The Joy and Sorrow of Frozen Canned Foods: A Popsicle Experiment

As I embarked on this experiment, I couldn't help but feel a sense of trepidation. What would happen when I froze canned goods, specifically spaghetti with meat sauce, macaroni and cheese, and New England clam chowder? Would the flavors and textures be preserved or destroyed by the freezing process?

First up was the Spaghetti with Meat Sauce. As soon as I took a lick of the frozen popsicle, I knew something was off. The sauce, which typically has a rich and intense flavor profile, tasted diminished and icy. It was as if the cold temperature had sucked out all the warmth and personality from the dish. The pasta itself was also affected, becoming slightly mushy and unappetizing. I couldn't help but think of my grandmother's famous spaghetti with meat sauce, which always seemed to have a certain je ne sais quoi that this frozen version lacked.

Next, I turned my attention to Chef Boyardee Mac and Cheese. The bright yellow color was unmistakable, and I couldn't wait to taste the familiar flavor of macaroni and cheese in popsicle form. Unfortunately, the result was a letdown. The texture was oily and waxy, with a flavor that tasted eerily like dehydrated American cheese powder. It was as if the cold had sucked out all the heart and soul from this beloved comfort food.

Finally, I moved on to New England Clam Chowder. To my surprise, the frozen popsicle held up surprisingly well. The flavors were still intense and salty, with a hint of fishiness that was unmistakably clam chowder-like. While it didn't taste like freshly made soup, there was something to be said for its ability to retain some semblance of its original flavor profile.

But, alas, even the clam chowder popsicle wasn't entirely successful. The texture was still slightly icy and waxy, with a hint of sweetness that threw off the balance of flavors. It was clear that this was not meant to be eaten as a frozen treat, but rather served hot from a thermos or bowl.

Throughout this experiment, I couldn't help but think about what makes certain foods so deliciously enjoyable in their fresh, unadulterated form. Is it something inherent to the dish itself, or is it something that's lost in the freezing process? And yet, despite these questions, there was a certain charm to watching these frozen popsicles come together in my hands.

The molds themselves were a highlight of this experiment, as they allowed me to create individual servings with ease. The fill line was also a clever touch, allowing me to control the amount of sauce that went into each popsicle. But ultimately, it was clear that even the best equipment couldn't save these frozen canned foods from their own inherent flaws.

