RugenFisch Smoked Kieler Sprats

Price: $1.99 for a 3.88 ounce can - $8.21 per pound of smoked sprats as of March 19, 2012.

RugenFisch Smoked Kieler Sprats come in a handsome, mostly black can with an image of the product emblazoned on the tin. Hopefully the truth-in-advertising laws are stronger in Germany than they are here because I am still haunted by my past experience with Hormel's canned ham. There is no nutritional information on the can, but RugenFisch does offer nutritional information on their website if you can read German. (14.7 grams of protein, 0 grams of carbohydrates, 25.9 grams of fat, and 292 calories per 100 grams or about 3.5 ounces)

Pleasant smell of smoked fish and olive oil upon opening the tin. The lid rolled back to reveal ten beautiful and intact small fish tightly packed in the tin. Fish are firm and hold up well on fork. The flesh is firm and the bones are completely undetectable when eating. There is no “fishy” taste, but rather a nice smoky and subdued quality fish flavor. The fish had just the right amount of salt too.

A good tin of fish.

This was really good.

The smoke really compliments the flavor of the fish on this one because it is not overdone nor underdone. I finished this tin with the help of an avocado, some saltines and lime juice. This is perhaps the best tin of fish I have ever had, very well done. I will definitely buy these again and would serve them to guests. Rugenfisch Smoked Kieler Sprats get 5 Avocado-Lime-Sardine Saltines out of 5.

Hormel Lean Smoked Ham Review

Price: $1.39 for a five ounce can - $4.45 per pound of ham as of March 21, 2012

 Hormel smoked ham comes in a short can dotted with images of juicy chunks of ham that look delicious. Surely Hormel wouldn't mislead us with its product images, would they? Well, let's open it up and find out.

Immediately upon puncturing the can with my can opener a strong smell of smoke wafted out that only grew stronger as I continued to open it. Upon removing the lid I was greeted with this:

 

Soylent green is people!

Great... Thanks a lot, Hormel. It looks like a hockey puck made out of soylent green. I had to pry a chunk of ham (I think) from an amalgam of meat and white, squishy substance. I tasted the overpowering smoke flavoring before the meat even touched my tongue. After placing the smoked ham on my tongue the overpowering taste of a massive amount of salt drowned out anything but the faintest hint of ham. The consistency was fairly firm yet yielding.

My cat was meowing loudly since he thinks that I am opening cat food every time I open a can so I decided to place the meat amalgam down for him. He... LOVED it! I had to take the bowl away from him because I didn't want to clean and smell whatever the ham would turn into after a trip through his gastrointestinal tract.

 

Cats are obligate carnivores

I wouldn't classify this as wretched but as just plain too salty and unappealing. It might actually add a good bit of smoke flavor to some split pea soup. However, I would only use it when I can't keep regular ham cool. Perhaps on a camping trip or the like.

Hormel lean smoked ham, you get 1 ½ congealed masses of soylent green out of 5. Canned meat should be good right out of the can.

King Oscar Finest Brisling Sardines

King Oscar Finest Brisling Sardines
Mediterranean Style with Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Herbs of Provence, Red Bell Pepper and Black Olives.

King Oscar was a swarthy fellow

Earthy smell with a hint of fish scent upon opening tin.

This was the best I could get them to look

Eight well-packed sardines that held up to the canning process well with the occasional slice of olive amongst the fish, which are placed upon various herbs. Fish hold up well when lifted with fork. They are not too hard and not too soft. Nice earthy and rich flavor with a pleasant fish taste. The bones are barely detectable and the olives impart a bold, tangy flavor when eaten with the fish. No metallic taste was evident.

Sardines are also low mercury. Since they are low in the food chain the toxins do not build up as much as in large predatory fish like salmon.

These fish would be good in a Mediterranean style salad with a garlic-based dressing, feta cheese and cucumber; however, they also hold up well when served alone as a snack. The olive oil seems to be of a decent quality and would work wonderfully if added to the water in a rice cooker with jasmine rice. I finished the entire tin within 10 minutes.

These fish are easily above average so I will rate them a 4.5 cans out of 5.

First Post!

This blog will be for the review of awesome (and not so awesome) canned meat. I will include some reviews of other canned substances and recipe ideas from time to time.