# The Best place for - Canned Ground beef



## Maine-Marine (Mar 7, 2014)

You can also get this at walmart, but if you want to buy direct

Keystone Meats Products


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## PatriotFlamethrower (Jan 10, 2015)

Keystone is excellent. Yoders also makes excellent canned meats, but the shipping is expensive.


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## whoppo (Nov 9, 2012)

Maine-Marine said:


> You can also get this at walmart, but if you want to buy direct
> 
> Keystone Meats Products


We've tried the keystone products... not bad, but we've been sticking with the Brinkman's stuff. It's a little more expensive, but the quality seems more consistantly high and you can mix & match cases.


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## Maine-Marine (Mar 7, 2014)

whoppo said:


> We've tried the keystone products... not bad, but we've been sticking with the Brinkman's stuff. It's a little more expensive, but the quality seems more consistantly high and you can mix & match cases.


$3 more per can for Brinkman's


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

Thanks for the link M-M


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## PatriotFlamethrower (Jan 10, 2015)

Amazon sells a large variety of canned meats produced by everybody mentioned in this thread.


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## bigwheel (Sep 22, 2014)

Big thanks for the link. Did not realize they made stuff like that. Noticed the fine print said shelf life of five years That should be long enough to see if Obummer is geing to get us all killed or not.


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## Maine-Marine (Mar 7, 2014)

bigwheel said:


> Noticed the fine print said shelf life of five years That should be long enough to see if Obummer is going to get us all killed or not.


I noticed that also... I think they are being very very very cautious...

I just called and talked to JULIE at Keystone - she explained that the meat is good MUCH LONGER but the USDA requires them to put a 5 year shelf life... she said they just opened a can that was 11years old and it was fine


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## bigwheel (Sep 22, 2014)

Great news. Think I am fixing to slam the plastic. Comparing Amazon prices to the prices on the link...Amazon appears around twice as high. Maybe they are getting the quantities messed up. They seem to offering 12 cans for about the same money as 24 cans ordered from the link. Surely that cant be right. 
http://www.amazon.com/Survival-Cave-Food-Canned-Meat/dp/B00OAKEGRO
https://www.keystonemeats.com/home/revieworder.php


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## bigwheel (Sep 22, 2014)

Ok..since nobody stopped me..I pulled the trigger on 24 14.5 oz cans ground beef for 120 bucks counting shipping at around 20. I tried to call the place but nobody was home. Hope that aint a bad sign. Checked Wally world and they showed to be out of stock.


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## darsk20 (Jun 1, 2015)

Great. Keep us up to date, especially on shelf life of what you get and quality if you try some out.


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## Maine-Marine (Mar 7, 2014)

bigwheel said:


> Ok..since nobody stopped me..I pulled the trigger on 24 14.5 oz cans ground beef for 120 bucks counting shipping at around 20.


It is really good with spaghetti. You will not be disappointed


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## AquaHull (Jun 10, 2012)

I buy a can or 2 every time I play WalMart Bingo.

The Wal-Mart Bingo Game Sheet [Pic] | I Am Bored


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## bigwheel (Sep 22, 2014)

Hey that Walmart Bingo sounds like fun. Thanks. Cept we shop at Kroger. Prob wouldnt work quite as good in there. Will give an update on the canned beef.


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## AquaHull (Jun 10, 2012)

bigwheel said:


> Hey that Walmart Bingo sounds like fun. Thanks. Cept we shop at Kroger. Prob wouldnt work quite as good in there. Will give an update on the canned beef.


The looks are priceless when you yell BINGO . Then you can hand the sheet over to the person who gave you the winning spot


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## 7052 (Jul 1, 2014)

Well I'm sure everybody knows this, I feel compelled to say that you can make this yourself. Hit YouTube and look for the videos, and you'll find that there are a ton of tutorials on how to can ground beef. Some work out better than others, but we have had some decent success by raw packing it. You can make ground beef, taco meat, spaghetti meat, individual meatloaf in the jar, all manner of stuff. One recommendation though, would be to make sure you don't use ketchup or anything with vInegar when you work it. In the meatloaf we did we put ketchup on it like normal, and that really turned super vinegary when we canned it.


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## bigwheel (Sep 22, 2014)

Gotcha on the canning it yourself. Guessing that would take a pressure canner. Should be sorta like making canned carp. I borrowed a pressure canner one time from a pals Mama in law and she said I could have it. Then my pal claimed she was senile and just teasing and made me bring it back. That broke my heart. I need better pals.


