How Long Will Canned Foods Last?

Natural cooking juices, with no artificial ingredients. Fully precooked and lightly salted.

Our canned meats are guaranteed to remain good-as-new for five years. But customers have told us they've enjoyed them after far more than five years' storage. In fact one customer stopped by the cannery with a can sealed 18 years before. Upon opening, the taste and texture were excellent... after 18 years! The only thing likely to shorten lifespan is attack by outside moisture rusting through the can, and preventing that is as simple as storing the cans in a dry, clean area.

Just bought a few cases, tastes real good.

http://www.pleasanthillgrain.com/canned_meat_canned_chicken_...

dehydrate my food. That way I don't ever have to worry about the electricity going out and losing my food. Vegetables and fruit (including berries) dehydrate real well. As long as you keep them dry, they should last for many years and they don't take up as much room as canned or frozen food. I keep them either in vacuum sealed bags or in canning jars if I think I might want to add to them or use them on a regular basis.

I like to can my green beans, tomatoes, pickles and meat. You can use a water-bath or steam canner for fruits (including tomatoes) but you must use a presser canner for vegetables and meat.

That is a sign that what is inside has gone bad. If you drop a can and dent it you should cook the stuff within a couple of days. A dented can does not necessarily mean something is wrong, but better safe than sorry. Having experienced food poisoning once, it is not something I can recommend.

Some go bad quickly because they are dented, broken, or not stored properly from the start.

Canned food is floating in soupy liquid and so it becomes more sludge-like after a while. You can still eat it, but taste varies -- especially after 50 years.

The temperature it is stored will help with maintaining the food's original structure.

When you open the canned food you are supposed to check for a hissing sound and a bad smell/some bacterial growth. If the can is leaking or bulging that's also a sign it could be bad.

The dates on can are just to protect the integrity of the company. Stored soda is still soda if you don't mind it being flat or a little carmelish (a 50+ year old can of soda a friend and I opened once).

C-rations left over from WWII

Napolean is credited with the tin can, it's one of the facinating parts of the story of Waterloo... his army died from lead poisioning, they used lead to seal the tins.

Instead of using plastic bags, it's not hard to have a little caning set up between a sink and stove top/ burner. Try canning your leftovers and pouring the hot water over your washed dishes, You don't have to can a million pounds of something on occaision. Canning should be part of every meal that has leftovers..you don't need to refrigerate them when you can them. It's a good practice I'm happy people are rediscovering.

My great grandma canned, my grandma, my folks did for a while, and I have for 10 years or so. Home canning done correctly is safe and last years and years. I have beans, corn, figs, pears, and peas from 2001 still. I pop the lid, sniff it, boil it 10 minutes and eat it. My grandma passed away in 1996, I opened one of her cans of beans last year, and it was still good.

This said use common sense, don't eat cans that have lost their seal, or don't smell like the should, or look funny, or have mold.
Always use clean boiled jars and rings, and always use new lids never reuse the lids. I pressure can everything, I don't use a water bath.

As far as store bought canned food, I just don't know, I wouldn't put it past or government to mandate anything nowadays, I don't trust the FDA. I still buy and eat store bought canned food I am just much more wary of it.

Thank you Dr. Paul for making me act on what I already knew was right.