# Heating can food in can



## a father (Sep 16, 2014)

Hey yall I had a quick question about this. I have read on both sides about the pros and cons about doing this. I just wanted yalls insight on this topic. Is it fine, or don't do it? I understand in a pinch I would, but I mean on a regular basis. TIA


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## Medic33 (Mar 29, 2015)

just make sure you either pop hole in the top or open the can before heating or you'll have ALAH MODE MESS everywhere.


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## Moonshinedave (Mar 28, 2013)

Don't think I would unless no other options I'd be concerned about the plastic like lining that is most cans Course if you gotta......


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## rstanek (Nov 9, 2012)

If possible put a small hole in the top and then heat it in a pan of hot water, less likely to melt the plastic liner, I worked in a canning factory for awhile and the product is cooked in the can in hot water bath, didn't melt the lining then.


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## Slippy (Nov 14, 2013)

My suggestion is to buy a pot or pan. You can most likely find one at a Big Box Store for a few bucks, or if you are budget conscience, a Flea Market or Garage Sale.


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## rice paddy daddy (Jul 17, 2012)

Many a GI heated C-Rations in the can, often using C-4 plastic explosive to heat it. Of course, back then there were other, more immediate issues that could negatively affect your health.
An old truck driver trick was to wire a can of, say, Chef Boyardee ravioli, to the engine and it would be ready when you got where you were going. In this case, no hole in the can was necessary as long as you didn't place it directly on the exhaust manifold.

I have heated canned food directly in the can, and I'm 67 and in good health. It will not hurt you in moderate amounts.
But why heat it? Just eat it straight out of the can. Infantry!! HooAhh!!!


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## darsk20 (Jun 1, 2015)

Moonshinedave said:


> Don't think I would unless no other options I'd be concerned about the plastic like lining that is most cans Course if you gotta......


This many times over.

Unless you have actually bought food that is in an unlined can, never heat the food in the can over an open flame. Temperature cannot be controlled and the plastic liner will degrade into your food and leach poisons.

If it was my only option, and it needed to be warmed, I would try an indirect method so it doesn't see enough heat to burn. Pit fire with directed draft, stone oven, etc.

Of course the simplest thing is that most canned food on the market is already cooked, so just eat it as is. At that point heating food is just for a moral boost, which may or may not be worth it.


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## dwight55 (Nov 9, 2012)

I a pinch, . . . cutting about 80% of the lid open, . . . prying it up with a knife blade, . . . bending it back, . . . you now have the cheap pot or pan Slippy talked about.

I have no idea of how many meals I've eaten that way, . . . would guess a huge bunch, . . . never had any problem.

BUT, . . . don't sit it IN THE FIRE, . . . rake some coals over to one side, . . . sit it in a little nest of coals, . . . it'll warm it quick, . . . one hand with a glove holding the lid/handle, . . . the other with a spoon, . . . DING DING rings the dinner bell.

May God bless,
Dwight


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## rstanek (Nov 9, 2012)

Referring to my earlier post, when we winter backpack we heat in a water bath over indirect heat, no dishes to wash, water is an issue so we reuse the water in the pan to heat another meal, the only water you lose is through evaporation, add more snow your good to go again, have been doing this for 35 years and I'm still able post this.


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## Maine-Marine (Mar 7, 2014)

To me...not having a pan is some serious lack of planning or your location was overran by mutant zombie ninja bikers or is it zombie ninja mutant bikers..I always get confused

sort of like the opening a can with concrete idea.... if you do not have a can opener, a knife, a john wayne, a flat head screw driver, and you have to use a piece of concrete to open a can...you gots trouble

having said that...I have heated canned food on a engine...military - and I have put some MRE pouches inside my shirt to warm.... BUT as a survival thing, buy a dang pan and have an extra can opener


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## SOCOM42 (Nov 9, 2012)

The company cooks would during the winter, when we were fed C rats, throw them in with the immersion heater.