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## Medic33 (Mar 29, 2015)

the best place for canned beef?
in the pantry.


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## dwight55 (Nov 9, 2012)

If I figured it correctly, . . . that's just under $4 a pound, . . . ground beef in central Ohio is more or less that price on any given day, . . . and this is ready for the shelf.

Just might have to give it a try, . . . even though that is a pretty big can for only one person.

May God bless,
Dwight


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## darsk20 (Jun 1, 2015)

dwight55 said:


> If I figured it correctly, . . . that's just under $4 a pound, . . . ground beef in central Ohio is more or less that price on any given day, . . . and this is ready for the shelf.
> 
> Just might have to give it a try, . . . even though that is a pretty big can for only one person.
> 
> ...


I would say ground beef is similarly priced here in Chattanooga, so counting my time and the expense of the mason jars, it is currently much cheaper to buy than do it myself.


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## bigwheel (Sep 22, 2014)

Great discussion on that folks. Hey Dwight just eat half of it at a time and stick the other half in the ice box. Should last a week or two since prob no bug could eat it..lol. I have my mind on sloppy Joes for some reason. i love them things. Looks like all a person would need on that is a jug of bbq sauce and a handful of aromatic veggies or powders to make some. Those things are also good with some fine shredded cabbage include. Dont use much or it will make it watery.


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## SOCOM42 (Nov 9, 2012)

Maine-Marine said:


> You can also get this at walmart, but if you want to buy direct
> 
> Keystone Meats Products


I checked today, none at our super Walmart.

will probably order a case online, adds to the variety of stores.


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## bigwheel (Sep 22, 2014)

Just checked my email and dont have an type confimration of my online order with Keystone a few days ago. Called the toll free number and there do not seem to be any live people on the premises. Will not even let you leave a message. I am getting a bit puzzled.


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## 7052 (Jul 1, 2014)

dwight55 said:


> If I figured it correctly, . . . that's just under $4 a pound, . . . ground beef in central Ohio is more or less that price on any given day, . . . and this is ready for the shelf.
> 
> Just might have to give it a try, . . . even though that is a pretty big can for only one person.
> 
> ...


You guys have EXPENSIVE ground beef! Around here (Northern Illinois) I get it @ Woodmans for roughly $2 per pound. At that price it's WAY cheaper for us to do it ourselves. YMMV


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## SOCOM42 (Nov 9, 2012)

egyas said:


> you guys have expensive ground beef! Around here (northern illinois) i get it @ woodmans for roughly $2 per pound. At that price it's way cheaper for us to do it ourselves. Ymmv


Are you sure that its not canned abortion clinic products?
You are near Chicago.
Lots of hustlers there!


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## darsk20 (Jun 1, 2015)

Legitimate question: how long does it take to prepare and can 1 lb of ground beef? 

The keystone is 21 lbs for $80 and none of my time other than buying it.

At $2/lb, we would be $42 into it already. If it takes any longer than 2 hours to prepare and can 21 lbs of ground beef, it isn't worth my time. Not counting canning jars, materials and clean up.

I would rather spend that with my new son.


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## dwight55 (Nov 9, 2012)

We have cheaper stuff here as well, . . . but it has so much fat in it, . . . my arteries groan if I pick up a package of it.

The 80/20 stuff is like 3.89 or 3.99, . . . or at least it was last time I looked, . . . don't buy much of it myself.

When I do, . . . it's for chili, . . . a "doin" at the church, . . . or some other get together. 

I'd much rather have my own canned beef (cut up in chunks & pressure canned), . . . as it is fork tender, . . . makes good soup, chili, stew, beef & gravy, and maybe once a year a beef & noodle plate or two. 

One of these days I'm gonna try it in spaghetti, . . . ain't got that far with the testing yet.

Have not doubt it would make a pizza smile all on it's own.

And I can get it from the local butcher, . . . 3.40 a pound or so.

May God bless,
Dwight


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## 7052 (Jul 1, 2014)

socom42 said:


> are you sure that its not canned abortion clinic products?
> You are near chicago.
> Lots of hustlers there!


rofl!


