On todays episode of ‘Will It Digest’ – an 11-year-old can of Kirkland Beef.
Not gonna lie, I was actually thinking of just dropping these at an animal shelter or homeless shelter (surprisingly interchangeable) and replacing it with some more recent stuff. But…this is a good chance for a little empirical data gathering, don’t you think?
I should have taken the pic before I opened the can. Didn’t plan ahead.
As always, it smelled exactly the way canned meat always smells – like cat food. Its hideous. But even recently made stuff smells like that. It’s just the nature of canned meats. As usual, once you put the heat to the meat the smell is replaced with a more appetizing smell. Figured I’d do a Green Pepper Beef sorta rice bowl. If youre curious: 1tbsp of hosin sauce and oyster sauce, 2 tbsp garlic, 1/4 cup soy sauce, 1/2 cup chicken stock, pinch of sugar, some red pepper flakes, sliced up pepper, sliced up onion. And make up some rice while youre at it.’
How was it? Delicious. I guess I’ll have a more definitive answer in about eight hours, but it seems just fine. I’m not surprised, most canned food will last a bloody long time. As long as the cans retain their integrity, and are stored in the classic ‘cool dry place’, they’ll last for decades. There are some caveats to that of course….highly acidic foods (tomatoes, pineapples, etc) will not last near that long, regardless of how well you store the cans. But low-acid stuff (which is what meat is) will keep quite a while.
I was reminded how darn good that Kirkland roast beef is last night. It really is an unsung hero of the long-term pantry. And, as shown above, a handy item for making a quick and hearty meal.
While I’m on the subject, a good question would be “Have I ever actually had any problems with canned food?” Actually, yes. I learned the hard way a long time ago that canned tomato products were best used up within a couple years and not much longer than that.
I had a can of enchilada sauce that, when I opened the can, was filled with nothing but water. Also had several cans of roasted red peppers start bulging in a disturbing manner. Those last two were from non-USA sources. I try to stick exclusively to US made/packaged foods when possible. Maybe the canned corned beef from Argentina is tasty but I trust the US food environment far more than I do something in South America….Upton Sinclair not withstanding.
I’m still eating Kirkland Roast Beef & Gravy that was purchased around 2009 and it still tastes and looks great. Same with canned DAK hams from the same time. Despite the pull top lids which tend to leak, all is good. Hormel even claims that the shelf-life of SPAM is indefinite.
I would eat that. I have canned meat that is older than that I am still eating. Home canned, but still canned meat does not ever go bad as long as it has been sealed properly.
back in the late 1990’s or early 2000″s. not sure, but was helping a buddy of mine do some work on his DAD’s old cabin upstate. he made tuna fish for lunch.
from 6 OZ. cans ? never saw a 6 OZ can before myself. but it was part of a stockpile his old man had hidden behind a false wall. along with some other goodies. now the tuna was packed in olive oil too. had to be early 1960’s at least.
we where both fine. it also looked like he dipped the cans in hot wax too before
he closed the wall up. even the old ammo was sealed in what we figured was wax paper. now some of the spices looked and smelled a bit “off” and he dumped them
but all of the canned meats where good to go !
canned food is the only way to go for the short term anyway.
there was even 4 cans of coffee. 5 pound cans ?