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Small Cabin Forum / Off-Grid Living / frozen (canned foods)
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cabingal3
Member
# Posted: 23 Dec 2013 19:50
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hi everyone.
me and garyo went to our cabin.
its been a while.it was minus 35 a couple of weeks ago.so we get ready for dinner and all my canned food is frozen.he had to pry open the chili in a can...and I had to slice and dice it out to get it to the pan.
so here is my question.should I have taken all my canned foods home? will they burst or be ruined??
we got into the cabin by not hiking in...just drove in.was a great time.thank u.

naturelover66
Member
# Posted: 23 Dec 2013 20:12
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I guess if there is a high water content in the can It may rupture.

Glad you had fun !!!

MtnDon
Member
# Posted: 23 Dec 2013 20:35 - Edited by: MtnDon
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The real worry with canned goods getting frozen is that of food safety later. It is possible for a can to freeze and expand just enough to cause a seam failure. It may not be enough to cause a leak when it thaws, but it may be sufficient to lead to spoilage with possible food poisoning. OTOH if you have frozen cans, keep them frozen until ready to use; they'll be safe.

The freezing point varies with salt content. Sugar can also lower the freezing point. Textures of some foods is altered as in baked beans become mushy.

OTOH if you have frozen cans, keep them frozen until ready to use; they'll be safe.

We have winter food storage in a hole in the ground. Six feet deep with canned goods in tubes ((PVC pipe). The lid is insulated and the food inside never gets colder than about 40 degrees.

cabingal3
Member
# Posted: 23 Dec 2013 20:45
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MtnDon...our chili beans were mush.u are right.
thank u for this info.
naturelover66-we surely did have a great time.thank u.

toyota_mdt_tech
Member
# Posted: 24 Dec 2013 18:47
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I dont leave canned foods. I only leave dried stuff, ie flaked potatos, hot chocolate, pancake mix etc. I do leave liquid soaps. But keep them all setting inside a plastic tub, just in case, something was to split open, it will be contained in the plastic tub so I am not cleaning out loads of liquid gelled soap out of my cabinets. So far, they just gell a bit. And when warmed up, all comes back to normal.

Dillio187
Member
# Posted: 24 Dec 2013 21:08
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I leave nothing food related that's liquid. I leave the hand soap but that freezes hard as a rock. The only thing that doesn't is the large container of hand sanitizer (alcohol based)

groingo
Member
# Posted: 26 Dec 2013 00:43
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Words that have served me well with regard to keeping food..."If in doubt, throw it out".

Malamute
Member
# Posted: 26 Dec 2013 11:11 - Edited by: Malamute
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I've had a lot of canned stuff freeze. It makes the texture pretty weird, and the taste isn't always quite what you want. I haven't had any safety problems, but I may get it hot enough that it wasn't a problem (leave the spoon in it to get to full temp also to avoid cross contamination). I've kept food in my vehicles for decades (not the same food) and other than the texture/ taste problems, I don't remember any other problems or cans bursting.

I cull my truck supplies each spring and generally just toss the canned stuff that was in the truck if I didn't need it that winter. Perhaps not optimal for cabin use, but it's worked in my experience and needs.

toofewweekends
Member
# Posted: 1 Jan 2014 20:55
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Had plenty of cans/jars go thru freeze-thaw with no problem other than things like green beans go mushy. Having jars, etc. in a tub makes sense; wish I had done that as earlier in December we found a wine bottle had its cork pushed out and some liquid spilled. Also, soda cans will spray like heck with a pinhole leak cause by freezing.

turkeyhunter
Member
# Posted: 3 Jan 2014 13:35
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I went down to my cabin yesterday to drain the water pipes.
i took all my can goods /peanut butter ....etc
and put in a ice chest ( aka cooler) .....keep them from freezing...
i do this each year after hunting season.....
it was down to 23 deg here last night...teens tonight...BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!

MJW
Member
# Posted: 3 Jan 2014 13:46
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23 degrees? hahaha 7 degrees here this am.

Forecast for this Sunday & Monday...below zero with -20 wind chill. Record lows with another 4 to 6 inches of snow.

Hard to believe with the Arkansas border less than 50 miles away.

SE Ohio
Member
# Posted: 3 Jan 2014 14:55
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Visited my Ohio cabin over New Years, and didn't need ice in the cooler... The cooler sat outside and the frozen shrimp remained just that until I made stir fry with my 7-year-old New Year's eve. Even after the cabin warmed up for a few days, the dish soap by the window refused to leave the container.

Next Tuesday the high will be in the single digits, coldest since I got the cabin a few years ago. My food cans will get a workout. Wish I had left them all in the shower instead of the cabinets!

SandyR
Member
# Posted: 3 Jan 2014 20:41 - Edited by: SandyR
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I would have never thought about not leaving my canned goods out there! Now I know.

So, we are planning on putting our ancient ice box to use at the cabin. Are you saying that I can put some canned goods inside the ice box before we leave and that will keep them from freezing while we aren't there??

Our high today in NY was in the single digits and the weather men are saying high of 0 on Tuesday. Brrr

MtnDon
Member
# Posted: 3 Jan 2014 21:48 - Edited by: MtnDon
Reply 


Quoting: SandyR
Are you saying that I can put some canned goods inside the ice box before we leave and that will keep them from freezing while we aren't there??


It will slow down the cooling and the freezing.
How long between occupancies, between times when the place is heated?

A cooler, ice box or refrigerator/freezer has insulation in the walls. The only thing that any insulation does is slow down the cooling. Insulation alone does not make something inanimate warmer. Insulation simply stops the movement of heat. FYI, heat always moves from the warm side to the cold side. An insulated jacket keeps us warm as it slows down the loss of heat from our body to the cold air. Insulation around a can of beans or whatever also slows down the heat loss, but the can of beans is not making heat like out body does.

It's not magic. Left long enough in freezing temperatures the contents of the 'box' will freeze. As was mentioned somewhere above the presence of salt, sugar etc can lower the freezing point, so some canned foods take colder temperatures to freeze.


The only thing I have found that works to prevent freezing is to basically bury the food (as in our underground food locker with insulated lid.). That is the only long term thing that does not include some method of heating with electric, gas, solar....

turkeyhunter
Member
# Posted: 4 Jan 2014 15:26
Reply 


I
Quoting: MtnDon
A cooler, ice box or refrigerator/freezer has insulation in the walls


any my Yeti coolers do it well!!!!

and I am not using all of mine since winter is over....put your can good in a Yeti and they will be fine
http://store.yeticoolers.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Yeti+Bran d&gclid=CJDb-tis5bsCFcFj7AodVh8A1w

SandyR
Member
# Posted: 4 Jan 2014 19:33
Reply 


Thanks for the clarification Makes sense.

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