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## Maine-Marine (Mar 7, 2014)

Egyas said:


> You guys have EXPENSIVE ground beef! Around here (Northern Illinois) I get it @ Woodmans for roughly $2 per pound. At that price it's WAY cheaper for us to do it ourselves. YMMV


I think you are incorrect..

lets say it is $6.00 a pound already canned.

lets figure do it yourself

Beef $2 a pound
Mason Jar 71¢
water to clean jar(s) ???
soap to clean jars
heating water to sanitize jars
Gas to cook meat ???
Your time to prepare the meat @ 10 - $15 per hour
Cost for label and ink

Frankly - unless you are making 1,000's of jars i real doubt that it is "less expensive" to do it yourself

I am going to do a thread on this...DO IT YOURSELF COST


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## 7052 (Jul 1, 2014)

darsk20 said:


> Legitimate question: how long does it take to prepare and can 1 lb of ground beef?
> 
> The keystone is 21 lbs for $80 and none of my time other than buying it.
> 
> ...


darsk20, not that long, really. We can get the cheap 70/30 for roughly $2 per pound. 80/20 is about $2.50, and the 90/10 stuff is like $3 - $3.25 per pound or so. We have tried both cooking it and raw-packing it. Personally, we prefer the raw-pack method. The cooking (browning) it first tastes fine, but it can have a consistency that mentally reminds me of cat food. The TASTE is fine, but I just can't help but think I'm eating cat food. lol So we started raw-packing it. Makes a big difference.

Time to prep is minimal. However long it takes you to dump it into a bowl, then fill multiple jars and carefully wipe the rims. Then we put it straight into the canner. For us that's 90 minutes @ 11 pounds of pressure IIRC. So if it takes more than 2 hours to do a large batch you're doing something wrong.

Again, YMMV.


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## darsk20 (Jun 1, 2015)

Egyas said:


> darsk20, not that long, really. We can get the cheap 70/30 for roughly $2 per pound. 80/20 is about $2.50, and the 90/10 stuff is like $3 - $3.25 per pound or so. We have tried both cooking it and raw-packing it. Personally, we prefer the raw-pack method. The cooking (browning) it first tastes fine, but it can have a consistency that mentally reminds me of cat food. The TASTE is fine, but I just can't help but think I'm eating cat food. lol So we started raw-packing it. Makes a big difference.
> 
> Time to prep is minimal. However long it takes you to dump it into a bowl, then fill multiple jars and carefully wipe the rims. Then we put it straight into the canner. For us that's 90 minutes @ 11 pounds of pressure IIRC. So if it takes more than 2 hours to do a large batch you're doing something wrong.
> 
> Again, YMMV.


Thank you for the insight. Seems doable, especially on a rainy day.


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## Maine-Marine (Mar 7, 2014)

Egyas said:


> darsk20, not that long, really. We can get the cheap 70/30 for roughly $2 per pound. 80/20 is about $2.50, and the 90/10 stuff is like $3 - $3.25 per pound or so. We have tried both cooking it and raw-packing it. Personally, we prefer the raw-pack method. The cooking (browning) it first tastes fine, but it can have a consistency that mentally reminds me of cat food. The TASTE is fine, but I just can't help but think I'm eating cat food. lol So we started raw-packing it. Makes a big difference.
> 
> Time to prep is minimal. However long it takes you to dump it into a bowl, then fill multiple jars and carefully wipe the rims. Then we put it straight into the canner. For us that's 90 minutes @ 11 pounds of pressure IIRC. So if it takes more than 2 hours to do a large batch you're doing something wrong.
> 
> Again, YMMV.


some things may seem minor - but they all add up to the REAL cost

cost of 90 minutes of electric or gas
Cost of cleaning supplies
Cost to clean clothes used to wipe lids
cost of lids 
cost of cans
Cost for trash service to take away trash 
cost of trash bags
cost of canner / by total number of uses (yep it cost money)
cost of salt or other added ingredients???


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## 7052 (Jul 1, 2014)

Maine-Marine said:


> some things may seem minor - but they all add up to the REAL cost
> 
> cost of 90 minutes of electric or gas
> Cost of cleaning supplies
> ...


Maine-Marine, as I said, YMMV. To us, it is totally cost-effective given the amounts we can. The gas cost is really negligible (our gas utility costs here aren't very high), we already own the canners, etc, and jars aren't all that expensive. I COULD do a cost breakdown , but the truth is it's all relative nased on the local costs of the ingredients and the "value" of your time.

How much is your time worth TO YOU? If you value spending time with the young'ins or doing other activities over time spent canning, then it's most likely not worth it *to you*.

