SC - Bulgy tomato cans

[THLRenata at aol.com]

Ah memories...

Mordona writes:

>>I never buy canned goods unless I examine each can individually.  Any dents
in
the outside of the can can mean cracks in the lining that can cause spoilage.
If it has any kind of a dent, I put it back.<<

When I was a kid, my grandfather was in what we liked to call the "used food"
business but what he really did was buy cases of cans where one had burst and
soiled the label on the rest. Stores couldn't sell these distressed cans, so
Grampa bought them and sold them to institutuions, where pretty didn't matter.

He also bought dented, mislabelled and label-less cans. We had lots of canned
goods around the house, and it was always a thrill to open one and see if the
contents were what we thought they were. The worst was unlabelled 6 1/2
ouncers -- were they tuna or cat food? ;)

Many of the cans were distressed enough that their seals were compromised and
so I learned to tell if a can should be discarded unopen long before I learned
to cook. Strangley enough, since Grampa retired, I have never had a can bulge
on me.

Grampa also bought discontinued and test market items. Has anyone out there
ever had Toaster Bacon? This was a little foil packet kept frozen, then popped
into a toaster set on high. Open the packet and voila! four strips of
perfectly (well, OK) cooked bacon! No muss, no fuss.

Renata
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