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On the plus side: I rely absolutely on canned tomatoes, corn, tuna, and pumpkin (separately, of course). I am a fan of canned mandarin oranges, canned green beans, and ranch-style beans, and will admit to a weakness for canned peaches and/or pears (but not those nasty peeled grapes in the fruit cocktail). And corned beef, sardines, and Progresso soups are about the only reasonably effortless item I can keep in the pantry and know that my husband won't go hungry. The chicken and sausage gumbo is pretty good.

Foods I avoid in canned form: spinach, peas, asparagus, spaghetti, beets, any of the weird things that the English can (eg., breakfast). Canned chicken freaks me out a little though I've tasted it and it's not the worst thing. Canned chili may be the worst thing.

Foods whose canning mystifies me: potatoes and tamales. Never tasted, though.

I've mentioned it elsewhere, but it's appropriate here: I would love to have the kind of canned foods you can get at the basic megamart in France: rabbit stews, couscous, cassoulets, rillettes, all at normal prices. Sigh.

Fruit or vegetables. But I do keep canned tomatoes, black olives, evaporated milk, tuna, and garbonzo beans on hand. I swear I can taste the metal from the can but I'm sure it's my mind playing tricks on me.

Cannot cope with mushrooms or potatoes. Very happy with tomato sauce and any variety of beans...

I would never eat tinned: fruit cocktail, most vegetables (other than corn, tomatoes, beans - but not green beans - , and I think, peas), mushrooms, fish and chicken. I would rather not eat tinned olives, but I can tolerate them in salads (chopped).

The tinned foods I buy and use all the time are tomatoes, beans (either Heinz baked beans, or garbanzo beans , rarely - black beans), bamboo shoots, water chestnuts and corn. I use tinned pineapple and peaches from time to time. I may occasionally buy tinned soups, although lately I always have at least two kinds of home-made soups at a time, so we stopped buying tinned soups altogether. Oh, and I also buy condensed milk sometimes, to make Dulce de leche (my guilty pleasure, I can eat it straight from the tin:-), but I don't do it too often). Hubby eats tinned tuna and salmon, so we have these on hand as well.

I've got to admit that even though we almost never had tinned meats (like spam or corned beef or "ham") at home when I was little (or maybe, precisely because of that:-)), I have a soft spot for them, and while I do not have them on hand or buy them often, I may indulge on a rare occasion...

I've been known to eat canned Pork-n-Beans:( I once was given (as a joke) a can that contained "air"...or at least that's what the label indicated...it came complete with a nutrition facts label & I did keep it on my desk at work for awhile!

Have you ever purchased any canned foods without labels?...I've seen these discounted piled in carts at grocery stores. I've also heard of friends (posing as pranksters) taking all the labels off cans while couples were on their honeymoon--ha!

RE: JEP: "( I once was given (as a joke) a can that contained "air"...or at least that's what the label indicated."

I have, somewhere, a can of "Boston Airs". I don't recall if you're supposed to eat it, inhale it, or put it on.

Hmm, nothing new from what anybody else has said, but canned items I use are tomatoes (almost always San Marzano tomatoes), tomatoes, tuna, beans, corn, pumpkin puree

Ones I avoid are pretty much everything else .. especially fruit pie fillings, green beans, and meat. I didn't even know they canned potatoes..

Most fruit, especially bananas and cherries. I used to work at a government institution in which the residents were served canned bananas. Yes, canned bananas. They were mushy, and semi-brown. No one ate them (big surprise). We paid another employee to try one. He gagged. There were also some canned yellow cherries that smelled unlike anything normally called food.
On the other hand, I have found some very high-quality, flavorful canned San Marzanos.

The very first asparagus I ever ate came from a can. Needless to say, I hated asparagus. What a revelation when I tasted actual, real, steamed asparagus. Oh my goodness.

So, I won't eat any vegetable, save tomatoes and corn from a can. Beans (not green or pea) - cannellini, chick peas and kidney beans, I love, and they're a serious time saver.

Fish products - no cans, though I will eat them from a pouch. You know, I read a review in Cook's Illustrated on tuna and canned came out ahead. This has really not been my experience though.

And when I'm sick, or really depressed (the latest boy went running or maybe work is seriously sucking) I really love (*hands head in shame*) Spaghetti-o's with Franks. I know this does not speak well of my palette, but it's the most comforting comfort food in the world to me.

Grean beans - blech!

The most awful canned product I've ever had was canned crab meat. I was skeptical when I bought it, but I gave it the benefit of the doubt...and gagged when I opened it. Never. Again.

Also not a big fan of canned olives and vegetables (other than corn and tomatoes).

I do use canned beans (organic, when available), as well as the trinity of filipino canned meats: spam, corned beef and vienna sausages!

I also LOVE canned quails eggs from the asian store. They add an amazing burst of richness to my stir-fries. Is that bad?!

i WILL eat tinned smoked oysters and will use canned pumpkin and canned tomatoes in my cooking... anything else, uh uh.

canned beans, not green, and canned tomato products. and I have to admit I like the boxed stocks, they are just so quick and easy to have on hand, and some of the organic's are really tasty. I dont buy canned soup, because of those nifty boxes, but I do buy canned tuna.

