As I've done many times previously, this is an expansion of an earlier post. Back on December 23, 2017 I tried several kinds of canned sausages, from the Banner, Beverly, and Prairie Belt brands. Today I'll be discussing three more--Armour's Vienna sausages, Libby's Vienna sausages, and Carmela's chicken sausages. All of them I found at my local Shop Rite supermarket.
The definition of what constitutes a Vienna sausage varies depending on where you are. In Europe it refers to a type of sausage that's usually made from beef and pork, and stuffed into a sheep's intestinal casing. It's traditionally parboiled and later smoked. The sausages themselves are usually longer and thinner than the common "hot dog" or frankfurter. Alternate names include wiener, wurstchen, and Frankfurter wurstl.
Meanwhile in North America it's not a link sausage, but instead is a smaller, shorter, canned wiener, that's usually been smoked. This variant dates back to the very early 1900's. In the 1950's the usual casing was removed, although there's still a skin to hold everything in. Vienna sausages were very popular in the 1940's up until the 1970's, but since then they've been in decline. They're also commonly eaten as an appetizer type snack, and are sometimes referred to as "cocktail wieners." Or basically, mini hot dogs you enjoy while having some drinks.
The Armour company is an important one in American cuisine history. Started in 1867 by Philip Danforth Armour, the company was the most important business in Chicago, Illinois by the 1880's, the leader in that city's immense meat packing industry. However, Armour was bought up by various other companies over the years, and as of 2018 this brand is owned by ConAgra. Famous writer Dale Carnegie, who's book "How to Win Friends and Influence People" (1936) was tremendously successful, and started the self-improvement book genre, was at one time a top Armour salesman. Famous musician Stevie Nicks, known for being part of the band Fleetwood Mac, and her solo work, has a connection, too--her father Jess was the president of Armour in the 1970's. Finally, on the negative side, Armour had a reputation of being particularly against labor unions, and for reportedly selling rotted meat to the U.S. Army in the Spanish American War (1898).
Libby's was also an important 19th century stalwart of Chicago, beginning in 1869 as Libby, McNeill, & Libby (after founders Arthur Libby, Archibald McNeill, and Charles Libby). They specialized in corned beef (see my "Bully Beef" post on February 23, 2019 for more information on that food type). Like Armour, in the 20th century Libby's was acquired by other companies. In this case, different companies own different parts--some own the canned meat line, some their canned vegetable line, some their official trademark, etc. The canned meat line, which clearly puts out their Vienna sausages, is also owned by ConAgra. Other flavors of Vienna sausages include chicken and Hawaiian.
Carmela, on the other hand, is relatively new, and based in Puerto Rico. Alas, I wasn't able to locate an official company website, so my data is sparse. The company started in 1963, but since 2006 has been a brand in the Century Packing Corporation. Aside from the chicken sausage I had, they also market other cured, smoked, and canned meats, and imported rice and frozen meals.
1) Armour Vienna sausages, original flavor: Came in a small 4.6 ounce (130 gram) can. Inside were seven tiny, pink colored hot dogs, basically. These cylinders were about 1.75 inches by .75 inches (about 4 cm. by 2 cm.) with a .75 inch (about 2 cm.) diameter. They had a soft, wet texture, as they were canned with some water. Plain they tasted like a hot dog. With Taco Bell hot sauce on them they were better--the spice zing helped. So they were alright overall.
2) Libby's Vienna sausages: These were made with chicken, beef, and pork, and were marinating in a
chicken broth, which I drained. The can size, number of sausages, and color of them was the same as the Armour kind, and the texture was identical, too. The flavor was slightly different--a bit plastic-y, with a spicy aftertaste. Once again, these tasted like a tiny hot dog. They tasted alright plain, but better with the Taco Bell sauce. I probably should have tested to see if I could tell them apart from the Armour kind--I don't know that I could have.
3) Carmela chicken sausages: Their container was 142 grams/5 ounces. The seven sausages inside were slightly thinner than the previous kinds. They also were easier to remove from the can, as they separated a little better. Their color was a bit different too--a bit more reddish. Also, the skin was thicker. However, the taste was very reminiscent of the others, both plain and with the Taco Bell sauce. These maybe had a kind of negative aftertaste, but overall, all three of these brands were essentially the same.
To sum up, then, if you like hot dogs in general, you'll probably like these. Given their small size they're probably best as a snack, perhaps with cocktails if that's your preference.
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