When Did Food Start Getting Canned?

The first canning of food dates back to the early 1800s. The French army was looking for a better way to preserve food for soldiers on long campaigns.

Nicolas Appert, a French chef, developed the first method of preserving food by boiling it in glass jars and sealing the lids with cork and wax. Soon after, he published a book describing his process and claiming that any food could be preserved using this method.

It wasn’t until 1810 that Englishman Peter Durand patented his own version of Appert’s process. Durand’s method involved using tin cans sealed with a lead solder.

This was a much more reliable form of preservation than Appert’s glass containers, as the metal cans could be easily transported without breaking or shattering. This form of canning quickly caught on in the UK and spread across Europe.

In 1825, Henry Evans improved upon Durand’s process by adding an airtight soldering technique to the cans. This allowed for much longer shelf life than Durand’s cans had been able to provide before. Though Evans’ method was revolutionary at the time, it was still not automated – each can had to be manually soldered shut.

In 1846-47, two Americans – John Hall and Ezra Warner – patented their own versions of canned food preservation methods. Hall used iron cans coated with an enamel paint for extra protection from corrosion and oxidation, while Warner created a tin can opener that made opening canned foods much easier than before.

Conclusion:

Canned food has been around since the early 1800s when Nicolas Appert discovered a process for preserving food by boiling it in glass jars. Since then tin cans have become increasingly popular due to their ability to be easily transported without breaking or shattering. In 1846-47 two Americans patented their own versions of canned food preservation methods – John Hall with enamel-coated iron cans and Ezra Warner with an easy-to-use tin can opener – leading to even greater popularity of this form of preserved foods.