Even tho I very rarely eat this kind of food you review, I really like your channel and your community is great, genuine people! Keep up the good work man.
tbh you can do a lot worse than hungry man as far as TV dinners go man, its a lot of protein for the money when its only 1$ and poor people gotta eat too lmao
Swanson/Hungry-Man is under-rated IMO. The only real complaint I have about them is that the mashed potatoes definitely vary in quality from one dinner to the other. The mashed potatoes can either taste good or at least decent. Or they can taste nasty. I mostly stick to the Salisbury Steak Swanson dinners and the mashed potatoes in those are almost always good. But some of those Swanson/Hungry-Man dinners have absolutely nasty mashed potatoes. And there is a variance in quality even if you stick to the exact same type of dinner. There are definitely bad batches that they produce in the factory. Or maybe some of these dinners get spoiled in the store freezer. But yeah the Salisbury Steak Swanson, I rarely ever have a problem with these. The meat tastes good, the gravy tastes good, the corn is good, the cranberry sauce is good, the mashed potatoes are usually good. Unless you happen to get a bad batch. The Hungry-Man Salisbury Steak has the brownie instead of the cranberry sauce. And green beans instead of corn (and the green beans are fine. Obviously I prefer corn to green beans because corn is sweeter and has more calories). The Hungry-Man/Swanson brownies are not the best obviously, it's no Starbucks brownie, but good for something that comes out of a TV dinner.
+VlAlexx Yeah meat is expensive up here in Canada and for me personally soy protein and whey protein is not as satisfying for me as meat protein. Swanson dinners (including Hungry-Man) are basically one of the cheaper sources of meat protein that you can come across here. If you ever tried buying a steak here in Toronto, it's very expensive. So the fake composite steak (beef mixed in with some other bullshit) that you find in Swanson dinners is pretty inexpensive and tastes surprisingly good for the price. Burgers are another relatively cheap source of meat protein. But I don't like going through the hassle of having to buy hamburger buns, cheese slices, pickles, onions, ketchup, mustard, etc. and storing all of that in the fridge/pantry. And keeping track of the expiry dates to make sure the food doesn't go bad. When I can just buy self-contained individual meals that I can store in the freezer.
I'd bet good money your second dinner defrosted on a shelf somewhere in the store and some employee put it back in the freezer instead of throwing it out. Whenever I go grocery shopping for frozen/cold items.....I always reach in the back.....never grab what's in front.....
I've seen it happen before. Someone takes one to register but doesn't have enough for everything they picked out and the one they leave behind sits near register until minimum wage employee decides to bring it back to cooler. End result, spoiled or near spoiled food in cooler waiting for next poor schmuck to pick it out.
I have had WAY too many of those instances in the last 10 years of courtesy work I've done in my grocery store. Hoo boy these people are cunts doing this to us. I ALWAYS take the stuff that's been sitting on the shelves and needs to be in the cooler/freezer to the back as damaged product.
kemix1006 that's what you are supposed to do. It's a write off for the store. I liked the job OK. I hated the people. Customers and CoWorkers. A bunch of morons and assholes. I walked out on that job after 9 months of constant bullshit.
RealmanPwns i saw that the other day with a pack of italian sausage put where the chips were by the cash register. Fucking nasty man. I hope employees are told to not put items like that back after its been sat out.
Fuckitol i had a friend that was kind of an asshole, we went and ate at free birds and he got their biggest burrito and absolutely could not finish it, he ate about half and carried it with him when we went to target next door and he left it inside of a suit case in their store, i can only imagine how long it took them to find it lmao
I think the 2nd meal was thawed at the store for a period of time and then put back in the freezer and refrozen. I ve come across a couple like that over the years, something off and wrong with the whole thing, no sign of freezer burn and date is still good though. Only explanation I have for it is the store mishandled it. Maybe someone took it in their cart, put it on a shelf somewhere and they found it hours later and put it back in the freezer instead of throwing it out.
like others have said, you may have got an expired one. it's happened to me before, the store is supposed to check that but i've had one slip through before and from how you described it tasting it kinda sounds similar
Jason Halverson like I and many other have said before. Hungry man was far better before it was bought out. No hungry man you buy whether it's old and expired or freshly made right out of the factory.
expired is just a date, manufactures just set a date on a product. i've had 10 year old oscar mayer weiners that sat at the back of my fridge and they were fine, they were vacuum sealed. as long as they are stored at the proper temp, they will probably last forever. once they are unsealed and exposed to air is when the "magic" happens and they rot, mold and deteriorate. i worked in biotech for years, they set a date of usually 6 months to a year for the expiration date. i have a 6 year old bottle of broth, sealed, shows no sign of growth or contamination. i was a QC inspector, and if the broth was contaminated, it would show growth in days!
