Canning meats began in America as a method of preserving proteins for quick consumption on the battlefield. Wartime was the incentive for new innovations in canned meat and while the earliest instant meals were of inexpensive cooked beef, the products that still survive today were invented in the earlier part of the 20th Century and widely used during World War II with their legacy spread around the world by American GI's.

We begin with out littlest meat:

Vienna Sausages -

Small but mighty, bite-size but flavorful, this tiny can of meat is ready anytime, anywhere for the hungry snacker. The Vienna Sausage in Europe more closely resembles a hotdog, but in the U.S. they are known as tender, thumb-length wieners packaged in small pop-top cans.

Vienna Sausages are made mainly of mechanically separated meat (typically chicken, beef, and/or pork). The USDA defines mechanically separated meat as "a paste-like and batter-like meat product produced by forcing bones with attached edible meat under high pressure through a sieve or similar device to separate the bone from the edible meat tissue." Rest assured that this seemingly violent act has been deemed a safe method of processing meat since 1982. This luscious meat paste then joins salt and other natural flavors before being delicately seasoned and squeezed into tubes to be cooked to a tender perfection.

Our lovely little wieners are most often served with crackers or simply on the end of a toothpick, but these plump little sausages are also delicious in macaroni and cheese or in a casserole. For a simple but satisfying supper, try Armour's Vienna Noodle Bake:

Ingredients:

2 5-oz. cans ARMOUR STAR VIENNA SAUSAGE, drained, cut into halves

3 cups cooked noodles

2 cups thawed frozen peas and carrots

1/4 cup chopped onion

1 10 3/4-oz. can condensed cream of mushroom soup

1 8-oz. pkg. cream cheese, cut up

1 1/2 cups milk

1 Tbsp. butter, melted

1/4 cup dry bread crumbs

Heat oven to 350F. Place sausages, noodles, peas, carrots and onion in 2-qt. shallow baking dish. Mix soup, cream cheese and milk in saucepan. Cook and stir until smooth. Pour over sausage mixture and stir to mix. Sprinkle with combined butter and crumbs. Bake 25 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

Potted Meat -

A close relative to the Vienna Sausage is Potted Meat. Like Vienna Sausages, Potted Meat is also made of mechanically separated meat, but boasts ingredients of tripe, hearts and fatty tissues for more intense flavor. Potted Meat also sports the surname

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