Best cheap canned food?

[jrshaul]

I'm curious - what's Egullet's preferred varities of canned vegetables, tinned fish, and other shelf-stable raw ingredients? I'm on a somewhat limited budget, making fresh vegetables of several varieties (especially beans, for reasons of practicality, and tomatoes, which are simply awful) less than practical. If anyone can make suggestions as to the best student-accessible foodstuffs, I'd much appreciate it. Especially mushrooms.

[weinoo]

You might glean some info from this recent topic.

The goya products are uniformly pretty good and reasonable; e.g. tuna, mackerel, cod, squid, etc.

I don't know about the quality of a lot of the product, but the Asian groceries around here carry a ridiculous amount of canned goods at cheap prices.

[BadRabbit]

LeSueur Early Peas- Even people who don't care for green peas seem to like them. My daughter will not eat any other kind. Just some salt and a pat of butter and they are delicious.

leSueur offers some other canned stuff but oddly enough I've never tried any of it.

Edited July 1, 2011 by BadRabbit (log)

[Mjx]

I think frozen vegetable are comparable, price-wise, to tinned things, and in many cases, have a much nicer texture (I'm thinking of peas and string beans, in particular, and probably anything green, in general), so if you have even a small freezer, I'd keep that in mind. Tinned beans, corn, and tomatoes can be real life savers. I pretty much lived on frozen peas, and permutations of rice and beans during my first year of uni.

[weinoo]

Yes, the canned beans are great too. Once again, I highly recommend Goy'a line.

[Lisa Shock]

As much as I really like canned tomatoes from Italy, I must say that if I shop at the ordinary grocery store I buy the generic/house brand tomatoes. The reason is, to my taste anyway, the longer tomatoes sit on the shelf them more they develop a bitter bad taste. The cheap ones sell quickly and the cans tend to be fresher, so I buy those. At some mid-range supermarkets in mid-lower income areas, the expensive cans are rarely sold so they are rarely replenished.

Cook's Illustrated recently did a taste test of canned tomatoes and found that tasters preferred types that have citric acid in them; apparently it keeps better flavor as well as texture.

[highchef]

Dinty mores got some raves around here somewhere....beef stew

[Porthos]

Whereabouts do you live?

[jrshaul]

Whereabouts do you live?

Madison, WI.

I think frozen vegetable are comparable, price-wise, to tinned things, and in many cases, have a much nicer texture

I'll gladly accept commendations on those, too.

[Twyst]

LeSueur Early Peas- Even people who don't care for green peas seem to like them. My daughter will not eat any other kind. Just some salt and a pat of butter and they are delicious.

Better yet make a very small roux, like 1 tbsp of flour and the same of butter, and cook it til it browns a little. You dont have to go very dark and it only takes a few minutes. Drop a little diced shallot or onion in cook for a couple of minutes then put your peas in. DELICIOUS! Pretty much a staple on most old cajun ladies' sunday dinner table.

[Mjx]

I think frozen vegetable are comparable, price-wise, to tinned things, and in many cases, have a much nicer texture

I'll gladly accept commendations on those, too.

I'm afraid you'll have to do a bit of experimenting, since different places have different selections available (I was an undergrad in Western NY, and NYC). Bird's Eye and Green Giant were pretty good, but I usually got the store brand, since it was quite a bit cheaper. Store brands are not equal in quality (some are lousy, and others almost surprisingly excellent), however, so it took me a while to get find out which supermarket had the best of any given frozen (or tinned, for that matter) vegetable. For legumes, I also really like Goya products, but I mostly relied a lot on the dried versions, since they're even more cost effective than tinned.

[Blether]

Yes, in general frozen versions of peas, corn, green beans, broccoli, cauliflower etc. are better than canned. In some cases frozen approaches very closely the quality of fresh - where the processing is done conscientiously and the time before freezing is short.

As Mjx says, what's available varies a lot from region to region. Here, there is a lot of cheap canned seafood (mackerel and the like), and for foreign palates, various kinds of tinned (shelled) beans, not least baked beans in tomato sauce from Italy, ~1USD/can (I'm looking at you, Heinz, ~4USD/can). Tinned Italian tomatoes, of course. Portuguese sardines, next-to-nothing, but you need to salt them some.

Here again, tinned coconut milk / cream from Thailand can be had for under 1USD/can, and Campbell's soups are a reasonable cupboard standby for occasional use.

I find I can beat the price of tinned beans by a good margin, buying dried from Pakistani/Indian online sources - say red kidney beans (rajma), lentils (masoor, whole and/or peeled), chickpeas (chana / kabuli chana), maybe some black-eyed peas (lobia) - and ordering enough to get free shipping.

