Tuesday, January 21, 2014

No 2 can, No 300 can What does that mean????

We all love to cook right?! We all have cookbooks old and new with measurements in cups, teaspoons, tablespoons, pinch of that- oh not so much that measurement! Well what do you do when a recipe says a No 2 can of peas? Huh, when did cans go by numbers instead of Lbs(pounds) and Ounces? Well a long time ago if you were born before 1960 or thereabout cans were numbered according to the amount in cups and weight of the contents. I guess before that cooks used scales to measure their ingredients, oh yes in the early days of our forefathers( mothers) they really did weigh the ingredients, how do you figure Pound Cake got it's name? One pound of sugar, one pound of butter and so forth.
I digress, so I found a handy dandy chart online that tells you exactly what those numbers mean!Yea!

Here is the chart-

How to Interpret Can Sizes

Some favorite older recipes may call for can sizes such as a Number 2 or a Number 303 can.
Here's a chart to help you determine how these correspond to current can
measurements.
Can Size Number -Approximate Volume of Food-(Approximate Weight of Food)
No. 1 picnic           1 ¼ cups                                  (10 ½ to 12 ounces)
No. 300                  1 ¾ cups                                  (14 to 16 ounces )
No. 303                  2 cups                                      (16 to 17 ounces)
No. 2                      2 ½ cups                                  (20 ounces)
No. 2 ½                  3 ½ cups                                  (27 to 29 ounces)
No. 3                      5 ¾ cups                                  (51 ounces )
No. 10                    3 quarts                                   (6 ½ pounds to 7 pounds and 5 ounces)


 The original sight link: