# Will canned goods explode in the trunk of your car?



## stef (Sep 14, 2002)

Come on now, you said there are no "stupid" questions. 

Sometimes, when I shop for storage, I leave some of the canned goods in the trunk of my car. 

Might be because I'm too tired to trek everything in at that time, or I don't want prying eyes to see what I'm doing. 

You know.

But, when it gets this cold (teens and single digets) could the canned stuff explode? 

I'm only talking about food items, not soda pop.


stef


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## mellowguy (Jul 8, 2009)

It depends on what you mean by exploding. We forgot food in our camping trailer over the winter a couple of years ago:

- Beer bottles in the fridge popped open, did not break
- Cans of soda in the fridge fizzled open, did not "explode"
- Some cans of food bulged up and did not leak (we threw them out anyway)
- some cans bulged up and leaked (did not "explode")

A can freezes too slow to literally explode. If freezing doesn't cause the can to fail, I'd be careful keeping it for long-term storage.


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## -TWO- (Mar 25, 2008)

Liquid expands when it freezes. Canned good may not explode, but the expanding contents will break the seal of the can and the food will spoil when it thaws.


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## FourDeuce (Jun 27, 2002)

The pop-top cans are not nearly as strong as the regular cans, and will come open much easier. The cold isn't the only thing you have to watch, though, as the heat in a hot car can cause them to leak, too.


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## zito (Dec 21, 2006)

I don't know if this would qualify as an explosion, but, we had a 2kg (approx 4 1/2 lbs) can of fruit cocktail burst when it was forgotten for several hours in the back of an extended cab pickup in minus 30-ish C weather. The can split the long ways up and down, but not where the seam was, surprisingly enough. Nothing flew/leaked/oozed out more than about 6-8 inches or so though.


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## -TWO- (Mar 25, 2008)

FourDeuce said:


> The pop-top cans are not nearly as strong as the regular cans, and will come open much easier. The cold isn't the only thing you have to watch, though, as the heat in a hot car can cause them to leak, too.



Yeah. To much heat will do the trick. Reminds me of back when I worked in the woods. In the winter we'd bring cans of soup or beans or what ever to heat by the landing fire at lunch time. At first we'd punch a hole in the can until someone figured out the contents would heat lots faster if you didn't punch a hole in the can. Sort of like a mini pressure cooker. When the can started to bulge we'd grab it (with gloves on) and shake it up good and put it back on the fire. After 2 or 3 times you had a piping hot meal. Every once in awhile someone would be in the middle of a story or just wasn't paying attention and, Boom! Scalding hot food and shrapnal from the can flying everywhere. Luckily noone ever got an eye put out.


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