[rotuts]

some times the "house brand" of 'early peas' are very similar to LeSueur peas and much cheaper.

I love 'eary peas' and they are not the same as small fz peas as they are cooked. where I live once and a while LeSueur are on sale at the same price as 'House' canned

i buy lot then and save them they also have a version that has some mushrooms in them

Roast Turkey and gravy would not be the same W/O canned early peas !!

speaking of Campbells soup: they also go on sale for 88 cents once and a while

Im a big fan of Bean w Bacon which I 'fix up' with smoked paprika and garlic

also C's soups have lower sodium and lower fat versions that arent bad: Italian Wedding Soup is fine in the winter!

Edited July 2, 2011 by rotuts (log)

[antdad]

It's true you can't beat cooking pulses from scratch for economy nonetheless canned pulses still represent really good quality and value.

I've found a really good tinned pui lentil and I have no shame in using precooked cannelini beans and other pulses, a little stock, more vegetable, pasta or rice and you have the basis of some cheap but very nutritious meals.

As a general rule I opt for good tinned whole plum tomato's (off season) rather than ready chopped but I feel you get what you pay for so avoid really low end tinned chopped tomato's, personally I haven't found they noticeably deteriorate over time, the tinning process and preservatives should really see to that.

[KaffeeKlatsch]

Another fan of Leseur early peas here. Won't eat any others, including frozen. For frozen vegetables, I've found Freshlike to be pretty decent. Since you're in the midwest, you might have Gordon's Foodservice stores. They're a wholesaler who also operate some stores. Their frozen vegetables can't be beat. I especially like their broccoli and cauliflower.

[jrshaul]

Thanks for the tips on the peas - it's one particular example where the difference in quality is the largest. Keeping salad greens takes significant space and time for one person, and I figure I'll be eating a lot of preserved vegetables. Can anyone make a similar recommendation for collard greens or spinach? I lived down south for a while, and will cheerfully dig into a huge plate of greens 'n onions.

As Mjx says, what's available varies a lot from region to region. Here, there is a lot of cheap canned seafood (mackerel and the like), and for foreign palates, various kinds of tinned (shelled) beans, not least baked beans in tomato sauce from Italy, ~1USD/can (I'm looking at you, Heinz, ~4USD/can). Tinned Italian tomatoes, of course. Portuguese sardines, next-to-nothing, but you need to salt them some.

These sound fantastic. We've got quite a few asian grocery stores, but I've yet to find quite a few of these items - any suggestions as to where I might obtain them?

Edited July 4, 2011 by jrshaul (log)

[rlibkind]

For collards I'd stick to fresh (ditto any other cooking greens). And they don't take up much space if you cook them immediately after purchase, since they shrink so much. You can then store in fridge for up to four or five days, simply reheating in frypan with fat of your choice, refreshing in boiling water or even nuking.

[violetfox]

I can't go camping (or for that matter, stay home) without a variety of Look's Baked Beans from Whiting, Maine. Jacob's Cattle Beans! Salt pork in the can! They're good straight out of the can, not even heated.

[jrshaul]

For collards I'd stick to fresh (ditto any other cooking greens). And they don't take up much space if you cook them immediately after purchase, since they shrink so much. You can then store in fridge for up to four or five days, simply reheating in frypan with fat of your choice, refreshing in boiling water or even nuking.

Fresh greens aren't so available around here, and the frozen stuff is often a fair bitt cheaper.

[Alcuin]

For collards I'd stick to fresh (ditto any other cooking greens). And they don't take up much space if you cook them immediately after purchase, since they shrink so much. You can then store in fridge for up to four or five days, simply reheating in frypan with fat of your choice, refreshing in boiling water or even nuking.

Fresh greens aren't so available around here, and the frozen stuff is often a fair bitt cheaper.

Hopefully this isn't too off-topic but I live in Madison and eat fresh greens almost every night. Tonight I'm having Gai Lan (if you consider that a green) which I picked up at Viet Hoa on Monona Dr for $1.49/lb. I usually buy my greens at Midway at the corner of West Wash and South Park(pea shoots, various kinds of greens like bok choy, yu choy, water spinach, etc). The supermarkets also carry collards, mustard greens, kale, and chard regularly and of course spinach. Some kinds of greens are expensive (pea shoots @ $3.99/lb, a special treat) but things like collards and kale you can get for under a dollar (I think $.89). Also, there are lots of farmer's markets of course (though sometimes they're not the cheapest, though they can be). Where do you usually shop for greens?