Oceansideca1987 - Good for you. Doesn't mean we need to hear this constant, "Yeah, I just got done pumpin 500 reps at 200 man because I'm an alpha male and go to the gym! You know, like this makes me special (well hell if you could do that I suppose you would be but I doubt it)" in every video.
I like mixing the corn in with the potatoes, especially since they don't seem to use buttery potatoes anymore. Great video, it sounds like that was freezer burnt or on the end of its expiration maybe.
I believe he has an episode on his channel where he makes one. Or atleast a video on how to make the gravy for it. It’s been a while since I last watched anything on this channel.
twocvbloke just make sure the quality of your meat is good and well tenderized because sometimes, mostly in crappy restaurants, they can wind up chewy and really turn people off
Chances are the second meal somehow got defrosted and then frozen again...for example when someone takes a hungry man, decided they didn't want it and ditch it in a random isle...a employee at the end of the shift might find it and place it back in the frozen section....happens all the time, especially with ice cream
I'm not sure who annoys me most, the person who puts a frozen/refrigerated item back in the wrong place or the idiot who works there and puts it back. I've worked in retail and dealt with customers doing that but we would trash the item. We are able to write it off so there's no reason for a store not to when there's no loss.
Resurrecting an old comment but I work at a giant Green grocery store in Florida and we don't put stuff back on the shelves. Food waste is insane and offensive even. If we find something on a shelf it goes to the good 'ol "dispo" bin. Get scanned out and tossed into a giant trash compacter. At least at this behemoth of a chain you won't see that. I like to think that this is common around the States but I have no idea. While I like to hope it it I am still disgusted by the casual trashing of food. Edited: I ran frozen dept at my location for a long time. Ice cream doesn't get thawed and put back on shelves at our stores. I'm fairly certain the companies pay insurance of some sort to the vendors and providers so they don't have to swallow (heh, pun) the cost. The store doesn't lose shit. Just the rest of the planet.
LS flour, salt and pepper. Fry in olive oil for 5 minutes on each side. Put in pan with some left over flour wisked with a cup of beef broth. Cover with foil and put in oven at 400 for an hour and 45 minutes. Yum yum yum!!
What is wrong with cube steak? Growing up I enjoyed many meals with pan fried cube steak. :-) Much easier to eat cheaper cut of beef and meats on a regular basis then it would be to try and eat the top end cut of beef on a daily basis. Hamburgers,Meatloaf,Stew,Salisbury steak,Pork chops,pan fried cube steak,Chicken every way.Salmon croquettes.Fried Catfish,Baked fish,Sloppy joes,Spaghetti and meatballs,many kind of dishes with beef/chicken with pasta All above using cheap meats. All above I am willing to bet the majority of American Citizens grew up on. :-)
the problem with cube steak, similarly to skirt steak, is when people popularize it for one recipe and it becomes popular, a usually cheap cut of meat skyrockets in price, i have seen skirt steak for twice the price of ribeye in the past and scratched my head as to why people still used skirt steak for it
pyrobison2002 never heard of them. I assume you're referring to who made the music. I just remember watching How It's Made 10 or 15 years ago and that's the song that was played in the background for most of the episodes.
These are A FAR CRY FROM WHAT THEY USED TO BE BACK IN THE DAY!!! You Know,when they came in foil,Oven Ready, T.V. DINNERS!!! They had a lot more Food in them.I THINK THEY WERE IN A 8 X 12 METAL TIN???When I was Young they tasted PRETTY DAMN GOOD AND FILLED YOU UP!!! I haven't had the new version,they don't look worth the money.
I was thinking about buying one of these but when you said "These mash potatoes would make a turd taste great" I decided to save myself a few bucks and just buy potatoes and do just that. Thanks.
Check the lot numbers and expiration dates. Even if same maybe someone pulled it out of the freezer and let it get defrosted and spoil and an employee just put it back.
I've never been a huge fan of Hungryman Dinners, but when I worked 2 jobs, and would come home late, and my girlfriend at the time got them on sale they were better than nothing for late dinner, but now I won't touch them with a 10 foot pole.
1701spacecadet I'll say this there are many reasons she is no longer my girlfriend lol! Thankfully I have no issues when it comes to cooking with my current girlfriend, hell she is one to go deer hunting, bring back the buck, clean it, process it, and put it in the freezer all without asking, or even wanting help lol!
