# Whole chicken in a can? What is this thing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 6, 2017, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whole-chicken-in-a-can-what-is-this-thing/783902 "2017-04-06T17:14:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whole-chicken-in-a-can-what-is-this-thing/783902/1 "2017-04-06T17:14:38Z")
Actually, I know what it is. Whole chicken inna can, duh! And I even see it at the supermarket. But I wanted to stick with the canned title. 😉 Has anyone eaten [one of these](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5Xkg8FsVtY)? I have to ask, ‘Why?’ Why not just get a 5-pound rotisserie chicken from Costco for $5.00, or a 3-4 pound one from a supermarket for $7.00? ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whole-chicken-in-a-can-what-is-this-thing/783902/2 "2017-04-06T17:18:27Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I have to ask, ‘Why?’ Why not just get a 5-pound rotisserie chicken from Costco for $5.00, or a 3-4 pound one from a supermarket for $7.00? Because they’re not shelf stable. Really the only point of canning is to have food that can sit around for a long time with no maintenance and not go bad. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whole-chicken-in-a-can-what-is-this-thing/783902/3 "2017-04-06T17:23:18Z")
I’ve had it. When I was young and we were hitchhiking cross country. It was brilliant actually, though heavy. You can cut the top off and place the can right on the fire till it heats up. No messy cleanup and it comes with soup! I only see them where people cottage, camp, hunt etc. At jumping off points for people heading away from the niceties like refrigeration. On a long trip canoeing, for instance, it’s nice to have chicken a week into the trip! ---
**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, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whole-chicken-in-a-can-what-is-this-thing/783902/4 "2017-04-06T17:25:13Z")
Be sure to save the delicious broth. ---
**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, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whole-chicken-in-a-can-what-is-this-thing/783902/5 "2017-04-06T17:34:56Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > Because they’re not shelf stable. > > Really the only point of canning is to have food that can sit around for a long time with no maintenance and not go bad. Y’all are basically good people, so I’m gonna give you a warning: If you ever come across anything my late maternal grandmother canned, DO NOT PARTAKE! She re-used the lids (the seal-y part) all the time. Now, if you like thick, foamy, white stinky shit in your beans, by all means… . (That video was priceless!) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whole-chicken-in-a-can-what-is-this-thing/783902/6 "2017-04-06T17:38:37Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > If you ever come across anything my late maternal grandmother canned Every year, my paternal grandmother would send us a big box of preserves she made. She just used whatever screw-top jars she had on-hand. She filled them to the screw-top part of the jars, and topped them off with melted paraffin wax. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whole-chicken-in-a-can-what-is-this-thing/783902/7 "2017-04-06T18:10:16Z")
Anything home-canned I get as a gift goes right in the bin, unless I know the person VERY well and trust their technique. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whole-chicken-in-a-can-what-is-this-thing/783902/8 "2017-04-06T18:18:33Z")
One of the weirdest things I remember seeing on _Twilight Zone_ was in the famous episode “Two” - Charles Bronson and Elizabeth Montgomery as post-apocalyptic solders. They open and share a can of what appears to be chicken drumsticks, and every time I watch the episode I am taken out of its (excellent, well-portrayed and -acted) story by the stupid can of chicken legs. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whole-chicken-in-a-can-what-is-this-thing/783902/9 "2017-04-06T18:22:00Z")
What’s up with the [whatever] in a can threads? I think there was already one about bread in a can, and another about hamburger in a can and now this? ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whole-chicken-in-a-can-what-is-this-thing/783902/10 "2017-04-06T18:37:26Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Every year, my paternal grandmother would send us a big box of preserves she made. She just used whatever screw-top jars she had on-hand. She filled them to the screw-top part of the jars, and topped them off with melted paraffin wax. Did you eat it? My grandmothers did this too. It’s not recommended nowadays, unless you’re going to eat it soon, and/or keep it refrigerated in the meantime. I have a friend who said her mother always used this product for chicken and noodles; all she had to do was boil the noodles, and then open the can and cut up and heat the chicken, which had been deboned at the factory. Sometimes there would be a few small bones, which she would find and remove while chopping it. ---
**Author:** ![Weisshund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba8739/32.png) [@Weisshund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weisshund)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whole-chicken-in-a-can-what-is-this-thing/783902/11 "2017-04-06T18:38:44Z")
just wanted to mention, since i see a lot of what is this canned food threads. Once upon a time, when i was deployed far far away, these strange canned foods were great gifts from home, chickens burgers, hams, corned beef, biscuits, breads, etc. Anything but spam, the army had plenty of spam ☚ They are still great for any situation where there is no place to, and nothing to, cook with ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whole-chicken-in-a-can-what-is-this-thing/783902/12 "2017-04-06T19:11:00Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > What’s up with the [whatever] in a can threads? I think there was already one about bread in a can, and another about hamburger in a can and now this? Apparently some extraterrestrials were dropped off at Big Lots by the Mothership, and they wandered into the grocery section. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whole-chicken-in-a-can-what-is-this-thing/783902/13 "2017-04-06T19:12:50Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Sometimes there would be a few small bones, which she would find and remove while chopping it. If they took the bones out, it wouldn’t be crunchy, now would it? ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whole-chicken-in-a-can-what-is-this-thing/783902/14 "2017-04-06T20:07:19Z")
