That Food Guy
Saturday, May 31, 2014
Product Evaluation - Great Value Canned Roast Beef
.jpg "Great VAlue Canned Roast Beef from Walmart")
.jpg "Pieces of roast beef in beef broth")
The first thing we noticed when we opened the can was there
is a lot of packing liquid, the beef broth. There was about ¾ cup of liquid in
the can. At about 4 or 5-ounces of water, in the 12-ounce can, leaves about
8-ounces or less of beef (these are all rule of thumb guesses, I only measured
the ¾ cup of liquid) and that would make the price per pound for the beef
portion at a bit more than $5 per pound. In the end, the beef in the can is
about the same price per pound as the fresh meat in the supermarket butcher’s
case.
.jpg "Beef and mushroom gravy over rice with steamed vegetables.")
Being a canned product, it doesn’t require refrigeration and
has a reasonably long shelf life; important assets for emergency food. The
price per pound for the meat itself is about the same as the cost per pound for
lower end fresh cuts of meat at the butcher counter; you don’t have to pay a
premium. It has a good flavor and a pleasing texture, not a food you have to
train yourself to like. It certainly has a place in the emergency larder or on
camping trips especially since it seems to be about the sole source of canned
plain beef. It will serve well in both roles. I will be picking up a couple
more cans for the emergency shelf on my next shopping trip to Walmart. Running
late? In a hurry? It will serve well there as well. This meal was done while
the rice cooked. All was done and ready to eat in 20 minutes. As for day-to-day
use I don’t think it will serve all that well. As good as it can be, why settle
for canned meat when, for the same price per pound of meat, you can have fresh meat
from the butcher or frozen meat stored in your freezer.
Product Evaluation: Great Value Canned Roast Beef
We dropped the dog off at the vets and had an hour or so to
wait. Just across the parking lot was the local Walmart. The wife and I wiled
away the time with a little shopping. Since it was just killing time, we paced
slowly through the aisles and that made it the perfect opportunity to watch for
new or unusual products. My eye fell upon Great Value canned Roast Beef, a
12-ounce can for $2.50. The label indicated fully cooked roast beef in beef
broth, caramel color added. No country of origin was listed but there was a
USDA Inspection logo so I assume the product is packed in the USA.
Coastal Florida, hurricane central, is one of those places
where it is prudent to have a few days’ supply of food and water on hand for
those emergencies that can isolate you, cut you off from your normal sources of
food and water, often for a lengthy period of time. Having food and water on
the shelf can do much to lower your stress levels in periods of crisis.
Canned and bags of tuna, canned salmon, corned beef, corned
and roast beef hash, SPAM and various brands of beef stew are available in the supermarket.
But plain beef, beef to use in cooking a meal are rare indeed, enough so that I
can’t right now think of an all–beef product that I have seen lately. With that
in mind I tossed one can into the basket to try out at home, to see if it was
worth putting on the emergency food shelf (and since it is wise to rotate food
stocks, another underlying question would be is it good enough for a regular,
day-to-day meal?). Local supermarket beef prices are $5 to $9 a pound. At $2.50
for 12-ounces (about $3.30 a pound) it seemed an inexpensive meat source – or so
we thought.
We decided to try it out tonight making a simple meal much
like we would make if it were a disaster time. We have rice, of course and
packaged gravy mix. From the freezer we had some mixed vegetables and there
were some cherry tomatoes fresh from the vine. Oh, yes! Don’t forget the mushrooms.
Most everything goes well with mushrooms.
The first thing we noticed when we opened the can was there
is a lot of packing liquid, the beef broth. There was about ¾ cup of liquid in
the can. At about 4 or 5-ounces of water, in the 12-ounce can, leaves about
8-ounces or less of beef (these are all rule of thumb guesses, I only measured
the ¾ cup of liquid) and that would make the price per pound for the beef
portion at a bit more than $5 per pound. In the end, the beef in the can is
about the same price per pound as the fresh meat in the supermarket butcher’s
case.
The beef, cold from the can, has a good texture and it hasn’t
been overcooked in the canning process. However, it is very bland, light on
flavor. After cooking in the can and then cooling, some of the beef fat gels
into clumps. Heating the broth and beef together redistributes the beef fat and
the flavor is significantly enhanced. The pieces of meat are of the smaller
size; most were more like soup pieces although a few of the pieces would have
made small pieces for a stew.
