Near-death experiments in food

[Moab]

Hormel Compleats...  Holy sodium Batman.

I saw somewhere they are supposed to be shelf stable for 18 months, when stored in a cool dry location.

Oh gawd... the taste of those.  I think I just threw up in my mouth a little.  We bought a dozen of those in assorted flavors for my wife to have for lunch at work.  She said she didn't like them so I tried them.  The remaining nine went into the bag of food donated to the local food pantry every year.

I was afraid of that. Someplace on the spectrum with Dinty Moore stew. I tried that again a couple months ago. It literally tastes like dogfood. Except i dont even think my dogs would eat.

But then again they eat cat shit. Aaahhhhgggg! Makes me almost vomit everythime i see that. One of my French Bulldogs would run for the cat box whenever he was let inside. It was so disgusting. If he wasnt running for the couch to piss on your favorite pillow!

I actually like Dinty Moore stew, and I enjoy the completes, I keep a few in my desk at work for the days I'm extra hungry or if we get stuck there.  As for MRE's I've eaten some that were a couple years past date and they were fine. 

I think alot of it depends on what you grew up with too. Like i love canned sardines and smoked clams. Because whenever my dad had them leftover in his lunchbox my sisters and i got to eat them. So it was like a treat. My wife on the other hand just about throws up when i open a can of them. Trader joes has canned smoked trout that is delicious too.

And i love canned chili. Ive been on a canned chili kick for about three weeks. Ive been eating it for lunch and dinner and sometimes even for breakfast. With potato chips. Which i absolutely should not be eating. But it goes in waves. Ill probably not be eating it in another week. And then not touch the stuff for a year. No one elze iny family likes it. But it was another staple in i grew up with. Depends on the brand too. Around here Stags i as the best. Dennisons is the worst.

I hear that.  Canned salmon was something we had a lot while growing up, but others in my house won't touch the stuff.  Canned sardines, never could eat them, LOL

Canned chili, mmm, I like that better than most peoples home made chili, as that usually means how hot can they make it, and well let's say I'm not a fan of hot.

Half my family is PNW Indian. I love canned salmon!! Salmon patties are my favorite. My wife and son cant stand them. Lol. I have to air out the house after i make them. Lol.

My father and grandmother were Yakama Indian. The only fish we ate growing up was salmon. We fished alot.

[NT2C]

Jello Cook 'n Serve Vanilla Pudding

Best by: May 2016

Smelled fine, cooked fine, tasted fine.

(I'll be serving this in bowls and topped with a spoon or two of Comstock Mussleman's Cherry Pie Filling, with a Best by date of: July 0f 2018)

If this works out, I have several boxes of Jello Cook 'n Serve Chocolate pudding with Best by dates from 2013 and earlier.

Edit: Damn if that wasn't awesome with the pie filling on it!  I may have found my new favorite dessert.

[wolf_from_wv]

I found a can of tuna with a 2011 date that has been outside in a building with temps ranging from -20 to probably 160.  I found it last week, and haven't gathered the courage to open it and see what it looks like. 

No plans to taste it.

[MacWa77ace]

I found a can of tuna with a 2011 date that has been outside in a building with temps ranging from -20 to probably 160.  I found it last week, and haven't gathered the courage to open it and see what it looks like. 

No plans to taste it.

does it look bulged at all?

[wolf_from_wv]

I found a can of tuna with a 2011 date that has been outside in a building with temps ranging from -20 to probably 160.  I found it last week, and haven't gathered the courage to open it and see what it looks like. 

No plans to taste it.

does it look bulged at all?

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[majorhavoc]

For the good of science (and our amusement): I think you should open it.  Perhaps even mix it with some expired mayonaise, take some stale bread and make yourself a tuna sandwich.  Don't actually eat it for heaven's sake.  Just contemplate what your decision would be a year into the apocalypse ... 

[NapalmMan67]

I found a can of tuna with a 2011 date that has been outside in a building with temps ranging from -20 to probably 160.  I found it last week, and haven't gathered the courage to open it and see what it looks like. 

No plans to taste it.

does it look bulged at all?

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I'd eat it if it smelled ok...  which is subjective to me, because I hate Tuna and think it smells like shite even if "fresh".


But a year in to the zombie/alien hoard...  yep, down the hatch if it didn't smell spoiled.

