The first person to actually use a can to preserve food, using the same process developed by Appert, was from England by the name of Peter Durand. In 1810 he got a patent for his work. Apperts earlier formula used glass jars, which during transit where very easy to break. Durand use tin coated steel canisters soldered shut. This was the first actual can. Yet he used the same basic process. His work was the birth of meat in a can. He began to can food commercially and this is when canned food became somewhat popular in England, and at least known of by the general public.
So what is the process by which food is canned? Well, originally Appert would put fresh foods into glass jars, corked them, and then heated them to certain temperatures, differing for different foods in different size jars. To heat the jars, he airsealed them, then stuck them in boiling water. Unknowingly, the heat killed off stuff like bacteria which would otherwise ruin the food. The seal also kept other bacteria from getting at the food. This made the early cans easy to take somewhere yet almost invulnerable to going bad.
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This page was created summer 2000