Cool that you cooked it both ways. I always put these things in the oven, because I’ve always thought that was the better method if you had the time. Boy was I wrong. The oven one didn’t even look as good as the microwaved one. The expired one theory is interesting, although I assume the boxes were thrown out before you had a chance to check. I guess we’ll never know
You'd inspired me to finally make sausage-milk gravy with biscuits at home for the first time, and I wanted to thank you for that. Next up is gonna be country-fried steak, and I hope my boys love that one too. Prost~*
Looks like the second meal was left unthawed, and partially spoiled before being refrozen. This could have happened anywhere from the factory to your freezer. It has happened to me as well, and there's no describing how terrible that corn tastes. You just have to experience it to understand.
I eat hardly any processed food but love your channel. Almost all the items you taste test aren't available in the UK so I find the convenience items your eating fascinating. If I ever visit the US, out of curiosity, I'd end up trying as many as possible because I'm a foodie not a food snob!
Hey WolfePit dude, how about a better rating system? Unless you could define clear differences on a scale from 1 to 10, this rating makes little sense. How about 1. Awful, 2. Would not recommend, 3. Indifferent, 4. Highly Recommended, 5. Excellent?
You should give the oven version another shot... I can't imagine cooking it in the oven is the reason it turned out so much worse, you might have just got one that had been improperly stored or something.
Having an oven version suggests a higher quality meal so they slapped that on to make the meal look better when in reality it was designed for the microwave.
nox5555 Short term, yeah. Increasing fluid intake however does nothing for long term, high sodium diets. High sodium can increase blood pressure over time, leading to strokes and heart issues, etc. With all the sugar we already consume, we don’t also need more salt in our diets.
The two meals should not have been that different. Like others have said, I think you got a bad meal. Either expired or defrosted for a while (spoiled) then refrozen.
Dimeand Biggie I think the cf steak is better in the Marie Callenders ones. And i dont like that apple dessert stuff, it has propylene glycol and ethanol in it.
I fuck with their turkey mashed potato.gravy and stuffing dinners. Always cook them in the oven, they are actually pretty good. If they aren't good, you just dump shredded cheese and hot sauce on it.
Using a picture of George The Animal Steele after that line about the animal line was brilliant work! Unfortunately, some won't be able to appreciate it. But I'm glad at least I did.
Wolfe pit plz heart my comment your my favorite RU-vidr I’ve been watching all your vids for like a month and I’m no where near done with all of them plz keep up the amazing vids
Are Taco Bell breakfasts avail at Larry’s Personal Playground? I’m curious to know. Otherwise I’ve never seen him do anything other than from his Dollar Tree
If you can find a package of it, you should try Contessa's frozen Shrimp Scampi. Btw, Love your videos! They're fun and I learn a lot about what I'm eating ;)
I never make those meals in the oven. It pretty much defeats the purpose. Corn is usually good in these type of meals, but the very best Corn out there you can buy in a store, is the Mexicorn hands down.
My friend, the meal you put in the oven, was probably one a customer left sitting out at the store, then got put back in the freezer later. I’ve gotten meals like that too. Or the stocker left them out. Either or.....🤢
Wolfe you should try So Good BBQ made up here in northern IL. It’s bbq you put on an sandwich but it’s delicious. Comes in a jar and it’s just a heat and serve product and you’re done!
I used to eat that shit when I was single. Now that I am married, I wont touch it. The funny thing is, Now I stay home and cook and my wife works . I am disabled now too, big difference as far as my choice( I would rather work). My wife could live on chicken nuggests and oven frys. Me, I prefer home cooking any day. Especially BBq food. Boston Market is the only frozen food I would eat now. Banquet changed their food from the 80's. It tasted like POO now.
I've been eating a lot of these lately as they're on sale for 2 bucks at the grocery outlet. I think they're delicious. I heat them up in the microwave for 5 minutes, and then cook it in the toaster oven at 350 for 20 minutes and it comes out fantastic!
One of the boxes that you got was probably older than the other or stored differently - makes no sense that they would taste so different. ps: another great video !
Maybe someone put the 2nd one in the shopping cart and walked around the store for a while, then swapped it out for one that was frozen..... I have seen that happen before, and then you come along and buy it. Freeze-thaw-freeze-thaw-cook!
You make AWESOME videos Larry.YOU are BRAVE for eating ALOT of the cheap DISGUSTING FOOD!- but you eat it so WE THE PEOPLE DONT HAVE TOO! and for that Larry I commend and thank you..You and your videos are AWESOME!! keep making them.please send my regards to your beautiful wife..God Bless..💕💋💕💋👍👍👍😊
I tried on of these, in the oven and it was awful, not edible, pretty sure i threw most away, I do wonder if it is "optimized" for microwave prep? I put it in the oven, smelled great, but damn-one of the 5 worst frozen dinners i ever had.