Our meal was canned roast beef and gravy over rice along
with some steamed vegetables. It was a tasty and satisfying meal although a bit
short on the beef. (I had the rice cooking before I opened the can of beef. Had
I opened the beef first, I would have used much of the broth to cook the rice.)Being a canned product, it doesn’t require refrigeration and
has a reasonably long shelf life; important assets for emergency food. The
price per pound for the meat itself is about the same as the cost per pound for
lower end fresh cuts of meat at the butcher counter; you don’t have to pay a
premium. It has a good flavor and a pleasing texture, not a food you have to
train yourself to like. It certainly has a place in the emergency larder or on
camping trips especially since it seems to be about the sole source of canned
plain beef. It will serve well in both roles. I will be picking up a couple
more cans for the emergency shelf on my next shopping trip to Walmart. Running
late? In a hurry? It will serve well there as well. This meal was done while
the rice cooked. All was done and ready to eat in 20 minutes. As for day-to-day
use I don’t think it will serve all that well. As good as it can be, why settle
for canned meat when, for the same price per pound of meat, you can have fresh meat
from the butcher or frozen meat stored in your freezer. Labels: emergency, food, Great Value, larder, pantry, roast beef, supply, Walmart
¶ 4:31 PM 7 Comments
Monday, January 27, 2014
SPARC After Holiday Party - Kristina's Cafe
.jpg "Panorama of SPARC. I hope I got everyone in the picture. Sorry if I left you out.")
Kristina’s Café
3590 34th St N, St Petersburg, FL 33713 (727) 526-6673
The St Petersburg Amateur Radio Club holds an annual after the holidays party. Traditionally it is held at Kristina’s Café. From the perspective of the club members it is a time to meet, come face to face with voices on the radio, remake and rekindle or make new friendships and, well I “gotta” say it, catch up on all the gossip all while having a lot of fun.
From the perspective of the harried servers and cooks at Kristina’s it is the sudden arrival of fifty plus ravenous appetites, loud and laughing and having a good time (but otherwise well behaved) customers all ordering at the same time and from the full menu. How can you possibly plan for that?
A special note at this year’s party was the attendance of Woody, K4SCL. The club honored Woody with a plaque citing his over forty years of Amateur Radio Service both to the club and to the community. Active in the club, serving in many roles, of late he has been a net control operator and liaison to the National Traffic Net spending many hours every day handling traffic for the net. I have talked with Woody many times on the radio but had never met him in person. In later years, as Bob, KC4SXO said, “Woody sightings have become few and far between.” Over ninety years of age, Woody has decided it is time to slow down a bit. We were all honored to have him and his wife join us for the After Holiday Party.
Usually a restaurant will offer a limited menu for large group gatherings. The constraints of so many people, such short time and so many possible selections can be wholly intimidating. Each year the staff of Kristina’s is up to the daunting challenge.
Although I saw dishes from all parts of the menu being served, I will only report on my wife Janis’ and my selection. Memory can be persistent even if only subliminally. Janis and I both duplicated our order from last year’s party almost exactly. It was good then so it will most likely be good again.
.jpg "A bowl of tasty potato soup - soup of the day for Sunday.")
Janis started off with a bowl of the soup of the day. Kristina features a
different soup each day of the week. Since this was Sunday, the selection was
Cream of Potato Soup ($2.25 bowl).
It was a nice thick and creamy soup with lots of potatoes and vegetables served with several packets of saltine crackers. She said it was very good, very tasty and she certainly had no trouble finishing her bowl of soup.
.jpg "Roast beef and turkey club with coleslaw.")
The main part of her meal was to be the Roast Beef and Turkey Club ($6.25);
the same as last year. Since she was having the soup, she didn’t want the side
order that would come with her sandwich. Since my plate is a convenient
depository for unwanted food, she asked me what I wanted her to order. I chose
the coleslaw since I was already having French fries with my order. The sandwich
was made with the thinner, sandwich sliced bread and toasted nicely. The thin
slices of bread mean that the filling has to be more than adequate to make the
sandwich stand out. There is plenty of beef and turkey as well as the lettuce
and tomato to fill the sandwich.
Janis enjoyed her sandwich saying that it was very good but could only eat half and asked for a take home container for the other half to enjoy at a later time.
.jpg "Steak Hoagie with beef, onions, peppers, mushrooms and Mozzarella cheese. What is not to like?")
My Déjà vu order was the Steak Hoagie ($6.25); similar to a Philly
cheesesteak sandwich but with sautéed onions, peppers, mushrooms and melted
Mozzarella cheese all on a hot, toasted hoagie bun. My side of choice was French
fries but don’t forget, I was also having coleslaw. On arrival it was a full
plate and included a spear of dill pickle.