[jrshaul]

Hopefully this isn't too off-topic but I live in Madison and eat fresh greens almost every night. Tonight I'm having Gai Lan (if you consider that a green) which I picked up at Viet Hoa on Monona Dr for $1.49/lb. I usually buy my greens at Midway at the corner of West Wash and South Park(pea shoots, various kinds of greens like bok choy, yu choy, water spinach, etc). The supermarkets also carry collards, mustard greens, kale, and chard regularly and of course spinach. Some kinds of greens are expensive (pea shoots @ $3.99/lb, a special treat) but things like collards and kale you can get for under a dollar (I think $.89). Also, there are lots of farmer's markets of course (though sometimes they're not the cheapest, though they can be). Where do you usually shop for greens?

I'm visiting Viet Hoa posty-hasty. I was at MATC for four semesters, and likely passed quite near it on a daily basis.

My greens mostly come from either the family garden pot or, more often than not, a little frozen brick from Copps.

Also, where do you get your meat? Bucky's Butchery is nice if you don't mind the irregular selection and highly inconvenient hours, but the major grocery stores don't generally have much decent meat outside of a few hideously overpriced options behind the butchers' counter.

[Alcuin]

Hopefully this isn't too off-topic but I live in Madison and eat fresh greens almost every night. Tonight I'm having Gai Lan (if you consider that a green) which I picked up at Viet Hoa on Monona Dr for $1.49/lb. I usually buy my greens at Midway at the corner of West Wash and South Park(pea shoots, various kinds of greens like bok choy, yu choy, water spinach, etc). The supermarkets also carry collards, mustard greens, kale, and chard regularly and of course spinach. Some kinds of greens are expensive (pea shoots @ $3.99/lb, a special treat) but things like collards and kale you can get for under a dollar (I think $.89). Also, there are lots of farmer's markets of course (though sometimes they're not the cheapest, though they can be). Where do you usually shop for greens?

I'm visiting Viet Hoa posty-hasty. I was at MATC for four semesters, and likely passed quite near it on a daily basis.

My greens mostly come from either the family garden pot or, more often than not, a little frozen brick from Copps.

Also, where do you get your meat? Bucky's Butchery is nice if you don't mind the irregular selection and highly inconvenient hours, but the major grocery stores don't generally have much decent meat outside of a few hideously overpriced options behind the butchers' counter.

I would definitely make a habit of going to Asian stores, especially Midway and to a lesser extent Viet Hoa. Midway has some good frozen vegetables too, and a lot of canned stuff (most of which I haven't tried). But they have good turnaround on their fresh stuff too, and it's comparatively very cheap. Then of course there's Woodmans, a mecca for canned and frozen stuff.

For meat, I usually shop at the Willy St coop, Copps, and Whole Foods, in a descending order of frequency and depending on what I want.

[Blether]

These sound fantastic. We've got quite a few asian grocery stores, but I've yet to find quite a few of these items - any suggestions as to where I might obtain them?

I'm not in the US (nor do I know the US well), so I can't tell you specifics for where where you are. Sorry.

[jrshaul]

I would definitely make a habit of going to Asian stores, especially Midway and to a lesser extent Viet Hoa. Midway has some good frozen vegetables too, and a lot of canned stuff (most of which I haven't tried). But they have good turnaround on their fresh stuff too, and it's comparatively very cheap. Then of course there's Woodmans, a mecca for canned and frozen stuff.

For meat, I usually shop at the Willy St coop, Copps, and Whole Foods, in a descending order of frequency and depending on what I want.

I generally avoid Willy St. and Whole Foods - they're both well outside my price range, especially in the butchers' department. Copps sometimes has sales on quality meat, but the majority of what I can afford is limited to pre-wrapped meatpumped full of water, which, aside from safety concerns, never cooks properly. I recognize that my budget limits me to things like non-organic chuck steak, but I'll be darned if I can find a good one.

Edited July 5, 2011 by jrshaul (log)

[Alcuin]

I would definitely make a habit of going to Asian stores, especially Midway and to a lesser extent Viet Hoa. Midway has some good frozen vegetables too, and a lot of canned stuff (most of which I haven't tried). But they have good turnaround on their fresh stuff too, and it's comparatively very cheap. Then of course there's Woodmans, a mecca for canned and frozen stuff.

For meat, I usually shop at the Willy St coop, Copps, and Whole Foods, in a descending order of frequency and depending on what I want.

I generally avoid Willy St. and Whole Foods - they're both well outside my price range, especially in the butchers' department. Copps sometimes has sales on quality meat, but the majority of what I can afford is limited to pre-wrapped meatpumped full of water, which, aside from safety concerns, never cooks properly. I recognize that my budget limits me to things like non-organic chuck steak, but I'll be darned if I can find a good one.

Getting well off-topic here, but it's true that the coop and of course WF are expensive. Other than that, there are some small butcher shops around, but they are pretty limited. I eat a lot less meat these days though, so I buy low quantities of high priced stuff. And I eat a lot of chicken.