Tinned meat - is anything nice?

[GreyishDays]

We tried the M&S steak and it was pretty good, but ideally we’d get something online from Sainsbury’s. I see they do a tinned mince and onion. Anyone tried it (or from a different supermarket)? Or anything else?

I am trying to find protein sources that we would actually eat normally. Well normally-ish.

One of the first meals I learnt to.cook was corned beef hash. I cannot imagine how long it has been since I ate it- over 30 years. I might get some in and try... though I can't imagine what my children will make of it!

@GroundAlmonds I shall get some of that too, thanks for recommendation.

YW

@LaurieFairyCake

what else do you eat it with?

Corned beef hash is a lockdown staple now. Not had it for years - childhood? - but it is comforting and can feed a few.

The other thing I remember is A&B roll. I loved it. But if they have fannied with it like they have done with other childhood favourites, I’d rather not sully my memories.

No current experience of tinned mince, etc. Sorry. Gran used to have tins in but that was nearly 40 years ago.

Neeps and tatties! [stereotype]

We use bacon grill and the cheaper version of spam but I do think it depends on the type of foods you eat. We love onigiri, onigirazu, budae jjigae, bibimbap and fried rice. I then use bacon grill for an English style breakfast (that we always eat at dinner).

I know I go on about this on all the prepping threads but do look at dried soya mince (available at holland and barratt and other places). DS1 turned veggie at the start of the year and it forced me to reconsider some of our prepping (and some of our meals in general). A bag of dried soya mince is very light and easy to store and for £1.99 (also often on offer for buy one get one half price) it would make four family sized (two adult two teen boys) bolognese/chilli type meals for us. We hardly ever have beef mince now and don't miss it at all.

It's my number one food prepping item.

Thanks @GroundAlmonds, are they quite densely meaty? I'll deffo look out a few tins to put by as something convenient to heat through for an easy supper, but looking for tins with a high protein/nutrient to £ ratio to see us through extended food outages.

Would love to get something like tins of confit de canard, but they're megabucks per tin.

We have tinned haggis & tinned Duck Confit along with a couple of other French cassoulets which are not bad, but the French stuff is outrageously expensive if you buy it in this country.
Tinned Irish stew tends to be quite peppery & tastes not the worst from a tin.
Smoked fish in tins is quite nice so we have kippers & smoked mackerel.
Big Soups or the other brands of very chunky soups are pretty much a thin stew & do seem to taste less of tin than many other meats.

Most things can be improved by adding a few other ingredients once it's out of the tin.
Spices to curry & so on.

Most of our 'tinned' meat is just meat which I have canned myself at home as I have pressure canners, so we don't have that much shop bought tinned meat.

@HasaDigaEebowai

I know I go on about this on all the prepping threads but do look at dried soya mince (available at holland and barratt and other places). DS1 turned veggie at the start of the year and it forced me to reconsider some of our prepping (and some of our meals in general). A bag of dried soya mince is very light and easy to store and for £1.99 (also often on offer for buy one get one half price) it would make four family sized (two adult two teen boys) bolognese/chilli type meals for us. We hardly ever have beef mince now and don't miss it at all.

It's my number one food prepping item.

I’ve not seen that before, so thanks for mentioning.

Chicken in a white sauce is amazing - we use it with ready made shortcrust pastry to make a pie and it’s delicious
Also Tesco’s tinned curries are really nice - especially the madras and the tikka masala
I also like the stagg vegetable chilli
Tinned steak in gravy is ok
Fray bentos steak pie is ok served with chips and peas

I can’t stand tinned mince or casserole etc

Corned Beef - corned beef hash

Stewed steak - new pots and carrots as a stew or as pie filling

Minced beef and onion - pie filling or shepherds pie/Bolognese(add some lentils).

Chicken in white sauce - pie filling or serve with pasta and cheese

Meatballs in Tom sauce - Bolognese

Spam - fried on a butty with an egg

Bacon Grill - as with spam

@haba Corned beef hash is my top favourite comfort food. I made it just last week (after a phenomenal mess up on a project)

DH was surprised how palatable it was. My recipe is very different to the one my mother used, although it starts with the same tin of corned beef. On a lean week, DM would divide the contents in two, to make two meals for a family of four.

I peel and boil lots of potatoes.

Fry lots of onions, once just catching so slightly charred, I add the cubed corn beef to warm though.

Meanwhile the potatoes are mashed with lots of butter melted in warm milk. The warm milk makes such a difference. Add a raw egg or two, or any spare yolks to be used up. Beat well with wooden spoon

In oven proof dish put beef/onion mix on bottom and cover with mash mixture. Rough up the top to leave lots of crispy bits once browned.

Leave on medium/hot gas mark 6 til top peaks are well browned. Two of us easily eat the lot, which is another reason we can only have it very occasionally.

Enjoy.

Thank you @FinallyHere So just onions and corned beef under the mash? That sounds somewhat different to what I used to make (that vaguely I think had tinned chopped tomatoes in?)

ooh @Snugglepumpkin would love to get a pressure canner, but have already invested in a berkey filter this week, so it's off the cards for now.

Think I'm going to buy more tins of M beef madras & fish for myself, my DH is less fussy about ingredients so any stews/chillis for him.

Have been looking up pemmican... a North American first nations survival food... that's my holy grail of prepping . Basically, make beef (or any other lean red meat) jerky in a low oven/dehydrator for several hours. Grind so it's like wood sawings. Pour in rendered fresh beef suet so you can form into a sticky mass, press into an oven dish, cut into sections and chill. Then store in an air tight container... should last for months/years.

As a kid we used to have the tinned mince beef and onion topped with smash. I loved it then but can't stand the thought now (but suspect I would like it, it's psychological)

Those big glass jars you get with hotdogs in them?

Spam is delish but you do have to fry it

@LaurieFairyCake

Haggis in a tin is the food of the Gods

Good protein, amazing with tomato ketchup if you're a kid (also the way I eat it )

Yes! Although never tried it with ketchup. I always have a couple of cans in, it's my comfort food when unwell.

Other than that, I do like corned beef, and Stagg Classic Chili Con Carne.

we love the chicken in a white sauce (as a pp says, great with a pastry lid and maybe some sauteed leek / onion, leftover gammon, that kind of thing to make a nice pie. Also good on pasta or on rice as a sort of chicken supreme with some sauteed onion / mushroom etc

Also we have in corned beef and tinned stewed steak

Havent tried the curry version

Tinned tuna / mackerel - so versatile

We like the large hotdogs in a glass jar but they have to be lidls - make from pork - cant stand the idea of the mechanically separated chicken

Those tins of chunky soup are nice also

Cant stand the spongy texture of tinned ham though I think the kids would probably eat it ok and I bet if chopped small would be ok through fried rice

This chicken in white sauce, what's the texture like? Is any of it gristly? I'm quite tempted to try it now

I have a (fairly old) Delia cookbook called "how to cheat at cooking", in which she does recommend the M&S chicken in sauce and minced lamb.

The tinned chicken had the texture of softly poached meat. I always bulked it up with leeks and sweet corn, but it was good enough in a pie.

This chicken in white sauce, what's the texture like? Is any of it gristly? I'm quite tempted to try it now

I buy the sainsburys one and its big lumps of chicken breast. Not reconstituted like cheap nuggets but just like its been cut in chunks off the roasted bird. I've never had any gristle at all. If you found the contents in a shop bought chicken pie you'd be pleased with the quality of the pie and the size of the pieces of meat.

Yes the texture is large chunks of breast meat - not a processed spongy texture. Would be worth buying a can to try?