KeystoneAll Natural Ground Beef 14 Ounce Long Term Emergency Survival Food Canned Meat | Fully Cooked Ready to Eat | Gluten Free Family Pack of 1

I'm hesitant to review this; I don't want to give away the great secret: this stuff is fantastic. When I opened the can, there is that bit of canned meat smell that all canned beef products have.To freshen the flavor and texture, I heated it really hot in a frying pan. Once hot there was no unsavory odor and the taste was good. I added a bit of salt and crushed garlic and then it was fantastic. Throw in a can of canned spaghetti sauce and it was every bit as good as it would have been with fresh hamburger.You can't make a hamburger patty out of it but it would be great in any recipe that requires ground beef crumbled. Besides the spaghetti sauce, we're planning tacos, burritos, quesadillas (and many other Mexican style recipes), chili, sloppy joes, and more.There is a pretty fair amount of fat in this product - but then so would there be in any 73/27 or 70/30 hamburger from the grocery store. And if you're in a survival situation after any natural disaster that might require you to eat your food storage, the extra fat will be a necessity. It's energy food and brain food (just watched Brain Changes on public TV - an interesting show about how important fat is for the brain and how multi-grain or whole-grain bread is worse than even white bread). In any case, fat is an important nutrient. I simply drained this on a couple paper towels after heating it and the fat was not noticeable at all in my spaghetti sauce.This is not just food storage quality ground beef; this is eating quality ground beef. But don't believe me; that will save more for me to order.November 2 2014 update - I just received another order for 24 cans. This is something that, in all likelihood, arrives at Amazon in 12 or 24 can cases. I ordered 24 cans, thinking they would simply ship 1 or 2 cases, depending on the original packaging but, instead, I get four different date codes and 24 cans thrown loosely with no additional packaging materials. The cans roll around loosely and, even though it was heavily taped, the box was ripped up. Two cans were dented so badly that I'll have to use them right away - which is not terrible since we use it regularly anyway. I think I'm lucky; it seems many others get even worse bent can damage than I got. There's just no excuse for the poor packaging. I'll be leaving a packaging review as well but it is an important consideration in buying this product. I've seen Amazon pull items from their catalog because they don't ship well but the problem is not that these don't ship well, it's just that they're not packaged well. How can you hope to deliver by quadcopter drone when you can't design a packaging system for a #2 can?

I had never tried Keystone meats before, but several people in a group I belong to had recommended them. We seem to have a hard time getting decent hamburger where we live, and it either cooks up rubbery, or dies way too quickly. If you freeze it and thaw it out, it just makes it worse. So I was looking for a better way to keep ground beef on hand.We tried this tonight for the first time. I had read reviews and expected all kinds of nasty. But the truth is, there was nothing wrong with it.These are packaged with only beef and sea salt. No extra water, no extra spices, just ground beef, cooked in the can at the processing plant.So when people say it is bland, it is - they leave it up to YOU as to how you want it seasoned.Yes, there is fat in the can. It is beef, cooked in the can. It will have naturally occuring fat. No fat is added.What we did was put the entire contents of the can in a glass dish (easier to clean greasy stuff off glass) and microwaved it o power level 7 until it was reheated.It was a little more soupy than I wanted,so - hold on - we drained it in a metal colander. Easy peasy.We were making tacos, so tried the meat as is first. Yes, it is plain. I added some cumin, and boom - taco meat. (I could have added a little chili powder too, but couldn't find it.) We had delicious, filling tacos. The can has a lot of meat in it. One can made 8 tacos for us.I will DEFINITELY be buying this again. I look forward to trying all the Keystone products.

Or just because.As other reviewers have noted, Keystone Ground Beef has a dog food-ish smell when opened and also seems not to have as much meat as you might think. I thought it would be about as much meat as you could expect after browning a pound of 80/20 ground beef from the supermarket but it seemed more like 10-12 ounces at best.The look, texture and even taste reminds me of the ground beef used in the tacos sold at a particular fast food chain – not bad certainly, but not what you’d get if you browned it yourself.In fairness, our first can wasn’t prepared with flourish or even onions but was simply added to spaghetti, so I’ll add more information as warranted.Did I stock up, just in case? Absolutely. Would I use it for quick meals? Certainly. Would I buy it if I couldn’t go to the store regularly or had trouble digging out pots and pans? In a heartbeat. In all of these situations I would be so very grateful to have these cans of quite passable, potentially delicious ground beef.Would I use it if not for those reasons? Probably not.

I initially bought one can to give it a taste test... It was super good... This product fits my needs completely... I started storing this product for future use... but, found out that I use it regularly for all kinds of recipes... The meat just melts in your mouth... The can includes juice and fat that comes with the meat... I just heat and serve...

This is very greasy and and it is nearly impossible to drain all the grease out as it still leaves an unpleasant taste behind. The unfortunate flavor is sort of tallow-like, but with other "notes" I cannot identify. Making chili with beans out of it is the best use. I definitely disliked spaghetti sauce made of it.