I try to avoid anything canned... canned food might be a convenience, but they are devoid of most nutrition because things are already cooked and filled with preservatives and sodium. If you can get botulism from a bruised can, I rather avoid them as much as I can. No pun intended. Plus, cans are not recyclable.

Most of the items you buy in cans, you can find them in other presentations and when you read the labels, have far less chemicals, preservatives and foreign ingredients - tomatoes in glass jars, evaporated milk in UHT containers, cling peaches or other fruits in plastic jars, frozen vegetables, soups in UHT containers, even tuna in bags, etc.

I do use sometimes canned condensed milk and San Marzano tomatoes. That's it. If someone knows how to find these without a can... please let me know... karmafreecooking@yahoo.com

Madelyn
KarmaFreeCooking

Good,I just found a canned product website,all canned looked great and tasty,I heard from my friend that they are a reliable seller,I think you'd better give a look at www.fuboon.com
I eat tinned vegetable and fruits,especially love in canned mandarin oranges,peaches,mushrooms,pineapples..

peas

Asparagus was the very first item to jump into my head. That's truly vile stuff.

Shrooms would be second. They bear no resemblance to the real thing and are rubbery. No matter which brand I tried, they taste "off."

And WTF is Deviled Ham anyway???

Living in Florida, SPAM is a necessary evil product that needs to be in the Hurricane Kit. I have to force feed the stuff to myself if I expect to get through a hurricane - or a year like 2004. I don't, however, have to like it. And never, ever store brand SPAM (shudder).

I'd have to say canned beans are the #1 convenience product in terms of the time it would take to make their fresh counterpart and they suffer the least in the canning process. Other than a few Goya disappointments, canned beans are a Godsend and should be in a rainbow of colors in the pantry for so many quick meals.

Nipping at the heels of those beans - Tomato products. I need at least five different varieties of canned tomatoes at the ready.

i keep a can of pumpkin and a can of sweetened condensed milk around for baking, but that's about it for me.

I cannot eat canned corn. Or frozen corn, for that matter. On the cob only for me!

Oh, and canned asparagus = yuck. And being the HUGE mushroom fan I am, I do not like canned mushrooms. Canned mushrooms are the reason I though I hated mushrooms for the first 25 years of my life.

when we lived where the fresh foods came in about every eight weeks, I made the Spam spread Cassandra mentioned - it's pretty good. I buy the Italian tuna in oil from Italy - more expensive - and it's good. I also like the Del Monte peaches in a jar in the winter in fruit salad and most of the beans mentioned above - rinsed! - coconut milk and tomatoes in all forms. Green Giant corn will do, but frozen is better. I like the brown bread, but it's difficult to find. Cooking for one, tinned baked beans are the answer - add sliced onion and a little brown sugar and bake them for 20 minutes. Almost awesome.

Cans are recyclable where I am too. They, along with newspapers were the first and that's been over twenty years. In fact, along with aluminum they are very recyclable and save tons of energy as written at "Thrifty Fun" website:

Reclaiming one ton of steel or tin saves 1.5 tons of ore. Tin recycling saves an estimated 2,600 kilowatt hours per ton. Steel recycling saves and average of 4,300 kilowatt hours per ton or 47% of the energy required to process steel from raw materials.

That said, I had to read through the thread to even think of canned products I wouldn't have besides peas since they are soooo not a part of my world.

Canned potatoes. I still wouldn't have a clue about these except for a British BF who ate them for breakfast. I did try a bite and am still getting over the trauma.

Canned Asparagus. Same in that who would of thought... but this was a Kiwi BF who made me an omelette of which he was quite proud. Wasn't helped by being told GF prior introduced him to the whole concept.

Canned Mushrooms. I don't eat any kind but canned seems a special abomination. My brother has been known to take a can of shrooms and a can of tomato sauce on noodles and call it spaghetti. I call it making BK on the way home seem gourmet.

Canned Spinach. I wouldn't eat spinach until deep in adulthood because of the bad memories from school lunches. Empty milk cartons were filled, and even ceilings were not safe to be under...

Canned Beets. See spinach above.

Canned Carrots. Eeeek!

I do like several canned beans but probably not like others here. I especially like black beans or black eyed peas heated up in their broth (organic) and then adding a dollop of butter. That's it. YUM! However, I can't seem to stomach canned chickpeas and so those get cooked up from dried and divided into servings in stackable containers and frozen. Very handy. Plus the bean stock is a rich add to soups. My goal is to do that with all beans.

I also like canned black olives and those are the only olives I seem to like. An indulgence once or twice a year.

Canned tomatoes actually are often more nutritious than fresh because they are at their peak when processed. They work better in some things but are too much in others. So they are seasonal for me.

Canned coconut milk and canned pumpkin (both organic) make a fabulous quick soup especially with a bit of curry. I'm told that some black beans are a great add too but I like the black beans so much the way I do that I haven't been able to part with them for soup. :)

I also have a can each of mango slices and lychees. My emergency food I guess. Sometimes they just hit the spot especially if I've been ill for few days and there's little else quick in the place.

Nothing in the fruit department is like the wonderful pears and peaches my best friend's grandma made and stored in her basement.

Probably the worst thing I've ever seen canned is a whole chicken. :(