The sandwich was full of all kinds of good things, meat, peppers onions, mushrooms and cheese. So much in fact that picking up the sandwich dumped lots of the filling on the plate. No matter, it tasted just as good off a fork. It was nice tender beef with lots of flavor from the vegetables and cheese; a thoroughly and filling sandwich. The coleslaw, a small serving actually, was good. It is a finely chopped cabbage with a mild dressing, not too tart and not too sweet; enough to moisten the cabbage but not compete with the flavor and not too much to drip into the serving plate.A good accompaniment but not an all-star to stand by itself. The French fries, still hot from the fryer, were not oily, were crisp and tasty. They were good French fries. I enjoyed my meal very much. It was good food to start with but being surrounded by so many, as Donn, N4KII, would say, “hamsters” made it even more enjoyable. I am already looking forward to next year.
.jpg "Woody. K4SCL, receiving plaque of appreciation from Club President, Bob, N2ESP")
Kristina’s Café
3590 34th St N, St Petersburg, FL 33713 (727) 526-6673
The St Petersburg Amateur Radio Club holds an annual after the holidays party. Traditionally it is held at Kristina’s Café. From the perspective of the club members it is a time to meet, come face to face with voices on the radio, remake and rekindle or make new friendships and, well I “gotta” say it, catch up on all the gossip all while having a lot of fun.
From the perspective of the harried servers and cooks at Kristina’s it is the sudden arrival of fifty plus ravenous appetites, loud and laughing and having a good time (but otherwise well behaved) customers all ordering at the same time and from the full menu. How can you possibly plan for that?
A special note at this year’s party was the attendance of Woody, K4SCL. The club honored Woody with a plaque citing his over forty years of Amateur Radio Service both to the club and to the community. Active in the club, serving in many roles, of late he has been a net control operator and liaison to the National Traffic Net spending many hours every day handling traffic for the net. I have talked with Woody many times on the radio but had never met him in person. In later years, as Bob, KC4SXO said, “Woody sightings have become few and far between.” Over ninety years of age, Woody has decided it is time to slow down a bit. We were all honored to have him and his wife join us for the After Holiday Party.
Usually a restaurant will offer a limited menu for large group gatherings. The constraints of so many people, such short time and so many possible selections can be wholly intimidating. Each year the staff of Kristina’s is up to the daunting challenge.
Although I saw dishes from all parts of the menu being served, I will only report on my wife Janis’ and my selection. Memory can be persistent even if only subliminally. Janis and I both duplicated our order from last year’s party almost exactly. It was good then so it will most likely be good again.
Janis started off with a bowl of the soup of the day. Kristina features a
different soup each day of the week. Since this was Sunday, the selection was
Cream of Potato Soup ($2.25 bowl).It was a nice thick and creamy soup with lots of potatoes and vegetables served with several packets of saltine crackers. She said it was very good, very tasty and she certainly had no trouble finishing her bowl of soup.
The main part of her meal was to be the Roast Beef and Turkey Club ($6.25);
the same as last year. Since she was having the soup, she didn’t want the side
order that would come with her sandwich. Since my plate is a convenient
depository for unwanted food, she asked me what I wanted her to order. I chose
the coleslaw since I was already having French fries with my order. The sandwich
was made with the thinner, sandwich sliced bread and toasted nicely. The thin
slices of bread mean that the filling has to be more than adequate to make the
sandwich stand out. There is plenty of beef and turkey as well as the lettuce
and tomato to fill the sandwich.Janis enjoyed her sandwich saying that it was very good but could only eat half and asked for a take home container for the other half to enjoy at a later time.
My Déjà vu order was the Steak Hoagie ($6.25); similar to a Philly
cheesesteak sandwich but with sautéed onions, peppers, mushrooms and melted
Mozzarella cheese all on a hot, toasted hoagie bun. My side of choice was French
fries but don’t forget, I was also having coleslaw. On arrival it was a full
plate and included a spear of dill pickle. The sandwich was full of all kinds of good things, meat, peppers onions, mushrooms and cheese. So much in fact that picking up the sandwich dumped lots of the filling on the plate. No matter, it tasted just as good off a fork. It was nice tender beef with lots of flavor from the vegetables and cheese; a thoroughly and filling sandwich. The coleslaw, a small serving actually, was good. It is a finely chopped cabbage with a mild dressing, not too tart and not too sweet; enough to moisten the cabbage but not compete with the flavor and not too much to drip into the serving plate.A good accompaniment but not an all-star to stand by itself. The French fries, still hot from the fryer, were not oily, were crisp and tasty. They were good French fries. I enjoyed my meal very much. It was good food to start with but being surrounded by so many, as Donn, N4KII, would say, “hamsters” made it even more enjoyable. I am already looking forward to next year.
Labels: After Holidays Party, Amateur Radio, cheese, cheesesteak, club sandwich, coleslaw, French fries, hoagie, Kristina's, mozzarella, mushrooms, pepper. onions, potato soup, roast beef, SPARC, St Petersburg, steak, turkey
¶ 10:05 AM 0 Comments
