Dented or damaged tinned bits

suki1964

Dented tins I don't have a problem with

Those with a crease , I wouldn't touch

comeandgo

Last month my local supermarket had a large area dedicated to bashed and dented tins, all a fraction of original price, ie ten pence for tinned tomatoes and 25 pence for coconut milk oh and some soups. I bought loads of tinned tomatoes, going for the more expensive brands. I've now discovered that £1 original tin of tomatoes is far far superior to the 35p ones.

Mr_Singleton

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

Usually a tiny pin hole in the metal or a tiny split in the seam and it's enough to let the organism in and get to work.

I’m kinda guessing that you’d know pretty quickly if a tin was bad when you open it.

Mr_Singleton

comeandgo wrote: »

I've now discovered that £1 original tin of tomatoes is far far superior to the 35p ones.

You can’t say that!

AndyCF

Thanks all for the replies so far.

Two interesting points that were posted I noted (apart from the ones I've commented on)

'creased' vs 'dented' , this is a very good point indeed! , I will mention again if the 'ding' itself was on the jointing line I'd not take it regardless.

Well known branded vs not , this is again a good point. Something that has been festering in a local shop cellar for months etc. I'm not sure if the quality of the 'bare can' itself varies that much however there is a small story I could post about that but it was manufacturing issue rather than anything else and the tins concerned were not used for human produce.


On a different note, well kind of! I cannot recall seeing unlabelled tins in some kind of "bargain bin" either in the last 10+ years, certainly not since say the mid 80's at a guess ? I'm not sure if it happens now with the labels but I can vaguely recall seeing them 'back then' occasionally.

EDIT... I found the following two points of reference interesting too. External links so might want to right click or ctrl+click to open in a new tab/window so you don't lose your place here.

https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/food-safety-education/get-answers/food-safety-fact-sheets/safe-food-handling/shelf-stable-food-safety/ct_index/ (have to search for 'dented') , US based but I suppose the general principles apply as tins = cans = tins etc.

https://money.howstuffworks.com/personal-finance/budgeting/safe-to-buy-dented-foods-from-grocery-store.htm

I also found an old topic (2007) on this very forum with a similar subject too. That can be found here

GreenQueen

The important point is not to use a can if it's "blown" - with a convex end. That indicates that there are gases building up. Not good!

tessie_bear

im a big fan of dented tins as long as they are cheap...take care with them in your cupboard as they decline to stack....i like m and s mince in a tin very pleasant

AndyCF

The swelling is a good point, yes I'd stay well clear of any tin that even remotely looked like that had happened. Said internal contents would likely be best suited to a science lab not a kitchen!

I cannot recall seeing unlabelled tins in some kind of "bargain bin" either in the last 10+ years, certainly not since say the mid 80's at a guess ? I'm not sure if it happens now with the labels but I can vaguely recall seeing them 'back then' occasionally.

Quoting my own bit of post here but still wondered if anyone had seen any at all lately ? As per the quote it is not something I have seen for a long time. Unsure if there is some kind of rule/regulation disallowing it, then again some small local shops would not take a lot of notice of it. Around here they would not!

Discovered some 'March 2019' tins the other day when looking for something for a neighbour actually but that's another story.