Also, if you do not make your white gravy out of fat and you use oil, then you are just wrong, too. Plus you have to add a little salted butter to it. I am not a person that is willing to eat shitty flour water! People, now a days, just don't know how to cook.
I buy the "On Cor" country fried steak. But I leave the box out to thaw, and pull the steaks out while the gravy stays in the tray. This way the steaks aren't soggy and the gravy can be thawed and poured out later. Those steaks are great if they aren't soggy. I fry a steak, make some mashed potatoes, warm some gravy and, heaven on earth. Thanks Wolf Pit, I learn so much from You and You've made my day many times. Bows deeply and respectfully to THE MAN, AND MISSUS WOLF PIT.
I take the plastic top off it and put it in the oven, but I put butter, salt and pepper on it. They usually come out pretty good. I'm not sure what happened to yours.
Could you review the "Fast Fixin's" steak fingers, or country fried steaks? I hate admitting that I love them on bread with mashed potatoes and country gravy, but I do! EDIT: I just can't from the backyard barbecue review where you said you'd never had bad corn in a TV dinner. Welllll......
YUUUCK! If I’m that desperate,I’ll go through a Burger King drive through and get a Whopper and onion rings. Prossesed food-like products ,frozen in a plastic tray,with a hundred chemical ingredients,is not my idea of sustenance.
I'd never hear of country fried steak, 'biscuits' or seen gravy which wasn't brown until I watched this channel. Had no clue what country fried steak was, and am curious if Americans know what traditional good old gravy if this white sauce is what they call gravy. The American style gravy doesn't look good I'm my opinion but I'd try it. 'Biscuits' look like dumplings which I'd try and country fried steak looks nice, I'm gonna try making it, without the white icky gravy... Oh and btw I hate corn, eww. One of the only veggies I really really dislike, corn (especially sweet corn) smells and tastes disgusting to me.
I remember you said something about why your hands seem so unoperational and I've looked everywhere trying to figure out what it was? So can anyone tell me
The second dinner you ate DEFINITELY had become unfrozen, probably fully thawed and left out somewhere before being put back in the freezer section. Everything tasting "off" like that is exactly what happens when the dinners thaw out, sit, and are refrozen.
I eat Swanson (including Hungry-Man) dinners often (yea I know, not the most healthy thing. But if I don't feel like cooking and don't want to shell out the money for pizza/takeout, frozen TV dinners strike that happy medium between convenience and affordability). And sometimes I do notice a difference in quality from one meal to the next. So I definitely think that some of these meals in the freezer might actually be spoiled. Or have poor quality control at the factory level. Even though it's supposed to be the exact same product. In one Hungry-Man the mashed potatoes will taste surprisingly good. But in the next Hungry-Man, the exact same kind, the mashed potatoes can be fucking nasty. I don't think the oven made it taste worse in your case because generally these dinners taste better when you put them in the oven. I definitely think you had a bad batch there.
Hi, I'm a NEW Subscriber and just love your videos, I've often watched them to see if what you were making would be what I would like to try out in you're What Are We Eating videos especially so I thank you for that. I have maybe a dumb question for ya haha ok when you cook a tv dinner so you use an actual stove top oven or a Toaster Style oven? I got off of QVC a Kitchen-Aid Compact Convection Oven and I use it often but have never tried any of the tv dinners in it also on the backs of many tv dinners it says to Not for use in Toaster Ovens, BUT I was curious as to WHY they couldn't be used in the kind of convection oven that I have? So thank you for any info or from anyone else that may be able to help clarify for me about cooking tv dinners in my Kitchen-Aid Compact Convection Oven cause I would rather cook them in that instead of the regular stove top oven if I could? Thanks again and keep up the great videos.
Since Dollar Tree is your playground, and you're eating the food from there, why not wash that craziness down with a "What Are We Drinking?" video, with Jumex® brand juice as a guest appearance!
@The Wolfe Pit The meat was kinda grayish if beef is grayish then it’s spoiled. If corn is sour like you described then it’s spoiled What Hungry Man should do is vacuum pack their meats and potatoes(vacuum potatoes are the next best to fresh packed) and dehydrate their corn and apple crumble for the buyer to fill water or milk to the line then heat from now on(^~^)
Used to have a horse farm, and I've tried their feed. The corn is as hard as a rock but if you crack it open and put it in your mouth it's just EXTREMELY bland, like all their food. Human food is so much more extremely flavored than animal food...
Larry, anyway you could review some healthier frozen meals. Like Kashi or whatever claims to be healthy and natural. Thanks and I love your channel. So sick of getting ripped off at grocery store buying this trash.
