B&M Brown Bread, Raisin, 16 Ounce (Pack of 12)

I had been looking for a good bread or biscuit-type food item to add to our emergency food stores that offered a durable package, a reasonably long shelf life (2 years or more), a good nutritional value (including carbs to burn for energy and a moderate sodium content), a moist texture / mouth feel that wasn't dry or crumbly (making you feel thirsty right after you eat it), and an enjoyable flavor that adds interest to the typical freeze-dried "just add boiling water to the envelope and stir" survival meals and compliments the spices added to those meals to give them a hint of flavor and taste. After reading several of the reviews for both the B&M Original Brown Bread and the B&M Brown Bread with Raisins and having tasted the B&M Brick Oven Baked Beans in the past and enjoying both the flavor and quality of them, I decided to give them a try, and ordered both the Original and Raisin varieties of the B&M Brown Bread. That was a truly EXCELLENT DECISION !! After finishing a can of both the Original and Raisin varieties of the B&M Brown Bread over the span of a few days, I can very easily recommend them as excellent products to add to your camping or emergency evacuation food stores. My personal favorite is the variety with Raisins because of the additional flavor component and marginal increase in moisture and texture the raisins add to the B&M Brown Bread recipe. Think of a moderately moist brownie or blondie bar cookie without icing, but with more body and a more chewy, "al dente" mouth feel, and you'll have a pretty good mental picture of the B&M Brown Bread with Raisins' texture, with the Original bread being very, very slightly less moist. If you enjoy the aroma and flavor that dark cane molasses adds to foods, you will enjoy this product, which I found to compliment very well many of the freeze-dried "add boiling water and stir" survival meals and the spices used to give them their palatability. I also found that the breads' molasses flavor, which also compliments a deep, rich cup of coffee, chai tea or hot chocolate, is well balanced in B&M's recipe, more than subtle or mysterious, but very far from overpowering or cloying. With a serving size of one 1/2-inch slice, the B&M Brown Bread with Raisins provides 130 calories, 380 mg of sodium, 29 grams of total carbohydrate and 3 grams of protein, and the Original variety matches the calorie, total carbohydrate and protein nutrition numbers of the Raisin variety, with a small increase in sodium content to 400 mg. I must confess to doubling my serving size to a 1-inch slice, especially if my breakfast consisted of only a cup of coffee and a slice of this bread. I also tried spreading some cream cheese or peanut butter on this bread, as suggested on the bread's label, and found those two additions to be very delicious. Along with both B&M Brown Bread Original and Raisin products delivering a good nutritional value, a moderately moist texture, a filling density, and an enjoyable, complimentary flavor with a cup of coffee for breakfast or as an accompaniment to your lunch or dinner meal, being packaged inside a sealed, inner-coated, aluminum can gives this bread a shelf life of approximately two years, according to the company. Every can of product I received had "Best By" dates of right at two years when I received them. I am in the process of conducting a long-term quality test to see how much my perception of this product's quality declines after two years and longer, to see if it is truly necessary to rotate this product out of my stores and replace it with new product every two years, or if it can maintain a reasonable product flavor, aroma and texture quality over a longer period of time. Its aluminum can package also provides it with a strong, durable (with very little risk of being crushed inside a backpack or supplemental nutrition pouch) package. If the added minimal size and weight of one of the manual "smooth edge" can openers works with your particular pack size and weight parameters (considering you will already be carrying one or more cans of B&M Brown Bread), you can open one end, or both ends, of the can, use the open edge of the can to help you cut straight slices of the bread (for better portion control), then "re-cap" the can with its "smooth edge" ends and use a #64 (1/4-inch wide) rubber band to hold the end, or ends, in place. Or, you might want to add two rubber snap-on can covers that fit snugly on the ends of the bread can, instead of re-using the smooth-edge can ends. Either method of closing the ends of the bread can will keep any bread crumbs inside the can and keep the bread moister and fresher, longer. Sliding the opened can into a 1-gallon zip-lock freezer bag will also help keep the bread moist and fresh, and you can also carry a butter knife in the zip-lock bag with the bread. It will do a wonderful job of slicing the moist, tender bread. No Ka-Bar Marine Hunting or Fighting Knife is required to hack through this bread . . . . but you might want to keep either, or both, handy (and maybe a .357 Magnum revolver, too) if you will be camping or hiking in bear country and carrying an opened can of B&M Brown Bread! It smells really good to me . . . . and just might smell pretty good to the bears, too!

We used to have brown bread very often (with our baked beans) when I was growing up. It is very difficult to find them in grocery stores today. This is the same brown bread from years ago - delicious! I cut a slice or two and pop them into the toaster. Then spread some butter on them and it is almost like having dessert with dinner!

Very Delicious bread comes with raisons or plain. Cans are easy to store a this bread is great addition to your menu...Great with chops, ham, hotdogs, hamburgs and beans...Can eat with breakfast, a salad at lunch, and at supper. This is something you can keep on shelf for a longtime...in a can does not go bad and is always fresh...just open both ends of can...push bread out, warm, slice and serve. Yummy!

I remember many years ago on the west coast opening up the larger can of raisin bread. It was delicious. It was moist, tasty whole raisins, and a taste of good molasses. Toasted and buttered. Here in Louisiana is a desert, couldn’t find it anywhere. So after several years and flashing remembrances I broke down and ordered a case of 12. Opened a can immediately. Cut a slice to taste. Disappointment set in. Felt dryer. I couldn’t make out or taste the raisins, they did not seem whole or stand out as raisins should. The molasses seems weaker (could be me). The flavor was there, it just tasted different. This is still a good product but I feel the recipe has noticeably been tweaked to the limits. I did check the Best Buy date Dec 26.

This was delicious! I sliced it then buttered and toasted it in a toaster oven. Sooo good! Will be ordering this again!

A full 1 lb. loaf of very tasty bread in a can. This is a rich, moist, sweet, molasses flavored goodness, with the raisins adding just the right touch of extra flavor. The bread is steamed, not baked, so it is crustless. Just open both ends of the can and leave one loose lid in place to the push the loaf out the other open end. It is ready to eat, and enjoy! I like to slice it thin with a serrated knife, apply a thick layer of soft butter between 2 slices, and dip it into a cup of coffee for an indulgent leisurely special breakfast, or use a buttered sandwich to soak up the yolk from my over easy eggs, mmm so good! put the remainder of the loaf in a ziplock bag in the fridge, where it will keep for a week or more. It will also keep fresh in the unopened can for more than a year on the pantry shelf so don't be afraid to buy a dozen cans like I do. it's also good to have on hand for emergencies or when unexpected company appears. cut slices into 1/4 wedges and top each with ham, salami, pepperoni and/or cream cheese, top with an olive or cocktail onion skewered with a colored cocktail toothpick for quick, tasty and unusual canapes.

all but 2 cans were dented. Makes it hard to remove the contents. That said, if you empty the contents before cooking and use aluminum foil instead, it tastes great.

Very good!