Vagueness and the Aftermath - A sporadic diary

[RED-DOG]

I would imagine that the can would not explode in boiling water because it's just not hot enough.

I'm sure that the food is boiled in the sealed can to sterilise it during the canning process anyway.

Dave's point about scalding liquid spurting out is a good one but if we were just heating the contents of the can to a reasonable temperature I think it it would be fine.

[Ironside]

yeah army ration packs contained alot of rubbish in cans you used to cook while in car (piercing first) but the canned bacon was the best thing ever made

[Doobs]

Pretty sure the can used to expand when you cooked it, as I think the can use to hiss and contract when you pierced it.   Presumably there was some air in there that expanded more than the contents?

Apparently Heinz has stopped making those canned puddings.  This discussion made me crave one. 

[RED-DOG]

Fray Bentos used to do a boil in the can steak and kidney pudding. I remember my granny used to occasionally do one for her dinner and she would always give me a taste on the end of a knife. (She ate off a flat bladed, flexible knife, a habit I picked up)

Obviously I took no real notice back then, but I can't remember her piercing it before boiling.

I tried to google it but it's difficult because it's been superseded by a modern version.

[RED-DOG]

This is a long video but the main bits are at 6:20 15:30 and 17:30.

[Doobs]

heinz puddings and fray bentos pies get a mention here

https://forums.digitalspy.com/discussion/2355282/heinz-tinned-sponge-puddings

Don't put them in the pressure cooker.  But nobody would do that, would they?

Round about 1972 or so my mum got us one of those tinned sponges for us, and cooked it in the pressure cooker.

We were waiting for it to cook when there was an almighty bang from the kitchen. When my dad went to investigate he found treacle dripping from the ceiling, the tin unwrapped and lying on the floor together with the pressure cooker lid, and the pressure cooker itself has assumed an... interesting shape.

Good job nobody was in the kitchen at the time.

Maybe my ma could have left us in the kitchen with one of them?

[Doobs]

Was reading that thread and someone piped up with the usual "you can just make your own...".  I was thinking just feck right off with that.  Looked it up and it doesn't sound too hard, and given you can't buy the real thing anymore.  Maybe I'll give it a go when cooking something easy.

http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/165/microwave-sponge-pudding.asp

Will report back if I can be arsed. 

[RED-DOG]

Seems like you had a much rougher upbringing (in a good way) than I gave you credit for Doobs.

I didn't know you had several brothers or that you could remember pre-microwave.

[doubleup]

I remember the steak and kidney puddings (or were they pies?), in a wide flat errr pie shaped tin.  I used to keep a couple as being skint food back up, so they lasted about a week.  I'm not sure if you did pierce those before cooking, as I vaguely remember the lid swelling up. 

Anyone remember those dried meals like chicken supreme, that you added water to and boiled up?  We always used them in youth hostels when on hols.  It was like the 70s thought fresh food of any kind was a health risk.

[RED-DOG]

I remember the steak and kidney puddings (or were they pies?), in a wide flat errr pie shaped tin.  I used to keep a couple as being skint food back up, so they lasted about a week.  I'm not sure if you did pierce those before cooking, as I vaguely remember the lid swelling up. 

Anyone remember those dried meals like chicken supreme, that you added water to and boiled up?  We always used them in youth hostels when on hols.  It was like the 70s thought fresh food of any kind was a health risk.

Those are pies in the flat tin, you can still get them now. You remove the lid completely and cook in the oven.







God only knows what was in the chicken supreme. Total crap no doubt but I loved it.

You could get it in the chip shops too for a while.

Strangely enough Mr doubleup, I've never had a problem with seeing you as one of the 'dragged up' generation.

[RED-DOG]

I bet Nirvana had leather elbow patches on his romper suit.

[doubleup]

I was actually "well brought up", father uni lecturer, mother teacher, allbeit semi-orphaned in my teens.  My need for "skint back up food" was largely self inflicted by consorting with bad company and acquiring associated bad habits.

[RED-DOG]

I was actually "well brought up", father uni lecturer, mother teacher, allbeit semi-orphaned in my teens.  My need for "skint back up food" was largely self inflicted by consorting with bad company and acquiring associated bad habits.

I'm sure you were, I just have no problem seeing you as a urchin. 

[RED-DOG]

I wonder how many of us gambled as youngsters? I did but not 'Betting shop' gambling, more often three card brag, pitch and toss, pontoon, crash, snooker etc.

[RED-DOG]

I once did a weeks work in partnership with a mate removing a chimney stack and repairing a roof.

When it came time to get paid we had to wait about an hour for the householder to return so we played horseshoes on the roadside while we waited.

By the time the bloke came I'd lost my share and was £40 in debt.