Good things come in cans...
Cans: long shelf-life, convenient, retain nutrients & sometimes taste better than their fresh, frozen or dried counterpart. What 5 cans would I see in your pantry?
canned pumpkin
evaporated milk
black beans
Amy's Tomato Bisque soup
Hershey's chocolate syrup
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39 Comments:
here's more than five:
tomato paste
peeled tomatoes with basil
black beans
sweetened condensed milk
soups
salmon
sardines
seyo at 12:11PM on 09/07/07
oskar blues dale's pale ale
oskar blues old chub scottish ale
new england brewing elm city lager
new england brewing sea hag
stone coast sunsplash ale
*burp*
goodbyeohio at 12:44PM on 09/07/07
wow, you can get all that fancy pants beer in cans?
seyo at 12:45PM on 09/07/07
Tuna packed in water
The usual tomato products -- paste, diced, rotell
Soups and broths
Black olives
Condensed milk
Had never even *heard* of beer in cans! Wouldn't it be flat?
hatlady at 1:10PM on 09/07/07
are you kidding?!?!
seyo at 1:19PM on 09/07/07
anchovies
curry paste
coconut milk
tuna packed in olive oil (from spain)
chipotle chiles in adobo
I don't actually have any of these in my kitchen right now, but I would be happy to buy and use them. The only cans I have now are 2 cans of waterchestnuts for a recipe I never made.
coolname at 1:32PM on 09/07/07
No. I love imported beer and some ales -- but, in the small town where I live, have never seen canned beer. Ever.
hatlady at 1:34PM on 09/07/07
I am so dumb. sorry, seyo -- was thinking of soup cans filled with beer. what a ninny.
hatlady at 1:35PM on 09/07/07
Tomatoes, tomato paste, tuna, anchovies, chipotles in adoba, and a variety of beans.
Colorado Jim at 1:49PM on 09/07/07
seriously, good beer in cans. since recent innovations re: inner lining on cans, better beer has been using the method. see here:
http://tallahassee.com/legacy/special/blogs/dblackburn/2007/06/first-rate-beer-in-can.html
cans are actually better beer-keepers than bottles. but like screw tops on wine, they just don't have the glamour and romanticism of bottles.
goodbyeohio at 1:50PM on 09/07/07
I dont have any doubts about can being good storage devices for beer, it's just that I've never seen good beer in them the best beer in a can I've ever found is Beck's or Tecate (can't stand Heineken).
After reading that link you posted, I'm hopeful that more high quality beers will start using cans as their preferred packaging. Thanks!
seyo at 2:00PM on 09/07/07
Actually wait, come to think of it, Boddington's comes in cans, and that stuff is awesome. I guess when I think beer in a can I automatically think of Busch and Natural Light...
seyo at 2:02PM on 09/07/07
Chick peas
Chicken broth
Tuna
Anchovies
Water chestnuts
Sorry no beer-I usually buy bottles
Mich23 at 4:18PM on 09/07/07
A range of beans (Goya and Eden no-salt added)
Tuna in water
Tomato paste
Crushed tomatoes
Soup
Coconut milk
hereandthe at 4:33PM on 09/07/07
Tuna packed in natural juices
Sardines packed in natural juices
Tomato sauce (actually I get it packed in paper cartons).
Whole tomatoes
Pineapple chunks for pizzas and sweet and sours
I hope never to put another spoonful of canned soup into my mouth. They are so easy and better homemade.
As for beer, I live in a culture where you can take your pitcher to the local pub and get a liter from the tap to carry home for dinner. How fresh is that? We buy the imported cans when going on a picnic.
czken at 4:51PM on 09/07/07
tomatoes
black beans
chickpeas
almond paste
chipotles in adoba
JerzeeTomato at 5:14PM on 09/07/07
Let's see what we've got in the cupboard right now...
For some reason we always have one or two BIG cans of pickled bamboo shoots. These cans are about as big as those Hi-C cans. We might have one upstairs in the kitchen cupboard and one chilling out in storage in the boiler room along with the spare paper towels.
And yet I can only think of one dish that uses them. A dish of the layered pickled bamboo shoots, thinly sliced tender flank steak and scallions and steamed. Savory, with a tangy zing from the bamboo shoots and a great addition to jazz up plain white rice.
It's easy enough for my dad to throw together in minutes, on nights when he has to cook for himself!
We've also frequently got a can or two of sweetened condensed milk. Its used like a condiment in this house, over sliced freh strawberries, or with the morning oatmeal, or sometimes on thick, buttered Japanese style toast for a incredibly bad for you treat...
fuuchan at 5:21PM on 09/07/07
coolname's comment on water chestnuts never being used had me wondering---what other canned food (or beverage--ha) is sitting on the shelf now & it has been there so long that you can't even remember when or why you bought it?
JEP at 6:03PM on 09/07/07
Canned water chestnuts are awful. I think their only use is textural interest and maybe if you want to impart some canned flavor into your stir fry...
Fresh water chestnuts are the way to go...especially for out of hand snacking! Wash, peel and chomp into them like an apple.
