Canned Chili. Where and what brand.

[foodman11]

There was some canned chili I've bought in the past that was very tasty, Puritan chili comes to mind but there was also a canned beef chili i've bought before that had excellent taste.

Where can I get some good canned chili.

[Kellz]

Presidents Choice makes a couple of varieties which have been successful in terms of "canned goods." Not sure if you can get anything better than Staggs.

Have you ever considered Campbell's Frozen Klondike Chili. Had it many years ago and it was quite tasty. :)

[CeeQueue]

The Wal-Mart "Great Value" chili turned out to be my favourite, surprisingly. I had to stop eating chili about a year ago, though, so I can't tell you from memory what I liked about it. But I did prefer it to Stagg and PC.

According to Wikipedia, Great Value products are made by major corporations, such as ConAgra, Sara Lee, etc., so perhaps this is where the missing Puritan chili is hiding. It's worth a try.

[Herne]

I will attempt to try the Great Value next week. Puritan was mainly beans and ground beef with lots of spices.

[Herne]

Contacted Conagra and asked about the Puritan beans and where available in Toronto area. No internet reply but I did get some Conagra coupons in the snail mail a couple of weeks later::((

[Midknight]

Here's the email I received from (almost 2 weeks after I sent an inquiry):

"We're really sorry to learn that you weren't able to find our Puritan Chili. We love them too!

Unfortunatly, the Puritan Chili is no longer available in Ontario.

We are unable to sell our products directly to consumers. We sell our products to many retailers across the country, but they don't always carry the same products in every one of their stores.

We recommend calling in advance to ensure the product is in stock. If you are still unable to locate the product, ask the manager of your local store about stocking UPC 6414437000 as he or she may be able to special order it for you."

[abigllama]

Thanks for looking into that.

[Herne]

I emailed ConAgara too. Not 2 weeks yet so the lack of response is no surprise I guess.

[Herne]

Conagra replied this am. Beat the 2 week record by a wide margin.

They say Puritan Chilli is not available in Ontario but if you ask the store manager he /she may be able to order it for you.

[Midknight]

Let's be honest, how likely would that be to happen? If it's not available in Ontario, they would have to order it special form an external distributor.

But as CeeQueue suggested below, the Walmart Great Value brand chilli was surprisingly good, and very similar to Puritan. A bit more meat, and 2 different kinds of beans, and very smooth and creamy like Pur's, as apposed to a thinner broth 'soup' as I recall Staggs to have.

[Kaburaa]

Thanks so much for posting the e-mail of ConAgra Midknight & know we can all rest assured the product is no longer sold in the province of Ontario. It is a real shame the manufacture has withdrawn from that (mine/our) marketplace but we can only surmise that there was not enough sales to justify continued distribution in Ontario.

[Herne]

Grim. But maybe one of the Walmart products will be similar

[Kaburaa]

I also loved the Puritan brand of chili & the last store I was able to find it was a Metro in Toronto. The manufacture of Puritan Chili is ConAgra foods & from what I can search on the web they no longer manufacture that brand anymore. ConAgra now manufactures these brand name products: Chef Boyardee, Healthy Choice, Hunt's, Orville Redenbacher's, PAM, POGO, Snack Pack & VH with no listing of Puritan brand anywhere on their web site. The results from a Google search did not produce another manufacture of Puritan product line. A last ditch effort would be to contact ConAgra & inquire if they do still indeed manufacture the "Puritan" line of products & if so the closest Toronto retailer.

[jayt90]

I bought a six pack of Stagg's Silverado for lunchroom lunches. The first can was a complete fail,
and the rest will go to the food bank. It is much better for me to take leftover chili from home especially when there are good cans of beans from Mexico in the markets now.

[LUV_TO_EAT]

I bought the six pack as well (eaten two now). Found it very saucy (needs more meat/beans) and very heavy in cumin. I might add more beans and meat and vegg and make it a canned-homemade version.

I still have it for my lunchroom lunches at work though as these are usually totally unplanned and if I'm running late, just need something to eat.

[foodyDudey]

Those six packs are probably not the same as the canned version. As an example, Dunn's smoked meat in those small packages is nothing like the slabs either. My post was only applying to the canned version of STAGG chili, I've never tried any other format from them.

[jayt90]

The canned six packs were just the way the cans were sold. At $9., and a promise of top quality beef, not bone scrapings as in most convenience preparations, it seemed like a good risk, but alas, just as Luv To Eat as said, the can was bereft of beans and meat, but lots of sauce. And I suspect I am one of those with a slight reaction to cilantro, tho' I like most chili preparations. No worse than, Campbell 's, Healthy Choice, or Liptons for a quick lunch, but my lunchroom lunches are a break in the day and they have to be good.

[Kagemusha]

Agree. However much it strays from "traditional," homemade chili aged for a day in the fridge is near-perfect comfort/lunch fare. Canned doesn't come close. Stagg I bought from Costco is part of the basement survival stash.

[Herne]

Puritian is the best Hot or mild.

[abigllama]

Anyone see the Puritain chili around anywhere in Toronto? I see the stew and the freaky square meatballs but have not seen the Chili around in ages. It was my favourite and tastes a lot like the Hormel brand that's only available in the US. Canned chili and prepared fresh chili are totally two different worlds to me and sometimes get cravings for the canned stuff.

Not a fan of Stagg, as others have said it's too saucy and soupy for me. My favourite is the Hormel brand which is very thick. Oddly Stagg is a Hormel product but think it was aquired by them just a few years ago and long after they'd established their own product in the US.

I've also tried the President's Choice chili and did not like that either. Was like a blander, soupier version of the Stagg stuff.

[Midknight]

Agreed. Puritan is by far the best canned chili that I've been able to find. But therein lies the trick, that "I can find". Sometimes I'll find it in Metro, sometimes not. Actually, I look for it in pretty much every grocery I'm in that sells Puritan product, but I haven't been able to find it in about a year now.

[Herne]

I agree Puritan is hard to find. The last few times I have found it it was in Metro. Worst still I tried to google Puritan to see what I could find out and couldn't find a Puritan web site. Perhaps the manufacture doesn't use Puritan for the web. I'll have to look into this later this week. Puritan chili has been my favourite for over 20 years. Maybe I should have bought more of it (*.*)

[foodyDudey]

I don't by chili often but sometimes heard ads for "STAGG" brand. I've tried it a few times when it has been on sale. It's fine when I need a quick lunch. It's on sale every few months at Shopper's Drug Mart, for $1.99 a can. They have at least three types: vegetarian, Silverado, and one that may be labelled "spicy"

[petek]

Agreed.Stagg chili is about as good as canned chili can get.