lighter and perhaps more durable (freeze/thaw cycles) than the can.
And, of course, that’s when my internet shopping experience fell apart. I can not find any place carrying the bloody things. Now, I’ve got pretty good Google-fu skills…I can find an ex-girlfriend or my kindergarten teacher like that :::snaps fingers:::. But…I’m pulling nothing but zeroes in my search for this product. I suppose it’s possible that it was a limited-time offering or an experimental packaging that they never moved into mass production…but if it’s out there, I want it.
So, my friends….I’m going to continue searching but if any of you out there wanna take a swing at this and find me a US source for this stuff (I found one in Japan. Useless.) I would appreciate it. Leave a link in comments if you come up with anything.
ETA: Yes, I know I can contact the company. Yes, I did that. But Im an instant gratification kinda guy and who knows how long it takes them to answer their email.
Just gonna ask if you have contacted them on there site about it. Most of these company’s are very friendly in helping you. Just a thought
I’m doing that, but Im an instant gratification kinda guy…I wanna be able to order it and i wanna be able to order it NOW.
Commander, why not take the easy route and contact Hormel and ask them where their product in pouches is available? You can use the “contact us” link at the bottom of their page: http://www.hormel.com/products/Variety.aspx?ID=20&RecipesOnly=False
I looked, but the stories in the links make it sound like the hash in a bag sn’t offered in the US. The only other idea I have is to call Hormel and ask.
http://www.foodandbeveragepackaging.com/Archives_Davinci?article=1297
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-123125423.html
http://www.bizrate.com/canned-food/hormel-hormel-foods/
do you know what the shelf life is on the cans of hash?
Looking like two years, which means a lot longer than that.
has anyone tried one of their canned products 5 or 10 years out? I know they are “safe”, but so is broccoli, and I’m not eating that
I guess I am a bit confused. You open a #303 can, you eat half, your misses eats a few bites and yet there is still a bit left over. Just call Nuke over, I don’t think you will have very many leftovers, especially on a tasty meat-type product, as long as your bio-weapon is around. And hey, maybe that means you don’t have to open up any food for him for the morning.
Youre assuming the missus like canned hash, which she really isnt a fan of.
Found this comment on Zombie Squad “Similar vein, but Trader Joes sells a shelf-stable retort packaged corn beef hash (actually, I think they call it roast beef hash, but whatever) that blows the canned stuff out of the water.”
http://zombiehunters.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=87920&start=24
I Googled “retort roast beef hash”. Unfortunately there aren’t any Trader Joes by me. I’m going to try and contact some old friends and see if they have access to the stores.
I will check on this tomorrow and post. We now have one ~2 miles from the house.
They did not have any at the one near me, and the manager was not aware of such a product.
Off subject but along a similar vein. Found this while looking for your hash. Has any one seen ground beef in a retort pouch?
http://www.foodprocessing.com/articles/2004/129.html
Yeah, I found some back in 2004. Here are the links to the posts about it:
http://commanderzero.com/blog/2004/04/05/25926/
http://commanderzero.com/blog/2004/04/29/27474/
Thanks for the links. I didn’t even have a computer back in 2004! lol
I was at Walmart today and noticed they didn’t have any Spam Singles on the shelves. No labels on the shelves, no SKU numbers, no bar codes, nada. Couldn’t find an employee to ask about that situation.
I read that Piggly Wiggly had it in the pouch 3yrs ago which probably means it is a discontinued item since we cant find it now.
http://www.bwca.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=forum.thread&threadId=134077&forumID=18&confID=1
Also a few forums mentioned that Trader Joe’s has a foil pouch Corned Beef that gathers decent reviews from tasters and users. A couple ppl said it crisped up nicely? IDK I am not a corned beef guy.
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/662591
Can’t help on the pouches (but I’ll keep an eye out, and please report back where/if you find them), but the deal on the 7.5 ounce pop-top can is food wholesalers. Costco, Sam’s BJ’s, etc. don’t carry them in cases, and a lot of grocery chains don’t carry them in individual cans, and when they do there’s not much selection.
Grocery wholesalers won’t let Joe or Jane Public in to buy 2 cases of whatever, they restrict the customer base to restaurant owners. If you can find someone who owns an eatery and deals with a wholesaler or two that’s your connection. Try to find a wholesaler who caters to mom-and-pop groceries and/or independent convenience stores; they’re the big users of the smaller cans.
Pro tip: have a list of everything you want in 7.5 oz cans, which usually come in 24-can cases; hash, beanie-weenies, veggies, fruit, etc. Every time I tag along to the warehouse I always come back with 12-15 cases of stuff. In years past we used to go to the local Mormon store because they stocked a large variety of dehydrated and freeze dried food in pint and gallon (#10) cans, individually as well as cases. None of it’s cheap, but the gallon cans are cheaper per serving. For camping, break open the big cans, split the servings up and use a vacuum sealer for the individual meals/servings. Since I don’t live near a Mormon store anymore, these days it’s easier to pitch several 7.5 oz cans in everyone’s pack, and they fit well in the bottom of the Bail Out Box. I find that 0ne 7.5 oz can comfortably feeds 2 people.
Date the can lids with month/year of purchase to make it easier to use older first.
And, buy a bunch of P-38s. Not everything in 7.5 oz cans is pop-top.
I’ve found ‘unusual’ food products on Amazon before, but had no luck for corned/roast beef has pouches.
No, if you speak of breakfast meat, it seems a shame not to mention Spam…it’s really the only time of day I don’t mind eating Spam, the saltiness tastes like a breakfast meat should. In addition to the normal Spam Can’s, they also have 3-ounce slices in ‘retort pouches’. I’ve seen it in normal grocery stores, and here is a link to it online.
http://www.amazon.com/SPAM-Single-Classic-3-Ounce-Pouches/dp/B000FIZW00/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1348023396&sr=8-1&keywords=SPAM+pouch
I agree with David. Eat 1/2 a can, offer the rest to the missus. When she declines, call Nuke over.
Problem solved.