I have a beef with Libby’s trapezoidal tin of corned beef. Every time we have corned beef cabbage or onions for dinner, the missus shouts: “Can you open the can?”
Can do, but it takes a real effort. Libby’s product is not shaped for conventional can openers, manual or electric. You gotta use the attached key, not a pull-tab, but a bona fide key. So, if you buy the tin, make sure it has the requisite key.
Did some research (you’re welcome) why Libby’s chose this shape and attached the key.
Historians credit Arthur A. Libby, who acquired a patent in 1875, to claim and retain this shape and key, supposedly to allows the content to slip out as a block that can be sliced. In our household, the corned beef is mashed and shredded; not sliced.
Wondering: does anyone slice corned beef, as a breakfast meat like bacon or Spam? Spam boasts a soda-style pull tab, which is easier to manipulate, and the contents can be sliced, too.
What’s your take?