In my case, my daughters are grown and out of the house, and my son is 13 and would rather spend time on YouTube, Xbox, etc than with his parents. lol Time spent canning, prepping, etc is "together time" for my wife and I. We also get a sense of accomplishment knowing that we're "putting away for the uncertain future". While we're canning, prepping supplies, etc, we are alsore talking, thinking, etc. Much more than we do when we're watching TV or playing games on the computer.

So to us, it is cost effective on *both* materials and time.


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## Maine-Marine (Mar 7, 2014)

Egyas said:


> Maine-Marine, as I said, YMMV. To us, it is totally cost-effective given the amounts we can. The gas cost is really negligible (our gas utility costs here aren't very high), we already own the canners, etc, and jars aren't all that expensive. I COULD do a cost breakdown , but the truth is it's all relative nased on the local costs of the ingredients and the "value" of your time.
> 
> How much is your time worth TO YOU? If you value spending time with the young'ins or doing other activities over time spent canning, then it's most likely not worth it *to you*.
> 
> ...


I am not against doing it yourself... My point is and was it is not cheaper... I am sure that if you consider all things it really does cost more to do it yourself (for canning meat). that is not always a bad thing.

I have a dish washer..but sometimes, I wash dishes by hand.... there is something relaxing about looking out the back window, hands in the warm water, mind in neutral, and having the kids leave me TO HELL ALONE for just 5 freaking minutes so I do not kill them all and hide their little bodies in the forest with the birds softly chirping and the deer playing in the clover....


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## bigwheel (Sep 22, 2014)

I finally got a hold of a nice lady at Keystone who said all is well on my order. I did hit the wrong button and got canned beef as opposed to ground beef. It cost 8 bucks more for a case but I did not feel like fooling around and doing a re order. Her name is Joanie and her exensison is 105 is anybody wants to talk to them. She dont know why the toll free number isnt working right. She gets off work at 2:30 pm yankee time.


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## Maine-Marine (Mar 7, 2014)

bigwheel said:


> She gets off work at 2:30 pm yankee time.


I am not sure if I should be offended or not


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## 8301 (Nov 29, 2014)

Back when I rode horses had a great horse I named "Damn Yankee".


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## 8301 (Nov 29, 2014)

Nah, Don't get offended, you are a Yankee. I'm a Southerner,,, fact of life.


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## 7052 (Jul 1, 2014)

Ok, here's some real-world numbers. Tonight my wife and I just canned 20 lbs of ground beef. Took us 2.5 hours total time to prep the meat, stuffing the jars, running the canner, etc. We bought the meat at GFS (Gordon Food Service) here in my home town.

*MEAT*
Meat weight: 1 @ 10.115 lbs & 1 @ 10.125lbs (20.24 lbs)
Meat Cost: *$60.51 ($2.99/pound)*

*JARS*
We used 14 Quart jars.
Ball 24-Count Wide Mouth Quart Jars with Lids and Bands
Ball 24-Count Wide Mouth Quart Jars with Lids and Bands - Walmart.com
Cost: $18.98
Sales Tax: $1.57 (8.25%)
*Total: $20.55
cost per jar = $0.86*

*GAS*
I used my big burner which is a 14,000 btu burner. While it was running at full blast for only 30 minutes of the 2 hours the canner was on the stove (30 minutes to heat up, 90 minutes to do the canning) I will assume it was on full the entire time to make the math easier (and more expensive).
My gas provider is Nicor and they charge *$0.36 per therm*.
https://nicorgas.com/rates-and-costs/current-gas-cost

Total 14,000 btu = 1.39906318 therms per hour max
1.39906318 * 2 hours = 2.7981 (rounded up to 2.8) therms
therm = $0.36
Total cost of gas = $0.36 * 2.8 = *$1.008 (rounded up to $1.01)*

*TOTALS*
Meat: $60.51
Jars: $12.04 (14 @ $0.86 per jar)
Gas: $1.01
Total: $73.56

Total Per Pound: *$3.63* ($73.56 / 20 pounds)

Obviously as Maine-Marine said, "What your time is worth to you" is the major factor. In my case, we sat here talking to our daughter (she visited for dinner) while we were doing this. So it was family time to us. If she hadn't been here, my wife and I would have just spent the time talking while we did this, so it's not waste of time to us anyway.


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## Medic33 (Mar 29, 2015)

FoolAmI said:


> Nah, Don't get offended, you are a Yankee. I'm a Southerner,,, fact of life.


not to offend you -y'all lost fact of life.
i thk after the initial cost over time canning yourself might be cheaper.
and since alot of peep talk about after the eotwawki ah canning is going to come in real handy don't you think?


