# Bread in a can? What is this thing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 5, 2017, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bread-in-a-can-what-is-this-thing/783850 "2017-04-05T22:40:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bread-in-a-can-what-is-this-thing/783850/21 "2017-04-06T14:58:53Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > [Boston Brown Bread](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_bread#Boston_brown_bread) is traditionally cooked in a can. > > I’ve never had a home made version but the supermarket stuff is pretty good. Ugh. My mother used to make us eat that disgusting stuff when we were kids. Few things would make me barf, but that was one of them. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bread-in-a-can-what-is-this-thing/783850/22 "2017-04-06T15:10:00Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > Canned pumpkin is exactly as good as making it yourself, with less work. It’s literally plain, unseasoned pumpkin in a can. Now canned _pumpkin pie filling_ is a whole different, unnecessary and inferior story. I made a pumpkin pie from scratch exactly once. It was wonderful, but I think it took, like, 4 or 5 hours to cook that gourd, not counting the time it took to cut it up. Never again. Canned pumpkin works just fine. Plus, it goes in the dogs’ breakfast. ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bread-in-a-can-what-is-this-thing/783850/23 "2017-04-06T15:12:40Z")
> [@Gary\_T](#): > > I could see advantages to getting “regular” bread, such as might be used for sandwiches, in a can. It won’t get crushed in the grocery sack, picnic basket, etc.; and it can easily be resealed to prevent drying out. One of the outdoor stores in my City has bread-in-a-can for this purpose: you put it as emergency Ration, or for easier Transport. It’s sealed like a Sardine can (pull-ring), plus a plastic lid once you open it, but don’t finish the whole Portion. If you bake your bread at home in a coffee can/ tin can, you get (aside from the head which rises) nice round slices, compared to normal bread which you shape into a loaf and is hence irregular. So if you want to have nice round bread for Party Snacks or similar, self-baked bread in a can would be an easy solution. And coffe cans already have a plastic lid for resealing. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bread-in-a-can-what-is-this-thing/783850/24 "2017-04-06T15:15:54Z")
For the ultimate cooking show nightmare, often seen on Cutthroat Kitchen, I give you [a canned whole chicken](https://www.amazon.com/Sweet-Sue-Chicken-without-Giblets/dp/B00BX31YC6). > [@bordelond](#): > > Really? Maybe this is regional (pumpkins don’t grown down here in SE Louisiana) … but canned pumpkin is decisively the default for anyone making pumpkin pie locally. > > In the fall, pumpkins are imported\*\* to our local groceries for making jack o’lanterns and other décor. Every so often, people do empty out a pumpkin, pick the seeds out, and use the resulting pulp to make pie. But it’s a lot of trouble, and I think the canned stuff actually makes a better pie (sacrilege!). Or at the very least, a more familiar pie. > \*\*also imported for our local faux “pumpkin patches” and such. Yeah, you don’t want to use carving pumpkins to make pie. You want to use a pumpkin bred for pie, like a sugar pumpkin. Plus, you don’t use the stringy pulp - you use the flesh. You’ve got to cut up the pumpkin, remove the skin, then boil or roast the flesh until tender. So it’s no wonder your scratch pumpkin pies don’t taste so good. BTW, I live in an area where sugar pumpkins are cheap and plentiful in fall, and everyone still makes their pies with the canned stuff. It’s just so much easier for such a small difference in outcome. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bread-in-a-can-what-is-this-thing/783850/25 "2017-04-06T15:49:07Z")
^Testify! Did not know about sugar pumpkins. Ignorance fought; thanks! I’m still never making a scratch pie again. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bread-in-a-can-what-is-this-thing/783850/26 "2017-04-06T16:12:19Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Yeah, you don’t want to use carving pumpkins to make pie. You want to use a pumpkin bred for pie, like a sugar pumpkin. Plus, you don’t use the stringy pulp - you use the flesh. You’ve got to cut up the pumpkin, remove the skin, then boil or roast the flesh until tender. So it’s no wonder your scratch pumpkin pies don’t taste so good. A slight hijack, for humor value: When she was in high school, a friend of mine (who was, overall, pretty skilled at baking) decided she wanted to make a homemade pumpkin pie. However, she clearly didn’t know much about pumpkin pie. She bought a pumpkin at the grocery store (which was undoubtedly a “carving pumpkin”), cleaned out the pulp…and then prepared it like you would an apple pie. She peeled off the skin, cut up the flesh into slices, and placed those in a pie crust. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bread-in-a-can-what-is-this-thing/783850/27 "2017-04-06T16:14:50Z")
^ My LOL for the day! Muchas gracias! ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bread-in-a-can-what-is-this-thing/783850/28 "2017-04-06T20:11:12Z")
> [@MoonMoon](#): > > Brown bread is a staple in New England. I doubt there are many New Englanders who didn’t grow up with beans, hot dogs and brown bread as a weekly supper. It’s delicious, and when I see it in stores (I’ve moved away, sadly), I snap it up. > > It’s not canned for preservation, by the way. It’s a steamed bread that is made in the can. It’s a sort of cousin to suet puddings/plum pudding, which makes sense, since NE was originally populated by people from the UK. (Well, “originally” by Native Americans, but you know what I mean.) I grew up in western Massachusetts. I’ve never heard of “bread in a can” until now. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bread-in-a-can-what-is-this-thing/783850/29 "2017-04-06T20:19:16Z")
