Storing food in opened cans 1052

zxcvbob snip preceding Well, let's just think about it for a minute instead of citing anecdotal experience or industry lawyers. The ideal refrigerator storage container will be of material that won't react with the food, will be airtight, and will minimize the volume of air inside the container, right? The first is no problem for cans because they don't use the wrong material (any more) to begin with. The second depends on how you cover the can--paper, baggie, plastic, foil--and how tightly you seal it. In most cases, a real storage container will win this compebreastion. The third factor depends on how much is left in the can versus how well-sized to the contents is the separate container. I'd guess the can loses this comparison more often than it wins. So, storing unused food in its can probably is a little bit inferior to using a separate container, if the time period is long enough. That's usually quite a few days for most foods.

The can has one big advantage: when the food does go bad you can just throw the whole thing away. You don't have to deal with scraping out yucky stuff and then thoroughly washing the container.

None of this matters to the anal personality type whose refrigerator is tidy and organized with everything in its proper container and every container in its proper place. I used to know one of those, but thankfully she left my life.

-aem