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## darsk20 (Jun 1, 2015)

Medic33 said:


> not to offend you -y'all lost fact of life.
> i thk after the initial cost over time canning yourself might be cheaper.
> and since alot of peep talk about after the eotwawki ah canning is going to come in real handy don't you think?


I don't think you offend anyone by mentioning this, but it has been mentioned before in this and in a separate thread started because of this topic.

I posed the original question about cost vs time because I do not have any canning knowledge yet. I do plan on learning, but like anyone I have to prioritize my life right now. Canning is up there but not at the top of the list. It will be sooner rather than later, I hope.


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## darsk20 (Jun 1, 2015)

Egyas said:


> Ok, here's some real-world numbers. Tonight my wife and I just canned 20 lbs of ground beef. Took us 2.5 hours total time to prep the meat, stuffing the jars, running the canner, etc. We bought the meat at GFS (Gordon Food Service) here in my home town.
> 
> *MEAT*
> Meat weight: 1 @ 10.115 lbs & 1 @ 10.125lbs (20.24 lbs)
> ...


Thank you for the detailed breakdown. Very informative.


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## bigwheel (Sep 22, 2014)

Yes..very informative. Thanks. Got my case of canned beef in from Keystone in good shape. It was 24 14.5 oz cans for 105.00 plus 23.24 shipping for grand total of 128.04. Claims no water added but it sloshes around when you shake it. Doing some quick mental arithmetic think that adds up to around 5.20 per can. Had intended to order the ground beef but hit the wrong button on the web site. It is supposedly 8 bucks a case cheaper than the regular beef which appears to be strips or cubes or something. We are intending to try eating some of it soonish. Big thanks to Senor Slippy for posting the link to the place.


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## Maine-Marine (Mar 7, 2014)

Egyas said:


> Ok, here's some real-world numbers. Tonight my wife and I just canned 20 lbs of ground beef. Took us 2.5 hours total time to prep the meat, stuffing the jars, running the canner, etc. We bought the meat at GFS (Gordon Food Service) here in my home town.
> 
> *MEAT*
> Meat weight: 1 @ 10.115 lbs & 1 @ 10.125lbs (20.24 lbs)
> ...


Thank you for the post,, it was excellent -

here I can not buy meat for that price - it is about $4.50 + per pound here.


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## 7052 (Jul 1, 2014)

Maine-Marine said:


> Thank you for the post,, it was excellent -
> 
> here I can not buy meat for that price - it is about $4.50 + per pound here.


Agreed. At that price the difference just really isn't worth it in general. :encouragement:


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## Deebo (Oct 27, 2012)

bigwheel said:


> Yes..very informative. Thanks. Got my case of canned beef in from Keystone in good shape. It was 24 14.5 oz cans for 105.00 plus 23.24 shipping for grand total of 128.04. Claims no water added but it sloshes around when you shake it. Doing some quick mental arithmetic think that adds up to around 5.20 per can. Had intended to order the ground beef but hit the wrong button on the web site. It is supposedly 8 bucks a case cheaper than the regular beef which appears to be strips or cubes or something. We are intending to try eating some of it soonish. Big thanks to Senor Slippy for posting the link to the place.


I couldn't pull the trigger on a case. I purchased a few cans on Amazon, with free shipping. 
We will see, who opens it first.
According to the numerous reviews I read, it is just meat and salt, the sloshing Is the juices from cooking.
I expect mine on Friday or Saturday, and anticipate opening one right away. Maybe I'll do a YouTube video. Stay tuned.


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## ajk1941 (Feb 17, 2013)

I've been buying most of my prep items at the local box stores. I am planing on making some purchases on line but have heard rumors that there some shortages on bulk items. Is any one experiencing any problems with online orders?


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## Deebo (Oct 27, 2012)

Amazon had " a problem with my order", I checked online and it offered me only reorder or refund. I chose reorder, and it delivered today. We had just thawed some steaks for dinner, so it will have to wait a day or three. 
Interestingly, the cans are sealed, but the tops are "popped", like when you open a canned jar. 
Will probably shoot a video of it. 
Depending on the taste, will order accordingly.


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## Deebo (Oct 27, 2012)

Ajk, it's probably the rush from the comet, and stock market. I haven't baught any bulk items thou.


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