# Canned Meat Question



## Calico Katie (Sep 12, 2003)

Has anyone tried any of these Keystone canned meats? Are they any good? I'm mainly interested in the pork, beef and ground beef.

http://www.walmart.com/browse/canne...213-lLinkLHN7Meat_Poultry&tab_value=18728_All

They're not carried in the Walmart near me so I'm wondering if it would be worth the hassle of asking the store manager to try to get some in. Any idea what the cost is? I'm sure they're on the pricey side.


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## Wendy (May 10, 2002)

I haven't tried them, but just wanted to say I can my own meat. If you are up to it, it is way better & might actually be cheaper if you can find the meat on sale somewhere.


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## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

I'll second Wendy's post. Commercially canned meats are SO expensive for what you get, and home canning meat is really very easy. If you don't have a pressure canner, even having to buy one new will pay for itself rapidly if you use it to home can your meats. Since I do home can my meats, I can't help you on the Keystone Meats. Hopefully someone else will chime in with your answer.


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## backtocolo (May 1, 2012)

we can meats. for long term storage but also for convience. we can:
chicken
pork
turkey
sausage 
hamburger
ham
roast 
beef:cubes, strips and diced 

We also can stuff like chili and soups with meats in them. Makes life so easy adn tasty.


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## unregistered29228 (Jan 9, 2008)

I home can meat, but I've also bought commercially canned meat because it's less likely than a glass jar to break. We haven't used the Keystone brand - we've gotten Yoder's (made my Werling, who also sells their own brand) and some other brand that doesn't come to mind. We like the Yoder's canned bacon - it's pre-cooked and comes rolled up in paper, ready to eat or crisp in the frying pan.

Canned meat is expensive but with a 10+ year shelf life, durable container for BOBs or camping or whatever, it's worth it to me. Also the Keystone brand comes in smaller 14 oz sizes, which is better for smaller families. Yoder's is 28 oz, which is a good size for our family of 6.

ETA: I forgot to even mention that we like canned meats. I use the pork for BBQ sandwiches, the ground beef for tacos, burritos and dirty rice, the chicken for curries. We don't care for the BBQ in a can because it's too salty and runny. And we didn't care for the canned sausage.


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## Dixie Bee Acres (Jul 22, 2013)

Used keystone many times. It's readily available.
When you first open the can, yeah, it looks a little nasty, but it cooks up nicely and tastes fine.
A little beef broth, some brown gravy mix, egg noodles and a can of keystone beef makes for a hearty meal served over smashed taters.
Or, a couple cans of beef, a ply of dried onion soup mix, about half cup bananna peppers, some garlic powder and Italian seasoning, all in the crock pot in the morning, makes a pretty good Italian beef that smells wonderful when you walk in the house from work.


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## Limon (Aug 25, 2010)

Calico Katie said:


> Has anyone tried any of these Keystone canned meats? Are they any good? I'm mainly interested in the pork, beef and ground beef.
> 
> http://www.walmart.com/browse/canne...213-lLinkLHN7Meat_Poultry&tab_value=18728_All
> 
> They're not carried in the Walmart near me so I'm wondering if it would be worth the hassle of asking the store manager to try to get some in. Any idea what the cost is? I'm sure they're on the pricey side.


I've not tried that brand, but you can order it directly from the Keystone website, but they only sell it by the case.


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## Dixie Bee Acres (Jul 22, 2013)

Limon said:


> I've not tried that brand, but you can order it directly from the Keystone website, but they only sell it by the case.


True, but you can buy it cheaper at Walmart than from keystone directly, or at least that was the case a couple of years ago.


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## Calico Katie (Sep 12, 2003)

Thanks for all of your responses. I've been doing some comparison research and it looks like Keystone is just slightly cheaper than some of the other canned meat brands. I looked at their website and would be willing to buy a case if I could mix the meats up but I'm not too keen on having to buy a whole case of each meat before I know which ones I'd prefer. I'm pretty sure I'll like them all, though.

I talked to a store manager at the Walmart closest to me and she checked to see if she could order some but it was a no. Our stores are serviced by their distributor in New Mexico and the Keystone meats are not made available to them. I e-mailed the online Walmart customer service to see if they would make them available to order. Hopefully I'll get a response in the next few days.

Mom of Four, you're right about the sizes. For just me I'll need the smaller cans, but the 28 oz. cans of meat would be handy for our family camping trips. It would be nice to not have to take raw meat and keep it cool enough not to spoil. Our camping is tents, ice coolers and a campfire. lol 

Dixie Bee, the Italian beef idea sounds really good.


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## illinoisguy (Sep 4, 2011)

We use keystone beef all the time in soupmaking. There are no additives other than salt. My wife has been stocking up on it, then again we use it regularly so our stocks are down.


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## Calico Katie (Sep 12, 2003)

Never thought about using it in soups but that's a good idea, too. 