We've had a can of guava jelly in the pantry for eons now. I think we intended to use it in a glaze for fruit tarts, but never got around to experimenting with that.
fuuchan at 6:11PM on 09/07/07
i bet a slice of guava jelly on a cool thin slice of fresh water chesnut would be very yummy.
seyo at 6:20PM on 09/07/07
unsweetened coconut milk
green curry paste
water chestnuts
pellogrino limonata
san marzano canned tomatoes
canned water chestnuts are definitely used mainly for texture and crunch. fresh might be better but i have had success with canned for certain recipes.
shaofan at 9:09PM on 09/07/07
Tuna
Newman's Own spaghetti sauce
Fruit - pineapple, pears, or peaches
Chipotles in adobo sauce
Refried beans (although I am on to making my own now)
Beef and chicken stock
Chau at 9:42PM on 09/07/07
tomatoes
beans
almond paste
tuna in oil
coconut milk
pumpkin
dettling05 at 9:49PM on 09/07/07
JEP asked, "what other canned food (or beverage--ha) is sitting on the shelf now & it has been there so long that you can't even remember when or why you bought it?"
We have a bit of a family tradition/joke going... In 1970 we bought a used VW camper and under the back seat was a can of bacon. We owned that bus for about five years and then bought a newer one. Yes, the bacon went in that vehicle until it was sold. By 1980 the can went down in the basement with our camping supplies. Somehow it migrated up into our kitchen window box. Sometime in the 90s our daughter bought our son a whole canned chicken which went on display with the bacon. While traveling in Europe we came across canned hot dogs with a logo that looked like a man was choking on a chain of dogs. Our first try to add those to the collection got confiscated by the customs men at the airport but our second try was successful. Our whole family is always on the lookout for unusual canned meats to add to the "museum case". Don't think any would ever get eaten; wouldn't dare!
czken at 5:20AM on 09/08/07
czken's events triggered a reminder about how someone once bought me a good sized can of "canned air"---it even had a nutrition facts label on the side! I kept it out on my desk at work for awhile.
Any other "unsual" canned items out there?
JEP at 9:46AM on 09/08/07
canned tomato paste
for some reason I also have 3 cans of progresso soup (hubby must have bought it)
crushed tomatoes(organic)
canned chicken (emergency rations)
canned beans(garbanzo's black and pintos)
assorted individual cans of "nectars" (great for additions to a quick marinade)
also this isnt in a can, but i always have at least 3 "boxes" of good organic broth or stock on hand for "quickie soups"
huney_bumper at 9:58AM on 09/08/07
beans beans and more beans. (kidney, chickpea, borlotti, lentils, soy, butter, 3 bean mix, turtle, navy, baked etc etc)
tomatoes (diced, puree, whole, paste, with added flavors such as chili, parsley, basil and garlic, Indian style)
fish (sardines, tuna and salmon- not for me as i'm veggo)
fruits (pineapple, fruit salad)
miscellaneous- coconut milk, evaporated milk, a chocolate pudding and occasionally soup.
choc_puddin at 6:01PM on 09/08/07
In defense of canned waterchestnuts- in a pinch, they add crunch to an Asian themed salad.
Mich23 at 7:27PM on 09/08/07
JEP, this is another great question! I think pantries are where the really interesting food secrets lurk. Unfortunately, I just looked in my pantry and my cans are really boring:
garbanzo beans
black beans
cannellini beans
tomatoes
chipotles in adobo
producestories at 7:59PM on 09/08/07
Do most of you buy name brands or generic brands or a mix?
Anyone ever buy those #10 food service size cans?
JEP at 8:45PM on 09/08/07
I buy brand names if it looks interesting, for example, tinned tomatoes with added ingredients like herbs
But generally I buy generic- really its the same product, they just save on packaging.
choc_puddin at 5:16AM on 09/09/07
chickpeas
Amy's black bean soup
black beans
pineapple chunks
random Progresso and Campbell's soups (non-Serious Eater roommate's)
LiveToEat at 11:21AM on 09/09/07
Has anyone been on the bad end of a practical joke where someone takes all the labels off another person's cans? I've seen this happen to a newly wed couple.
JEP at 3:14PM on 09/09/07
Pumpkin puree (I get that autumn craving all the time!)
tomatoes (whole or crushed)
beans
pineapple
Christina at 5:48PM on 09/09/07
Ro-tel (I AM from Texas)
vegetable stock (for soups)
creamed corn (for soups)
black beans
coconut milk
akprincess72 at 8:24PM on 09/13/07
Haha ~_~!
Come here for more canned foods what you love'n www.fuboon.com .
Who can tell me where can I buy one here in my downtown,I ate one at my friend's house that he bought from somewhere,it's tasty.
tommyok at 10:26PM on 06/15/08
Tuna
Tomato products for homemade sauce (paste, stewed and sauce)
Pinto beans
Vegetarian baked beans
Corn
smile at 10:40PM on 06/15/08
chickpeas or black beans
corn
amy's spicy vegetarian chili for the nights i'm not home so that hopefully my husband will eat something
man, i think that's all my cans. sometimes light coconut milk makes it's way in there. i'm pretty boring in the pantry i guess, most of the food goes in the fridge. usually buy westbrae, eden or goya...it's what the corner bodega stocks.
@tommyok...you ate one what? i'm so confused by your comment.
billyburgwife at 10:41PM on 06/15/08
tomato paste
whole peeled tomatoes
pineapple (for dairy-free pancakes)
corn
tuna (only because my husband buys & eats it. I have no idea if it's packed in water or oil though)
brooke29 at 12:10AM on 06/16/08