Hell, I’m a Southern California boy with parents from Texas and Kansas, and even we ate brown bread, beans and hotdogs for a weekend dinner at least once a month. Delicious! ---
**Author:** ![dwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwyr/32/363_2.png) [@dwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwyr)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bread-in-a-can-what-is-this-thing/783850/30 "2017-04-06T22:41:30Z")
My mother, born in Kentucky, loved brown bread spread with cream cheese. I made it from scratch a few times many years ago. It’s a quick bread, so no yeast, which makes it pretty dense. Steaming keeps it nice and moist. I don’t know what I’d make it in now though. Haven’t seen a coffee can in years. I seem to remember King Arthur Flour selling a cylindrical mold for brown bread but now they just carry a dual purpose pudding mold. I guess not many people make the stuff anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bread-in-a-can-what-is-this-thing/783850/31 "2017-04-06T23:53:19Z")
> [@dwyr](#): > > I don’t know what I’d make it in now though. Haven’t seen a coffee can in years. Any tin (steel) can will do. If you can find ones with minimal ridges it’s easier to remove the bread when done. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bread-in-a-can-what-is-this-thing/783850/32 "2017-04-07T15:39:58Z")
> [@mlees](#): > > I grew up in western Massachusetts. I’ve never heard of “bread in a can” until now. Well, what do you midwesterners know anyway! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bread-in-a-can-what-is-this-thing/783850/33 "2017-04-07T16:57:36Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Ugh. My mother used to make us eat that disgusting stuff when we were kids. Few things would make me barf, but that was one of them. It seems to be another Rhode Island favorite. I used to go cook at a retirement facility and the folks there just loved the stuff. Never heard of it before then. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2017, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bread-in-a-can-what-is-this-thing/783850/34 "2017-04-08T05:28:33Z")
Judge dropdad only lunched at The Drake because nobody else could serve him Boston baked beans and canned bread every day. They cracked two cans and threw the rest away. He was a happy judge who ate two bux of food for inflated prices. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2017, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bread-in-a-can-what-is-this-thing/783850/35 "2017-04-08T05:33:12Z")
I guess that cook-off is the reason lists of horrible canned foods (canned bread among them) have shown up in my feed. Here’s one list. People with sensitive stomachs are hereby warned. [Most Disgusting Canned Foods | List of Gross Canned Food](http://www.ranker.com/list/most-disgusting-canned-foods/mark?format=BLOG) My favorite item is #11: Canned Russian herring pieces. Including their mouths. That have teeth. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2017, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bread-in-a-can-what-is-this-thing/783850/36 "2017-04-08T05:48:24Z")
By an amazing coincidence, I have just this very day come into possession of a can of bread. I shall report my findings once I muster the courage to open it. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2017, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bread-in-a-can-what-is-this-thing/783850/37 "2017-04-08T12:53:59Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > By an amazing coincidence, I have just this very day come into possession of a can of bread. I shall report my findings once I muster the courage to open it. You are a braver man than I. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2017, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bread-in-a-can-what-is-this-thing/783850/38 "2017-04-08T14:21:21Z")
I love B&M brown bread. Haven’t had it in years, though. I like eating it with peanut butter. Yum! :o ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2017, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bread-in-a-can-what-is-this-thing/783850/39 "2017-04-08T14:36:30Z")
I’m enough of a snob in the kitchen that my default preference is the version I prepare myself from scratch, but even I can see the value of canned pumpkin. Quite often I have had both canned and fresh pumpkin in the house simultaneously. I often make at least two dishes (an American pumpkin pie and a Cambodian pumpkin-coconut-fish curry) calling for lots of pureed pumpkin. My verdict? Doesn’t make much difference if you cook up a fresh pumpkin or buy a can. Fresh pumpkin has a nicer color, which may or may not survive whatever cooking process it is subjected to, and of course there is the whole “I made it myself from scratch!” virtuous, self-congratulatory feeling. But it takes a lot of effort to cut up, roast, puree and reduce fresh pumpkin. And by the time you get it as dense and velvety as canned pumpkin, any fresh color and taste are probably lost. So it’s a wash. Fresh = virtuous and better color, but a shitload of work and maybe not as densely flavorful. Canned =shameful and not as orange-colored, but easy and definitely tasty. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2017, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bread-in-a-can-what-is-this-thing/783850/40 "2017-04-09T00:33:37Z")
Being an Aussie, well pumpkin pie just isn’t a thing here and consequently have never seen pumpkin (nor bread) in a can. We can buy pumpkin all year round, and just yesterday bought a [butternut pumpkin](http://images.triality.com.au/LefroyValley/Commercial/A36B_D75D7B0A-07CF-4851-A3D1-F75A_Large.jpg) for 50c lb ($1 AUD per kilo). We roast, soup, curry, dip and do all sorts of things with pumpkin, just not pie. Thanks for all the info though. Much appreciated. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bread-in-a-can-what-is-this-thing/783850.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bread-in-a-can-what-is-this-thing/783850.md?page=3)