Article – The Unexpectedly Deep History Of Canned Bread

Today, B&M is most famous for their baked beans. None of its other canned products survived the pressures of supply and demand, leaving B&M’s baked beans and canned bread as its only remaining product lines. Canned brown bread, available in both plain and raisin varieties, may not be as popular as it was during World War II, when canned goods were a staple in households due to rationing and limited fresh supplies, but B&M still produces nearly one million cans annually.

Interestingly, the pandemic brought an increase in the volume of internet searches for canned bread, as more people turned to shelf-stable foods. B&M’s brown bread has a two-year shelf life, according to the manufacturer, giving you plenty of time to work up the courage for your canned bread taste test. Now, when it comes to actually preparing canned bread, there are some distinctly New England ways to enjoy it.

This is a product that gets a bit of mileage in the preparedness world (Preposphere?). On its face, it sounds like a pretty good deal – a bread product that doesn’t go stale for a couple years. I have to admit that I have never actually tried it but I may have to.  Throw in some canned butter and you actually have the begining of a decent meal.

I have absolutely no doubt that some of the readership has tried this stuff, and I’m sure that there’s a few people here who think it’s awesome  and eat it on a regular basis.

It does seem like an ideal product to tuck into the kitchen cabinet at your bugout cabin or in your stash of emergency food.

The article states that the term ‘bread’ is a little bit misleading since the product is more like a muffin or cake. It’d be nice if someone made a canned bread product that was actually closer to ‘real’ bread. A nice round rye to slice up for sandwiches would be kinda cool.

 

23 thoughts on “Article – The Unexpectedly Deep History Of Canned Bread

  1. Used to always have it sliced on the table for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner at Grandmother’s house. The one with the raisins was really good served hot enough to melt butter. Probably make a good desert with a spoonful of hard sauce on top. Don’t really know what the shelf life is, I’ve got a couple of cans on the shelf that expired last year. don’t know why it wouldn’t be good past the expiration date.

  2. My Dad had bought several cases of Korean War C-Rations way back when. When I was a kid (a long time ago) he’d bring them when we were duck hunting or working at the Scout camp.

    They always had a canned fruit cake in them. Even though they were decades old the fruit cake tasted great. It was a bugger to get out of those little cans though.

    I wish that I could still get some.

    Matt

    • You had to teach the less-bright privates that the answer there was to open both ends of the can, then push it out.

      They looked at you when you told them that like you’d discovered electricity or penicillin.

    • I worked with a guy who lived on a reservation and would get ‘government’ cheese, and toilet paper. He called it John Wayne toilet paper and when I naturally asked why he said because it was rough and tough and didn’t take shit off of Indians.

  3. I have a case in storage. Holiday fare from childhood. Quite good toasted with butter, or fried in butter when camping. It has cornmeal and molasses in it, so it is quite hearty. Not good for sandwiches. You can make it at home by steaming the batter in cleaned used cans for immediate consumption.

  4. that bread is da bomb! and two years? try 20. i literally have a case in the basement that’s 14 and i try a can once a year now and its delicious so far. you can make a sandwich w/ it but its a bit sweet, better with butter with a meal. it was cheap up until a month or so ago when the price went skyward. you can open both ends and warm it up on a campfire or engine block too. yummy.

  5. Back in the day, my mother used the smaller size coffee cans as “bread pans.” We’d smell the bread baking and see the cylinders of bread come out of the oven, and our sandwiches were round. Not exactly canned bread, but still a nice memory.

  6. I grew up in northern New Hampshire in the 50’s and the raisin variety of B&M canned bread was a treat served in our house weekly along with baked beans, frsh or canned green beans and a healty serving of fried side meat. Warm with a slathering of butter it was like a dessert with your meal. I did not know it was still available.

  7. The canned bread is great with beans or a bean soup. You can make it, but it’s a minor PITA. But doable.
    Thanks for the reminder I need to order more. My kids and grand-kids discovered my stash and it needs replenished.

  8. I can zucchini bread every year. I believe just about any batter type bread can be canned. Bake in wide mouth jars at 350 deg for 45 min. Pull one ja at a time, screw on 2 pc lids and let cool. I have never had a jar go bad and I have had some as old as 7 yrs. I think I’m going to can some cornbread as a experiment now that I think of it.
    JT

  9. B&M lBrownbread is a staple in many maine households. Sliced, buttered and set under the broiler, and served at once, it pairs with B&M beans and red hot dogs.

  10. I enjoy their beans and bread monthly. Both items had a “best by date” on them from 10+ years ago and still taste great.

  11. Shelf life of only two years?!?

    I was eating early-60s C-rat pound cake in the mid-80s, a span over ten times longer.

    Somebody is screwing the pooch here.

  12. You mean they still sell this. I had a friend that used to make this at Thanksgiving. Since she passed I haven’t had any brown bread.
    Going shopping tomorrow. Maybe I’ll take a closer look.

  13. Down here in FL it seems to be kinda an on-off thing. Won’t find on the shelf for a couple of months and the bang, there it is again.

  14. Hi, you mentioned buying coins from a local dealer (Missoula). Would you recomend him as a safe, reliable source of these coins?

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