Now in my searches for culinary perfection whilst out and about I've tried pretty much anything when I've been out in the back of beyond. I've tried dehydrated packs, MREs, British MOD rat packs, outdoor food and all manner of emergency rations. To be honest all of them have drawbacks and there's almost always a trade off between packing weight and the shelflife/taste. Now lets face it in a survival situation most of us would eat anything, but given that most Airsofters don't play games that are that realistic I think we can be a bit choosey and go for something that's a bit more practical and suited to our needs. To be fair the idea of self heating is not that new, way back in 1939 the military had a reasonably similar system where a can was heated with burning cordite. For some odd reason they were withdrawn from military service along with the mil-spec glow in the dark watches of that decade. ^_^ A similar design to HotCan was seen when Nestlé launched the 'Hot When you Want' Thematic (Coffee) Can back in 2001. Sadly Nestlé have now withdrawn the 'Hot When you Want' product due to lack of interest and the high cost of production. In this review we'll look at how the HotCan works, the mechanism involved, the physics of the system, and it's applications as both an outdoor nourishment, emergency food and its applications with regards to Airsoft. In this first review I'm specifically looking at the "Sausages 'N wedges" can, there are actually 12 different flavours in all.
 
1. Remove the plastic lid and place it on the bottom of the can so that it supports the can and holds it off the surface (lid placed open end upwards with can on top).
2. With the spike found under the lid poke it through the three holes you find in the rim of the can. Be sure to stab the pin all the way down.
3. Lift the pull ring to the vertical position to open the food can itself.
4. Stir the contents throughout the heating process.
5. Your food is ready to nosh down after roughly 12 minutes of heating. Health and safety: For those interested in the health and safety specifics here's the Health and Safety sheet as printed on the HotCan website.
The taste: The good thing about the HotCan system is that the food is basically fairly standard tinned product, so not dissimilar from your standard tin of Heinz version of Beans and Wedges for example. The good news is that as it's tinned there's no need for preservatives or additives, if you check the ingredients for each tin you'll see that there's no hidden oddities, or in the case of mil-spec ration packs additions that may affect your natural dietary"rhythm". So how does it taste? Well it's difficult to put such things into words, but I'll do my best: - The sausages are not the cheaper hotdog style, instead are more like your average British sausage, quite chunky and lacking that really processed texture that some styles can have. The sausages are quite tasty, but it's important that you stir the can well throughout the heating process to ensure that the sausages are heated up well, as they're quite large. - The potato wedges are again a nice surprise, they didn't come across as being tastelessly soggy which to be frank was a nice surprise, I expected the potato to be rather anemic. The wedges also have real skins on then which really adds to the flavour and helps distance it from cheaper food stuffs. - Lastly there's the beans, most of us have been students at some point in our lives; I'm no exception so I'm somewhat familiar with baked beans in all their varieties. The beans here certainly aren't like the cheap 9p tins you can get at the supermarket, the sauce is actually thick and flavorsome. All in all top marks here. To be honest for instant heated food it's about the best I've had so far.. no real need for pepper or salt to make it taste a bit more palatable, and as the tin contents are recognisable. As there's a nice variety available from HotCan you can pretty much choose something you'll enjoy even if you're a bit picky about your food - I'll eat just about anything myself. Applications: Applications for the HotCan are incredibly wide ranging, a food with a long shelf life and the ability to heat itself on its own is obviously incredibly useful. I know that the cans have best before dates listed on them, but to be honest I'm pretty sure the food inside would still be edible way beyond the date on the can.. that's if you can put off the temptation just to grab one out the box because you're too lazy to cook at home and want to avoid the washing up. Airsoft skirmishes: Lets face it the average Airsofter isn't the most active of folk when it comes to meal time. You're either out for a laugh at the weekend, or you're simply knackered after a day of running around with all the gear on. Either way, here's a food that can be heated up and eaten almost anywhere. No need to send the designated driver off to the curry house, no wait, no gas, no flames just simple hot food in 12 minutes. If you're in a tent just remember that although there's no flames or burning involved in heating the tin it does get very hot, especially the bottom, so don't melt a hole through your ground sheet. Camping/Outdoor: If you're on foot it's perhaps not the best idea in the world to carry lots of these, at 800g per tin (400g of that being the food content) you're looking at at least 2kg in tinned food alone per day. For the odd trip of 1-2 days there's perhaps no need to carry a separate heating source for the food, although you might need one for making hot drinks anyway. Remember the weight of the HotCans is not necessarily a bad thing (as stated it reduces taking heating equipment and plates etc), but always keep the total weight in mind, remember that although your pack might be manageable loaded up at home it feels a whole lot different in the pouring rain with aching feet after a 7-10 mile hike. Curiosities: Just a few things that I came across when testing the cans out for the first time, some humorous, some just interesting points:
Conclusion: It's a gadget that is not only useful but has numerous applications; all in all it really is a winner. Now if only they invented a self cooling can of beer! Trade and Emergency Services Customers: Please note that the price and product information contained we have here is relative only for retail sales in UK. Trade and Emergency Services customers can send send contact details direct to hotcanlimited@aol.com and they will contact you with their trade brochure. Alternatively you can phone, fax or post your enquiry to the numbers shown below: Hotcan UK Limited, Unit 7, Carrwood Road, Chesterfield Trading Estate, Chesterfield, Derbyshire S41 9QBTel: (01246) 26 89 88 - Fax: (01246) 45 10 46 - Email: hotcanlimited@aol.com External Links: HotCan Site links: TBA Comment on this review in the forums Last modified: Tuesday, December 16, 2003 9:40 PM Copyright 2003 ArniesAirsoft
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