> [@Weisshund](#): > > just wanted to mention, since i see a lot of what is this canned food threads. > > Once upon a time, when i was deployed far far away, these strange canned foods were great gifts from home, chickens burgers, hams, corned beef, biscuits, breads, etc. > Anything but spam, the army had plenty of spam ☚ > > . . . My dad was in the Navy, and told stories about a Mexican buddy of his who received canned tortillas from home. I had forgotten all about it until I saw this thread, and Googling just now, I see that canned tortillas are still around. ---
**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, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whole-chicken-in-a-can-what-is-this-thing/783902/15 "2017-04-06T20:14:46Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > What’s up with the [whatever] in a can threads? I think there was already one about bread in a can, and another about hamburger in a can and now this? Because “why not?”, I present the time when you could buy Oscar Mayer hot dogs in a can (courtesy of James Lileks’ “Gallery of Regrettable Food”): [http://www.lileks.com/institute/gallery/ads/7.html](http://www.lileks.com/institute/gallery/ads/7.html) And, even more frightening, the “Sack O’ Sauce in a Can O’ Meat”: [http://www.lileks.com/institute/gallery/ads/8.html](http://www.lileks.com/institute/gallery/ads/8.html) ---
**Author:** ![cwthree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@cwthree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cwthree)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whole-chicken-in-a-can-what-is-this-thing/783902/16 "2017-04-06T20:57:56Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Every year, my paternal grandmother would send us a big box of preserves she made. She just used whatever screw-top jars she had on-hand. She filled them to the screw-top part of the jars, and topped them off with melted paraffin wax. That’s actually an OK way of canning some kinds of foods, specifically high-acid fruit jam or jelly. When you make jam or jelly, you’re making a saturated solution of sugar and whatever water is on the front, then holding it at a high temperature. The heat kills most the nasty stuff, and the high concentration of sugar means there isn’t enough “free” water to support the other stuff that would usually grow on fruit. If you start with sterilized jars, the mixture is stable - the paraffin is really there to keep it clean. It’s safe to hold at room temperature if you have to. I probably wouldn’t ship it because of the risk of the paraffin shifting or cracking. There are foods that absolutely cannot be prepared this way. Meat, vegetables, and low-acid fruit must go through a pressure-canning method. Even then, home-canned meat should be boiled for several minutes before eating. Brined pickles are an exception. The salt in the brine makes the resulting mixture sufficiently inhospitable to microbes. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whole-chicken-in-a-can-what-is-this-thing/783902/17 "2017-04-06T23:04:49Z")
> [@Turek](#): > > If they took the bones out, it wouldn’t be crunchy, now would it? Oh, don’t start the crunchy-v-creamy debate. ---
**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 7, 2017, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whole-chicken-in-a-can-what-is-this-thing/783902/18 "2017-04-07T00:05:34Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > One of the weirdest things I remember seeing on _Twilight Zone_ was in the famous episode “Two” - Charles Bronson and Elizabeth Montgomery as post-apocalyptic solders. They open and share a can of what appears to be chicken drumsticks, and every time I watch the episode I am taken out of its (excellent, well-portrayed and -acted) story by the stupid can of chicken legs. This \*immediately \*came to mind when I read the title of this thread! Charles wolfed them legs down for sure (the chicken’s, not Elizabeth’s). 🆒 ---
**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 7, 2017, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whole-chicken-in-a-can-what-is-this-thing/783902/19 "2017-04-07T00:06:48Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > My dad was in the Navy, and told stories about a Mexican buddy of his who received canned tortillas from home. I had forgotten all about it until I saw this thread, and Googling just now, I see that canned tortillas are still around. I’ve heard of canned tamales (I have some in my pantry), but tortillas?!? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Daylate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9dc877/32.png) [@Daylate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daylate)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whole-chicken-in-a-can-what-is-this-thing/783902/20 "2017-04-07T02:54:55Z")
Years ago in Korea, my company was based near an Australian company. We had lots of plywood (being a Construction Engineer Company) and used to trade it (and a few other things) to the Aussies for their canned butter. Good stuff, to. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whole-chicken-in-a-can-what-is-this-thing/783902.md?page=2)