As said, canned food can be eaten cold, best to put can in hot water, can't be overheated that way.


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## rice paddy daddy (Jul 17, 2012)

SOCOM42 said:


> The company cooks would during the winter, when we were fed C rats, throw them in with the immersion heater.
> 
> As said, canned food can be eaten cold, best to put can in hot water, can't be overheated that way.


Ahh, yes. I remember that now......................


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## Chipper (Dec 22, 2012)

The old trucker trick is just putting your lunch on the windshield defroster to warm it up. Doesn't get supper hot but warm is better then cold. Plus you can keep on rollin.


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

Ah yes, slightly warmed up ham like slices things from the C-rations on those little cracker things. Takes me back to better days.


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## Real Old Man (Aug 17, 2015)

rice paddy daddy said:


> Many a GI heated C-Rations in the can, often using C-4 plastic explosive to heat it. Of course, back then there were other, more immediate issues that could negatively affect your health.
> An old truck driver trick was to wire a can of, say, Chef Boyardee ravioli, to the engine and it would be ready when you got where you were going. In this case, no hole in the can was necessary as long as you didn't place it directly on the exhaust manifold.
> 
> I have heated canned food directly in the can, and I'm 67 and in good health. It will not hurt you in moderate amounts.
> But why heat it? Just eat it straight out of the can. Infantry!! HooAhh!!!


Yeah one of my kids driving a ten ton wanted a quick meal palced the c rat on the exhaust manifold. No hole. well up until the can exploded. scared the bejezzus out of him.

:excitement:


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## AquaHull (Jun 10, 2012)

I used to wrap up ribs,chicken or hamburgers in heavy duty foil and place it on the intake manifolds of my 327's.

We'd get done fishing and have a warm snack on the way back to port or


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## keith9365 (Apr 23, 2014)

I remember back in elementary school a loooooooooooong time ago I had a teacher who used to put canned food on the radiator in class to warm it up. Then one day.........BOOM! Soup on the ceiling!


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## Gunner's Mate (Aug 13, 2013)

I do my beans in the can on the grill all the time open the top leave lid attached by not opening all the way, cook with steak and presto cowboy dinner


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## Targetshooter (Dec 4, 2015)

mess kits are cheap ,, and safer to .


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## Will2 (Mar 20, 2013)

The problem with heatiing food in cans is that they are often coated these days and heat can cause that coating to more easily leach into the food. Like most things exposure at a non lethal level once or twice won't kill you regular practice will faciliate greater levels of exposures to those chemicals which can do things like alter hormone levels, brain chemistry or increase cancer risk.

If you need to cook food for safety as opposed to taste then I would say cook away as the damaged from leached chemicals will be less than that from the food hazard requiring cooking.

Most canned foods are precooked though and can be eaten cold. 

Personally I don't trust most cookware, that is non stick either. Personally I prefer to use cast iron or food based wraps and dishes. 

Aluminum cookware I don't really trust.

I want to research the new titanium coated cookware to get an idea of its safety.


It won't kill you but if you cook it in fire realize that stuff burns really fast inside things like tuna cans on an open fire.



The issue is not tin/aluminum causing heavy metal brain damage these days so much as it is the plastic coating they line the inside of the cans with leaching into foods due to it being heated leading to much higher chemical exposure levels than would be if the food just had casual contact with the lining.


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## Moonshinedave (Mar 28, 2013)

I'd go with the heating in water if'n i felt i just had to heat it in the can.


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## Will2 (Mar 20, 2013)

Just looking at the titanium stuff not sure if it is the case or not just starting to research it


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## a father (Sep 16, 2014)

Thanks for the replies guys. Me personally dinner is served when I open the can. Unfortunately, my wife doesn't have the same points. I've also heated them straight out of the can myself but, one my prepper friends brought the issue of the liners to my attention. I am going to buy a mess kit for her


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