As I finished this experiment and gazed upon the sorry state of my popsicles, I couldn't help but feel a sense of disappointment. What had once been a promising idea – taking familiar flavors and textures and turning them into fun, portable snacks – ended up being a lesson in the limitations of frozen food. Still, I couldn't help but be charmed by the whimsy of it all, and the joy that came from trying something new and unexpected.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: engreetings my beautiful lovelies it's emmy welcome back today i'm going to be tasting some interesting popsicles that i made thanks to the glorious internet a few days ago i learned about a popsicle that was made out of this campbell's chunky new england clam chowder now apparently this originated from reddit and then boston magazine posted it and then it kind of took off from there and that's where i learned about this but someone made a popsicle out of this chunky clam chowder so clam chowder of course is a soup made with clams new england style which is a style that is served around here is white and it's made with milk or some kind of dairy cream so manhattan style clam chowder is made with tomatoes and has a red color now here in rhode island which is a little subset of new england we have a clear clam chowder which is not made with any milk or dairy whatsoever so three variations of clam chowder and today i'm going to be tasting a popsicle that i made with this so while i was perusing the canned soup aisle i thought why not make some other popsicle flavors so about a year ago many of you sent me a link to a popsicle that was made using spaghettios so i purchased a can of these as well i think that was inspired because i made a jello mold a retro recipe using spaghettios and filled with vienna sausages if you missed that lovely video i'll put the link above and down below i have to say that's definitely one of my favorite retro recipes just because it just looks so wonderfully heinous so be sure to check that out if you haven't seen it already so i made spaghettio popsicles and i also made chef boyardee mac and cheese i didn't even know mac and cheese came in a canned version but apparently it does so this is elbow macaroni and cheese sauce so let me walk you through the steps of making these very complicated popsicles so for a little added insurance i put a little bit of vegetable oil inside of my popsicle molds and liberally kind of brush that around not sure how important or necessary this is but in my past experience when it comes to unmolding things yes i've had some difficulties so a little bit of help is welcomed so i went and oiled the inside of my popsicle molds and then i opened my cans of soup and then i used spoon and i just spooned in the soups and as i was filling i used my spoon to kind of press out any air bubbles because we want a pristine popsicle if possible then i place the sticks right into the molds and then place this whole lot in the refrigerator to freeze overnight and this is what i have lovely soup popsicles cold frozen popsicles hot water let's unmold these let's do new england clam chowder first of all i don't imagine these gonna taste good at all but um you won't really be able to confirm that until you actually taste them so we're going to dunk this in here a little bit whoa that came out beautifully all right these are koji popsicle molds i actually found them at a consignment store but i think you can still buy them at target yeah that worked beautifully i hope it doesn't smell like clam chowder afterwards alrighty so there's clam chowder next we have mac and cheese i do have to say the design of this popsicle mold is quite nice i like the fact that you can take an individual popsicle out typical popsicle trays they're all kind of interconnected and you have to defrost all of them this is really nice i like that okay oh beautiful they come out so nicely oh that one has a beautiful color look at that yes yes darling this is this is working out great okay lastly we have spaghettio so many of you on facebook and instagram were just like stop it emmy what are you doing oh that's very satisfying i have to say that looks beautiful alrighty and there are my friends these are a beautiful selection of popsicles wow my whole kitchen smells like clam chowder lovely lovely lovely lovely alrighty so the time has come to do the taste test and since i started with spaghettios let's go ahead and taste that one first here we go itadakimasu hmm it's tangier than i remember spaghetti as being to me spaghettios initially taste sweet tastes very tomatoey and tinny and sour actually not sour tangy are you a popsicle biter i am i'm gonna go ahead and bite my popsicle here we go it tastes like a frozen tv dinner of spaghettios the flavor is definitely dulled and diminished it doesn't taste as flavorful as you chew it up you get a little bit of that starchy thing of pasta and it's icy definitely have the sensation of popsicle-ness because the sauce is frozen and it's icy but then you've got the pasta in there that's a bit frozen but still kind of familiarly mushy it tastes like a colder and lesser version of spaghettios there is something to be said of spaghettios that sweet tomatoey mushy stuff that is spaghettios there is something to be said of that yeah all that's pretty much lost you have that familiar flavor of spaghettios but it's definitely not as intense it's diminished it needs more salt it needs more sugar and it needs not to be frozen that's not delicious and it's not supposed to be yeah spaghettios popsicle next we have chef boyardee mac and cheese has a nice bright kind of velveeta yellow color to it and there's definitely some pasta in there as you can see first we'll give it a little lick taste doesn't taste like much i'm tasting some of it now it's cold it's oily kind of waxy and it tastes of mac and cheese powder a lot like american cheese dehydrated and dairied let's give it a nibble hmm wow that one's straight up tastes bad so like the spaghettios the flavor is diminished because this is