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Wouldn’t it be so much easier and space-saving if you could store cans on their sides instead of upright? Why, yes, yes it would be. And you know what? You can! Pun totally intended.
There are is no harmful effects of storing canned foods on their sides. The expiration date and can integrity will remain the same. New cans are built to be stored in any direction you so choose. So it’s no big deal if you want to keep a bunch of cans on a door rack for easy access.
There are exceptions however that you should know about before you go and turn everything in your pantry on its side.
Glass jars, such as those that spaghetti sauce comes in, should never be placed on their side long term. These jars are sealed with only a vacuum seal and a slight twist on the action, and will eventually succumb to having food pressed up against the lid.
The same can be said for cans with easy lift tops. These are considered much weaker than their full seal needs a can opener counterpart. When laid on their side for too long, they could start to corrode and eat through the scored metal.
When deciding whether it’s a good idea to store your cans on the side, You need to figure if it’s appropriate for the space you have. Stacking cans in this manner on a flat square pantry will not end with you being able to add more cans. On the contrary, storing them in this way means you will be able to fit fewer cans than having them stacked on top of each other.
So why would someone want to do this?
For a variety of reasons. If your a prepper or any sort of long-term storage fanatic, You know the importance of working out an older product and replacing it with a newer product. If you’re using a rolling shelf for your cans, this process becomes a lot easier. That cans will come out in the same order as they were put in.
This also allows you to expand the usable space on your pantry door by installing a can roller. Very similar to something you would see on a mini-fridge for soda, these screw into your pantry door with ease and give plenty more space for your cans. Assuming you are able to close the door that is.
But you won’t be getting any extra space doing this in a normal pantry and it’s best to continue stacking can’s like normal.
If you would like to learn how to build your own vertical can organizer for your pantry door, head over to ana-white.com who has some amazing instructions on how to build an incredible DIY can organizer.