Got a polite response to my e-mail saying this product is not now available as an online purchase and thanking me for my input. (I thought that was rather amusing since I told them in my e-mail they weren't available on line and that's what I was asking about.) They did give me a toll free customer service phone number. 

I've now called Walmart customer service and their corporate office in Arkansas asking them to make these available for online ordering. Or, if not the Keystone brand, another US made brand. Someone from corporate is supposed to call me. We'll see if that happens. The customer service lady did say that the more calls they got about a product the more likely something would get done. If anybody wants the number to follow up just message me and I'll give it to you.


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## froebeli (Feb 14, 2012)

Home canned would be the way I would go. 

I canned all the meats for our 10 day camping trip to the beach with a family of 5. We primitive camp without electric and cooler space is at a premium. 

Meals included:
Venison BBQ ...canned venison cubes mixed with canned homemade BBQ sauce
Spaghetti...canned burger with canned spaghetti sauce
Chicken Alfredo...canned cubed chicken, store bought alfredo doctored up
Breakfast burritos... canned venison sausage and fresh unrefrigerated eggs
Chicken salad...canned chicken cubes again
Corned Venison... home made and canned
Beef Stew... made at home but not thickened and canned

It did require some time before the trip, but was worth it when it only took 30 minutes to prepare a home cooked meal. I understand if time is not available but store bought canned meats would be good too


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## Calico Katie (Sep 12, 2003)

Sounds good, froebeli. Yeah, our camping is pretty basic, too. Just what we can carry in our trunks and no propane or electric. I do a lot of baking in the campfire ashes. Potatoes wrapped in foil, etc. I'm not much for fish and don't like the mess of frying it so if any of our fishermen do catch any, they're wrapped in foil with a bit of butter, salt and pepper and baked in the ashes. The fish are wrapped in foil, that is - not the fishermen. :grin:


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## terri9630 (Mar 12, 2012)

How do y'all can your hamburger meat? I've done it a couple of times but the texture is off. Reminds me of taco bell meat.


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## unregistered29228 (Jan 9, 2008)

terri9630 said:


> How do y'all can your hamburger meat? I've done it a couple of times but the texture is off. Reminds me of taco bell meat.


That's how the canned hamburger always is, and that's why we didn't like the canned sausage either. I dehydrate hamburger into "rocks" to keep some of the texture when it's re-hydrated.


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## calliemoonbeam (Aug 7, 2007)

I've only used Yoder brand also, but I didn't like the sausage or the bacon, lol. But then I'm really picky about bacon and only like one brand, thick sliced. I do like home canned sausage, in patties. All the other meats were good, but of course the texture is different from fresh meat, as is any canned meat, store bought or home canned.

I don't mind canned ground beef in some things, but for others I do dehydrated hamburger "rocks" like Momof4, to use for different meals.

Overall, I thought the price of the store bought meat was too high, but then I can my own at home from meat I've bought on sale. If I just bought meat when it wasn't on sale, the price would probably be pretty comparable. I can certainly see the advantages of buying it, though, for someone who doesn't can themselves. I hope they start carrying it for you!


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## Calico Katie (Sep 12, 2003)

I was wondering about the texture of the canned ground beef. Cooked into a hamburger helper kind of dish it's probably okay. Maybe? I googled how to can hamburger and found some videos. Here are links for one with broth and one dry canned. Also, if you google for katzcradul videos, she has one on almost anything you can think of. 

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrJpNEvaigU"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrJpNEvaigU[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hmmWJsgqlE[/ame]


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## calliemoonbeam (Aug 7, 2007)

Yes, the canned ground beef is good in any kind of casserole dish. I was going to post a couple of videos for you on my earlier post, but discovered YouTube has apparently been kind enough to delete all the channels I've subscribed to over the past 6-7 years from my list, ha! I think the dry canned has a better texture, but the broth canned tastes better, lol.

Katzcradul was the one I was trying to remember, but just couldn't pull it out of the old noggin. She's great. There are quite a few others too. I'm working right now, but later I'll see if I can find some of the others if you want. But like you said, she pretty much covers everything. 

Here are a few I just thought of, before I go. 

http://www.youtube.com/user/Michigansnowpony

http://www.youtube.com/user/BexarPrepper

http://www.youtube.com/user/255sage


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## Shawn (Apr 2, 2008)

We stopped at Wally World tonight to pick up some items. I did see the Keystone brand beef on the end cap. Also had canned chicken.

I have a pressure canner and am planning on doing some chicken when I see a good sale. I have the jars all lined up. Right now we are working on apples.


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## terri9630 (Mar 12, 2012)

I'll have to dehydrate some hamburger this winter to try. My dehydrators are busy with garden stuff right now. I think I'm going to try some bacon soon. We have a pork belly curing right now. Just waiting to slice it.:bouncy:


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## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

We don't can red meat. We do can chicken and fish. Smoked salmon, Smoked sturgeon and tuna, plain and smoked....James


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