Question about US cans of food

[caseydog]

"contents without the can"
If it is green beans, I thought net weight was the beans without the can or the water. Is that correct? Or have I had it wrong my whole life?

I'm pretty sure it is all of the contents without the can or other packaging.

CD

 

[blissful]

I'm pretty sure it is all of the contents without the can or other packaging.

CD

I think I learned that it was just the solids, whatever didn't fall through a 'net'. lol I was probably 10. I never tested it, so I assumed (a bad thing!) it to be true. Thanks. I did google it, they say the same thing you did, net includes any liquid and the solids. Now I know.

 

[larry_stewart]

Maybe someone in the US can measure the volume of an empty can and tell me how much it is and how many ounces it said on the can?

Filled a 15.5 Oz can ( of beans) with water and poured into a measuring cup. Just shy of 2 cups.

 

[taxlady]

If I have a recipe that is in grams and milliliters, I use those measures, and have zero difficulty with it. If the recipe calls for cups and ounces, I can deal with that, too. I just do what the recipe tells me to do. I'm thinking that if a recipe calls for a 15 ounce can of beans, it is referring to a can of beans that says "15 ounces" on the label.

Is the real point of this tread point out how US weights and measures are stupid? That seems to be a trend, lately.

CD

No, the real point of the thread isn't that US units are stupid. The point is that I cannot just go to the store and buy a 15 oz can of beans. They don't sell beans that way here in Quebec. I don't think they do in the rest of Canada either. I buy beans measured in ml. The cannellini beans that are imported from Italy come in 398 ml cans. Most beans I buy come in 540 ml cans. But, I don't know if that 15 oz can of beans in the US recipe is 15 oz by weight or if it is 15 fl. oz. Is that almost 2 cups of beans or is it almost 1 pound of beans?

 

[taxlady]

Yep, but the label also says 425g, which is metric, and is a weight measurement, not liquid. But, I get the point. Archaic US measurements shouldn't be on the label at all. It should be metric only.

CD

I have no issue with listing the measurement in both US and metric measure. I still won't know how much volume that can holds, if I only get a weight measurement. It could be a US recipe that called for a 425 gram can of beans and I wouldn't know what that is in volume measurements on the cans I can buy around here.

 

[taxlady]

Filled a 15.5 Oz can ( of beans) with water and poured into a measuring cup. Just shy of 2 cups.

Thank you very much. That is exactly the information I needed.

Looking closely at your photo, it appears that 439 grams of beans fills pretty darned close to 439 ml 448 ml. That will make the arithmetic fairly easy.

 

[taxlady]

Typically, weight is listed as OZ and volume is listed as FL OZ for fluid ounces.

Unfortunately, that info might be obvious to someone in the US. It is not as likely that someone who doesn't live in the US would know what is typical. But, it is useful info. Thank you.

 

[dragnlaw]

I'm pretty sure that who ever wrote the recipe is does not know either. You make a recipe and use a can of 15 oz. then you list it as such. As I'm pretty sure they didn't empty the can and measure or weigh it.

 

[dcSaute]

cans are filled/labeled/sold by weight - in ounces
not fluid ounces .
rough guidelines, but the content does affect the volume:weight

• Can Size Number​
• Approximate Volume of Food​
• Approximate Weight of Food​
• No. 1 picnic / 1-1/4 cups / 10 1/2 to 12 ounces​
• No. 300 / 1-3/4 cups / 14 to 16 ounces​
• No. 303 / 2 cups / 16 to 17 ounces​
• No. 2 / 2-1/2 cups / 20 ounces​
• No. 2-1/2 / 3-1/2 cups / 27 to 29 ounces​
• No. 3 / 5-3/4 cups / 51 ounces​
• No. 10 / 3 quarts / 6 1/2 pounds to 7 pounds and 5 ounces​

 

[dcSaute]

