Adventures in cheap packaged foods: Great Value Roast Beef

If you read my post about canned beef, you’ll know I thought it was good enough to wish I had gotten more.

Fast forward a few weeks and several hundred miles and I’m cruising through Walmart, trying to find something promising on the denuded canned food shelves. Oh, look, a case of house brand roast beef. Smaller cans, much higher price.

Was it still on the shelf because everyone knows it’s awful? Or because it’s unfamiliar and therefore suspicious? Or because it was just recently put on display? I figured it was worth a try. And remembering the lesson from my previous canned beef, I grabbed four cans.

Unlike the other canned beef, which was mostly a lump of meat chunks with a little liquid and some congealed fat, a can of Great Value Roast Beef is about half broth. (Well, it says In Beef Broth right on the label, so I was warned.) I suppose that gives you a head start if you’re making stew or gravy, but dang. Adjust your expectations accordingly.

The most important thing, though, is it’s totally edible, even though it’s far from the best cuts of cow. Like other canned meats, it could use some seasoning. I added some barbecue sauce. That did the trick.