"cans" news and stories

What do you have the most of in your pantry? Because I like to bake, I always have a fairly large supply of baking ingredients, including different flours, baking powder, baking soda, and yeast, among other things, like chocolate chips and sugar. I also always have cereal and oatmeal to give myself some breakfast options. But there is one thing that I almost have more cans of than I can count: tomatoes.

Granted, I do use canned tomatoes a fair amount, especially when making dishes like soups and pasta sauces. I love tomatoes and it is much easier to reach for a convenient jar of them, especially when they’re pre-roasted or diced, than it is to fuss with fresh tomatoes. For some reason, though, I buy them in groups of twos and threes with complete disregard to the fact that I have at least 10 different varieties already in my cupboard. Addiction? Paranoia? I am quite certain that the world would not end if I ran out of my favorite canned tomatoes, and yet I can’t seem to help myself. That’s my pantry-stocking secret. What’s yours? Beans? Cereal? Jarred salsa?

A UK based equipment company has developed a way to sterilize canned, bottled and other packaged foods 20 times faster than regular methods. Zinetec's new sterilization technology, known as Shaka, rapidly shakes cans and other vessels while they sit in an autoclave or sterilizing bath (right). The shaking makes the heat circulate through the product faster, thus reducing the cooking time and, according to Zinetec, creating fresher, less overcooked canned goods. Currently, three companies in the US, Germany and France are set to begin using the Shaka.

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Coca Cola is now selling 12-ounce plastic bottles of its products, the same size as the classic cans, but conveniently resealable. I have heard heated debates whether the soda tastes better in bottles or cans. I usually prefer Coke in cans to Coke in bottles, because I can't drink the whole bottle before the soda becomes flat. 20-ounces of soda are too much for me most of the time.  If you like the convenience (or flavor) of bottled Coke, but find that the 20-ounce size is too large for you to finish or too difficult to cram in your lunchbox, keep an eye out for these little guys at supermarkets and superstores in your area.

[Photo by Nicole Weston]

Canstruction is charity that invites designers to create works of art using--you guessed it--cans. The creations range from giant hotdogs to castles to Snoopy. Some of these constructions look truly amazing, and not to mention highly unstable (my personal favorite is the shark jumping out of the water). All the cans are donated to food banks in New York.

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