[NT2C]

Most likely it'll be fine.  A lot of foods (and I think tuna is one of them) get "cooked" in the can on the processing line.  The heat/cold cycles shouldn't have affected it from a safety standpoint, just from an appearance/flavor standpoint.  Also, my favorite C Ration back when I was in the military was the one with tuna.  C Rats would go through some pretty wide extremes on a typical deployment.  Somewhere I have a photo of stacks of palletized C Rats sitting on a pier waiting to be recalled in our cargo holds.  At night it was well below freezing there, and in the daytime temps were as hot as 105.  (I got stuck guarding those fuckers on the midnight to 0800 shift - I'd relieve the previous guard wearing almost every piece of uniform I owned and by 0800 when I was relieved I had a big pile of clothing I'd taken off to carry back aboard ship)  That tuna of yours will probably be fine.

[MacWa77ace]

Hey, where was that with those extremes and what time of year was it?

If its not bulged it probably is ok.

[NT2C]

Hey, where was that with those extremes and what time of year was it?

If its not bulged it probably is ok.

Rota, Spain in February of '76

[wolf_from_wv]

In a box in an unventilated storage shed in WV from 2010 to 2022.  No heat in winter, and it got down below 0. Summertime got to 105 or so, but inside the building with no ventilation, it gets even hotter, but maybe only 130 or so.

[NT2C]

In a box in an unventilated storage shed in WV from 2010 to 2022.  No heat in winter, and it got down below 0. Summertime got to 105 or so, but inside the building with no ventilation, it gets even hotter, but maybe only 130 or so.

I'll eat it. 

[NapalmMan67]

Ate some Apple Butter from 2000 last night and I made it through so far.

[SCBrian]

I'm with NapalmMan, a year in and it's fair game. 
_IF_ I was to eat it today, I'd look for smell, and taste a small bit first...
If it was in my kitchen, I'd probably toss it because of the rust on the edge/seal... Plus the edge ding on the bottom...
Tuna in oil? The oil may have gone rancid...  Old meat is sketchy... 

Also - anyone ever watch the History Channel's "Eating History"? 
Here is a quick snippet about some food from when NT2C was doing his service...

[NT2C]

Luv me some C-Rats!   

[MacWa77ace]

Also - anyone ever watch the History Channel's "Eating History"? 
Here is a quick snippet about some food from when NT2C was doing his service...

No I'm going to have to watch this show.

Regarding the hardtack video though, does anyone think that is actual hardtack? He just cracked off a piece with this fingers and ate it. I've made hard tack before and I can't break it without tools, and can't eat it without soaking it first. It didn't come out like a saltine cracker like what is in the video and I didn't expect it too. Its nickname is jawbreaker for a reason and they were just complaining about the taste and dryness.

Or did my hardtack come out wrong all these times?

[Ghost]

On the hardtack front?

The wife and I made some during Covid lockdowns (why the Hell not?); I have a piece sitting out on my computer desk as I type this. Its been sitting there for 2.5 years as a test. As long as it doesn't get wet? I expect it will outlive everything around us.

[SCBrian]

Regarding the hardtack video though, does anyone think that is actual hardtack? He just cracked off a piece with this fingers and ate it. I've made hard tack before and I can't break it without tools, and can't eat it without soaking it first. It didn't come out like a saltine cracker like what is in the video and I didn't expect it too. Its nickname is jawbreaker for a reason and they were just complaining about the taste and dryness.

Theoretically?  Yes, it's possible it was the original ~150 year old piece...
A possible answer is that over time, it degrades enough to become 'cracker'-ish.  but that's just a hypothesis. 

[NapalmMan67]

Had another jar of home made Apple Butter from 2000 and a jar of Corn Relish from 2009 I have been eating this past week or so.

Next up will be the oldest fresh stock of those- (Apl Btr) 2009 and (Crn Rlsh) 2018.


.

[Ever (Zombiepreparation)]

My day3 broccoli sprouts have developed a pale green sort-of slime. (no smell of any kind) Google time.

- Could be algae from too much sunlight.
- Could be e.coli from actual seed or seed handling during packaging.
- Could be salmonella from seed handling during packaging or from me or my kitchen.


The info says don't eat the slimy sprouts.

Based on absolutely nothing I may only 'think' they are slimy so I have eaten a quarter tsp of them and refridgerated the other tsp amount. (my test runs in sprouting are really small amounts)

Time for symptoms, if any: 6 hrs - 6 days