frozen your taste buds don't taste as much of the flavors you don't really smell them as much that's why when we warm our food it tastes better because we can experience more of it this too also tastes a little bit tangy there's not much flavor going on the texture is simultaneously waxy and frozen and icicly but not as icy as the spaghettios version perhaps there's less water more fatty wax the flavor is just terrible it tastes a bit like mac and cheese as it warms up in your mouth but initially tastes like crayons yeah that's what that tastes like alrighty so we've saved the best for last we have chunky new england clam chowder let's give this one a go the lick test nope yup right away i can taste something there as opposed to the others and that tastes like clam chowder it's fishy and definitely salty so far this one is the most flavorful of the three definitely tastes like clam chowder the flavor has not diminished much at all and let's give it the bite test hmm tastes like frozen soup this one actually holds up the best in terms of flavor of the three does it taste the best no the flavor still remains this one's very intensely flavored as the other two once they are frozen you don't taste the flavor as much this one's definitely salty enough it tastes as you expect it to be it tastes like clam chowder it has an iciness that is not as intense as the first one it's sort of a hybrid between these two it's a little bit waxy because you've got some potato in there and of course that milk actually that bite was icy so definitely a popsicle for sure and it tastes like frozen clam chowder not delicious by any means clem chowder is best served hot not frozen but of the three i think this one actually maintains the most of its integrity in terms of what it is the freezing process really changes not only the texture but the flavors of the other two but if we're going to use that for a standard of criteria i think the clam chowder one actually works the best in terms of maintaining its original flavor do any of these taste good or delicious no no of course not we're making popsicles out of canned prepared foods it's not gonna be delicious but if we had some kind of criteria i think that would be it and in terms of reviewing these molds i quite like these i like the fact that you can thaw these individually i like the fact that they stand up in your freezer nicely it didn't drip and get all over the place i like the fact that there was a fill line but the part that i liked most about these molds is how easy they came out of the mold just slipped right out really really like that i just hope that now that i've put soup in these my next batch of popsicles won't smell or taste like spaghettios or clam chowder sorry kids alrighty so there you had it i tasted it so you didn't have to new england clam chowder mac and cheese and spaghettio popsicles let me know down in the comments if there are any other recipes or things you'd like me to test out or try and thank you guys so much for watching i hope you guys enjoyed that one i hope you guys learned something please share this video with your friends follow me on social media like this video subscribe and i shall see you in the next one toodaloo take care bye how about how about you get out of my mouth yeahgreetings my beautiful lovelies it's emmy welcome back today i'm going to be tasting some interesting popsicles that i made thanks to the glorious internet a few days ago i learned about a popsicle that was made out of this campbell's chunky new england clam chowder now apparently this originated from reddit and then boston magazine posted it and then it kind of took off from there and that's where i learned about this but someone made a popsicle out of this chunky clam chowder so clam chowder of course is a soup made with clams new england style which is a style that is served around here is white and it's made with milk or some kind of dairy cream so manhattan style clam chowder is made with tomatoes and has a red color now here in rhode island which is a little subset of new england we have a clear clam chowder which is not made with any milk or dairy whatsoever so three variations of clam chowder and today i'm going to be tasting a popsicle that i made with this so while i was perusing the canned soup aisle i thought why not make some other popsicle flavors so about a year ago many of you sent me a link to a popsicle that was made using spaghettios so i purchased a can of these as well i think that was inspired because i made a jello mold a retro recipe using spaghettios and filled with vienna sausages if you missed that lovely video i'll put the link above and down below i have to say that's definitely one of my favorite retro recipes just because it just looks so wonderfully heinous so be sure to check that out if you haven't seen it already so i made spaghettio popsicles and i also made chef boyardee mac and cheese i didn't even know mac and cheese came in a canned version but apparently it does so this is elbow macaroni and cheese sauce so let me walk you through the steps of making these very complicated popsicles so for a little added insurance i put a little bit of vegetable oil inside of my popsicle molds and liberally kind of brush that around not sure how important or necessary this is but in my past experience when it comes to unmolding things yes i've had some difficulties so a little bit of help is welcomed so i went and oiled the inside of my popsicle molds and then i opened my cans of soup and then i used spoon and i just spooned in the soups and as i was filling i used my spoon to kind of press out any air bubbles because we want a pristine popsicle if possible then i place the sticks right into the molds and then place this whole lot in the refrigerator to freeze overnight and this is what i have lovely soup popsicles cold frozen popsicles hot water let's unmold these let's do new england clam chowder first of all i don't imagine these gonna taste good at all but um you won't really be able to confirm that until you actually taste them so we're