a more detail list - the "Volume" is in fluid ounces

Numbered Can Size	Cans Sizes in Inches	Volume	Equivalents
#1 Picnic	211⁄16 x 4	11 oz.	1 1/3 cups
#1 Tall	31⁄16 x 411⁄16	16 oz.	2 cups
#2	37⁄16 x 49⁄16	1 lb. 4 oz.	2 1/2 cups
#2.5	41⁄16 x 411⁄16	1 lb. 13 oz.	3 1/2 cups
#3		33 1/2 oz.	4 1/4 cups
#3 Cylinder	41⁄4 x 7	46 oz.	5 3/4 cups
#5	51⁄8 x 55⁄8	56 oz.	7 1/3 cups
#6Z	22⁄16 x 31⁄2	6.08 oz	2/3 cup
#8Z short (8 oz can)	211⁄16 x 3	7.93 oz	1 cup (+, -)
#10	63⁄16 x 7	6 1/2 lbs. (104 oz.) to 7 lbs. 5 oz. (117 oz.)	13 cups
#211	211⁄16 x 414⁄16	12 oz.	1 1/2 cups
#300	3 x 47⁄16	14 to 16 oz.	1 3/4 cups
#303	33⁄16 x 43⁄8	16 to 17 oz.	2 cups
Picnic (see#1 above)	211⁄16 x 4	10 1/2 to 12 ounces	1 1/4 cups
Less Common Sized Cans
#1 Juice		13 oz.	1 5/8 cups
#1 Square		16 oz.	2 cups
#2.5 Square		31 oz.	scant 4 cups
#3 Squat		23 oz.	2 3/4 cups

 

[Andy M.]

a more detail list - the "Volume" is in fluid ounces

Numbered Can Size	Cans Sizes in Inches	Volume	Equivalents
#1 Picnic	211⁄16 x 4	11 oz.	1 1/3 cups
#1 Tall	31⁄16 x 411⁄16	16 oz.	2 cups
#2	37⁄16 x 49⁄16	1 lb. 4 oz.	2 1/2 cups
#2.5	41⁄16 x 411⁄16	1 lb. 13 oz.	3 1/2 cups
#3		33 1/2 oz.	4 1/4 cups
#3 Cylinder	41⁄4 x 7	46 oz.	5 3/4 cups
#5	51⁄8 x 55⁄8	56 oz.	7 1/3 cups
#6Z	22⁄16 x 31⁄2	6.08 oz	2/3 cup
#8Z short (8 oz can)	211⁄16 x 3	7.93 oz	1 cup (+, -)
#10	63⁄16 x 7	6 1/2 lbs. (104 oz.) to 7 lbs. 5 oz. (117 oz.)	13 cups
#211	211⁄16 x 414⁄16	12 oz.	1 1/2 cups
#300	3 x 47⁄16	14 to 16 oz.	1 3/4 cups
#303	33⁄16 x 43⁄8	16 to 17 oz.	2 cups
Picnic (see#1 above)	211⁄16 x 4	10 1/2 to 12 ounces	1 1/4 cups
Less Common Sized Cans
#1 Juice		13 oz.	1 5/8 cups
#1 Square		16 oz.	2 cups
#2.5 Square		31 oz.	scant 4 cups
#3 Squat		23 oz.	2 3/4 cups

Are these can numbers marked on the can or the can label?

 

[taxlady]

Are these can numbers marked on the can or the can label?

I'm pretty sure they aren't. When I was trying to get answers from the internet, the commentary I saw implied that people were trying to figure out what the can sizes meant. That much of the reason for this kind of charts was to help people translate old recipes that listed some ingredient quantities by can size.

 

[taxlady]

I'm pretty sure that who ever wrote the recipe is does not know either. You make a recipe and use a can of 15 oz. then you list it as such. As I'm pretty sure they didn't empty the can and measure or weigh it.

Hmm, I just had a thought. The recipe that got me on this quest again is from The Washington Post. They have a note in their recipe newsletters about how to contact them with questions about recipes. I may just ask them. They better know. They are supposedly professional recipe developers.

 

[dcSaute]

never seen the can size printed on the label . . . back in the 'old days' it was sometimes debossed on the top or bottom - but that's rare now-a-days.

 

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

All rightie then. I just happened to open a can of corn last night to put in my cornbread. The label says NT WT 15 oz (425g). Therefore, because the metric equivalent was in grams, not millileters, I am assuming the contents must be by weight, not volume.

 

[dcSaute]

"NT WT" = "Net Weight"

 

[Aunt Bea]

The only problem/question/frustration I’ve had with can size are the recipes in old church cookbooks when it simply says a can of tuna, tomatoes, etc…

Due to the shrinkflation of the last 50-75 years it might require two cans of tuna today.

 

[Andy M.]

The only problem/question/frustration I’ve had with can size are the recipes in old church cookbooks when it simply says a can of tuna, tomatoes, etc…

Due to the shrinkflation of the last 50-75 years it might require two cans of tuna today.

That's a fact! In my lifetime tuna has dropped from 7 Oz to 5 Oz per can and Tomatoes from 35 Oz to 28 Oz.

 

[Silversage]

Typically, weight is listed as OZ and volume is listed as FL OZ for fluid ounces.

This.

 

[caseydog]

The only problem/question/frustration I’ve had with can size are the recipes in old church cookbooks when it simply says a can of tuna, tomatoes, etc…

A lot of really old recipes, especially the old church-lady cookbook recipes, are bad about that.

CD