#10 Cans/Tin Cans for food

[luckweasel]

HI ALL! I'm new here and this is a great site! Thank you! So much information. I've spent the last hour just reading and poking around. Love it.

My question is about home canning in tin cans. I guess they're not made out of tin anymore but you get my drift. I've found a site where I can buy the cans but here are my questions:

1. Which cans are best (cat food sized or canned green bean sized?) and what are they actually made of?
2. How on earth do I seal these things? I found an old simple machine online that looks like it presses the tin lids on the cans but how do I seal the cans for food safety?
3. Does anyone here actually use the metal cans for storage?

Thank you all for your time!
Luckweasel ;D

[Shamrock1121]

...1. *Which cans are best (cat food sized or canned green bean sized?) and what are they actually made of?
2. *How on earth do I seal these things? I found an old simple machine online that looks like it presses the tin lids on the cans but how do I seal the cans for food safety?
3. *Does anyone here actually use the metal cans for storage?

Thank you all for your time!
Luckweasel ;D

1. Size of cans would depend on what food is being canned, and how many people are going to be consuming it, and what size cans the sealer will accomodate.

It may be impractical to open a #12 (gallon) can of corn for a family of two. Although my mother-in-law used #10 size cans of ketchup - but they had 8 kids to quickly eat it by liberally coating that stuff she called "dinner".

Can sizes (a glittering generality):

#1 - half-pint
#2 - pint
#2.5 - 30 oz.
#3 - quart
#10 - size of large coffee cans - less than one gallon
#12 - full gallon size

From another list:
Picnic - 1-1/4 cups
# 300 - 1-3/4 cups
# 1 Tall - 2 cups
# 303 - 2 cups
# 2 - 2-1/2 cups
# 2-1/2 - 3-1/2 cups
# 3 - 4 cups
# 5 - 7-1/3 cups
# 10- 13 cups

2. Can sealer and metal cans for home use is not economically feasible for most people, but you will occasionally have small canneries available in some locals, or through LDS groups. These types of cans are great for dry-pack storage (legumes, grains, seeds, sugar, powdered milk, etc.). Buy in bulk and seal in cans, instead of plastic containers. You can do essentially the same thing (remove the oxygen) at home by using a FoodSaver vacuum sealer for dry-pack storage.

3. I have a lot of hermetically sealed foods in cans (mostly #10 size) in storage. As well as typical stuff in pantry storage that comes in smaller cans - tomato sauce, pineapple, pork n' beans, tuna/salmon, SPAM, etc. I also keep single-serving size canned foods in my emergency kit. Those are good to have if you don't have refrigeration to keep leftovers, such as after that ice storm and 10-days without electricity...... But ALL canned foods need to be used and restocked, not just sitting in storage.

Once opened, most of the things in #10 cans (powdered eggs, freeze-dried cheese/meats, for instance), I store in vacuum-sealed (FoodSaver) canning jars or canisters, to keep them oxygen free for longer storage, while I use them up.

- Morning Moo's Whey Based Milk Substitute (http://www.morningmoos.com/)

- Provident Pantry Instant Fat-Free Milk (www.beprepared.com)

Both of these products have a much longer shelf-life - at least 10 years - in hermetically sealed cans, than the boxed stuff found at the grocery store.

- Dried Whole Egg Powder, Peanut Butter Powder, Powdered Butter, Freeze-Dried Meat/Cheese/Fruit/Vegetables (www.beprepared.com)

It all depends on your canned food needs.

-Karen

[luckweasel]

Thanks, that helps a bunch! What I want to "can" in the tins is homemade pet food. Easier for me to store and cheaper than buying the canned garbage on my grocery store shelf. I just can't figure out how to seal them. If I used the cans and the little can seaming maching I found, do I still use a hot water bath or pressure cooker? I can't seem to find much info on the 'Net as most folks use jars these days but the cans will work best for what I want to do with them.

Thanks again!

[CarolAnn]

LDS (Latter Day Saints, or Mormons) do community canning in #10 cans, and some places will allow people to come in and use their equipment. You might try a search on "LDS Canning" - to try to see if there are some near you.

They, as a group, do a lot of emergency preparation and putting by food for periods of famine or other hard times.

[docjered]

The LDS canning facility near me does not share with non-mormons... Does anyone here have a #10 canner and know where to buy one without spending an arm and a leg? Would love to use it for dry, i.e. rice, beans, wheat, sugar, etc...

[DM]

Years ago i use to can all of my meat and fish in cans... It takes a spl. can sealer that rolls the edge and seals the lid on. Then you put them in the pressure cooker just like you do jars...

Cans just got too expensive compared to jar lids, and i finally sold my can sealer... Those babys aren't cheap either!

DM