going to dunk this in here a little bit whoa that came out beautifully all right these are koji popsicle molds i actually found them at a consignment store but i think you can still buy them at target yeah that worked beautifully i hope it doesn't smell like clam chowder afterwards alrighty so there's clam chowder next we have mac and cheese i do have to say the design of this popsicle mold is quite nice i like the fact that you can take an individual popsicle out typical popsicle trays they're all kind of interconnected and you have to defrost all of them this is really nice i like that okay oh beautiful they come out so nicely oh that one has a beautiful color look at that yes yes darling this is this is working out great okay lastly we have spaghettio so many of you on facebook and instagram were just like stop it emmy what are you doing oh that's very satisfying i have to say that looks beautiful alrighty and there are my friends these are a beautiful selection of popsicles wow my whole kitchen smells like clam chowder lovely lovely lovely lovely alrighty so the time has come to do the taste test and since i started with spaghettios let's go ahead and taste that one first here we go itadakimasu hmm it's tangier than i remember spaghetti as being to me spaghettios initially taste sweet tastes very tomatoey and tinny and sour actually not sour tangy are you a popsicle biter i am i'm gonna go ahead and bite my popsicle here we go it tastes like a frozen tv dinner of spaghettios the flavor is definitely dulled and diminished it doesn't taste as flavorful as you chew it up you get a little bit of that starchy thing of pasta and it's icy definitely have the sensation of popsicle-ness because the sauce is frozen and it's icy but then you've got the pasta in there that's a bit frozen but still kind of familiarly mushy it tastes like a colder and lesser version of spaghettios there is something to be said of spaghettios that sweet tomatoey mushy stuff that is spaghettios there is something to be said of that yeah all that's pretty much lost you have that familiar flavor of spaghettios but it's definitely not as intense it's diminished it needs more salt it needs more sugar and it needs not to be frozen that's not delicious and it's not supposed to be yeah spaghettios popsicle next we have chef boyardee mac and cheese has a nice bright kind of velveeta yellow color to it and there's definitely some pasta in there as you can see first we'll give it a little lick taste doesn't taste like much i'm tasting some of it now it's cold it's oily kind of waxy and it tastes of mac and cheese powder a lot like american cheese dehydrated and dairied let's give it a nibble hmm wow that one's straight up tastes bad so like the spaghettios the flavor is diminished because this is frozen your taste buds don't taste as much of the flavors you don't really smell them as much that's why when we warm our food it tastes better because we can experience more of it this too also tastes a little bit tangy there's not much flavor going on the texture is simultaneously waxy and frozen and icicly but not as icy as the spaghettios version perhaps there's less water more fatty wax the flavor is just terrible it tastes a bit like mac and cheese as it warms up in your mouth but initially tastes like crayons yeah that's what that tastes like alrighty so we've saved the best for last we have chunky new england clam chowder let's give this one a go the lick test nope yup right away i can taste something there as opposed to the others and that tastes like clam chowder it's fishy and definitely salty so far this one is the most flavorful of the three definitely tastes like clam chowder the flavor has not diminished much at all and let's give it the bite test hmm tastes like frozen soup this one actually holds up the best in terms of flavor of the three does it taste the best no the flavor still remains this one's very intensely flavored as the other two once they are frozen you don't taste the flavor as much this one's definitely salty enough it tastes as you expect it to be it tastes like clam chowder it has an iciness that is not as intense as the first one it's sort of a hybrid between these two it's a little bit waxy because you've got some potato in there and of course that milk actually that bite was icy so definitely a popsicle for sure and it tastes like frozen clam chowder not delicious by any means clem chowder is best served hot not frozen but of the three i think this one actually maintains the most of its integrity in terms of what it is the freezing process really changes not only the texture but the flavors of the other two but if we're going to use that for a standard of criteria i think the clam chowder one actually works the best in terms of maintaining its original flavor do any of these taste good or delicious no no of course not we're making popsicles out of canned prepared foods it's not gonna be delicious but if we had some kind of criteria i think that would be it and in terms of reviewing these molds i quite like these i like the fact that you can thaw these individually i like the fact that they stand up in your freezer nicely it didn't drip and get all over the place i like the fact that there was a fill line but the part that i liked most about these molds is how easy they came out of the mold just slipped right out really really like that i just hope that now that i've put soup in these my next batch of popsicles won't smell or taste like spaghettios or clam chowder sorry kids alrighty so there you had it i tasted it so you didn't have to new england clam chowder mac and cheese and spaghettio popsicles let me know down in the comments if there are any other recipes or things you'd like me to test out or try and thank you guys so much for watching i hope you guys enjoyed that one i hope you guys learned something please share this video with your friends follow me on social media like this video subscribe and i shall see you in the next one toodaloo take care bye how about how about you get out of my mouth yeah\n"