I vaguely recall seeing self-heating cans that automatically heated up their ingredients when you opened them. When were they invented, how did they work and why didn't they take off?

lanfranco

I vaguely remembered this, too, and to my surprise, they seem still to be around. Even more surprising is this site's claim that Hiram Bingham (discoverer of Machu Picchu) was using self-heating cans back in 1909. The site has links to a couple of others I saw on self-heating coffee cans. Apparently, such cans have been problematic owing to expense and uneven heating: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-heating_can Mar 30 06, 4:47 PM

Baloo55th

Can't answer the when and how, but you can still get them. They're available at good camping shops and are rather dear and not for domestic use. However, they do save you wasting Trangia fuel when wildcamping, or when you just can't get a stove to light. It's probably a chemical pack inside that has two ingredients that give an exothermic reaction when mixed. Opening the can (or bag in the case of some) lets the two mix and heats the pack up. Basic meals - sos 'n beans, stoo and so on, and some puds. Good when you're too jiggered to face cooking up a mountain somewhere. Mar 30 06, 4:48 PM

Baloo55th

Just spotted Frankie's answer and looked at the link. That can't be THE Grace Brothers, surely... Where Mrs Slocombe worked? Mar 30 06, 4:50 PM

lanfranco

Why, I'm certain it must be. I'm sure that Mrs. Slocombe's pampered feline (can I use the word she did?) ate out of self-heating cans all the time. Mar 30 06, 5:02 PM

mementoflash

This site describes a self heating coffee, can explains how they work but not why they didn't "take off". http://www.chem.soton.ac.uk/index.htm?http://www.chem.soton.ac.uk/news/stories/coffee.htm Mar 30 06, 5:27 PM

soonappear

Around 1900 for mountaineers and explorers according to wikipedia. Mar 30 06, 7:07 PM

Baloo55th

In the Towsure catalogue, £4.25 for HotCan brand. Apart from stoo and sos 'n beans, they do Bombay Balti and veg curry now. I think the price is an indication of why they didn't take off for general sale. You can get tins of sos 'n beans for under 50p if you heat them yourself. Mar 31 06, 2:56 AM

Create a Free FunTrivia ID to add to, request more/new answers, or edit this entry

One day on breakfast TV, I vaguely recall seeing an unpleasant demonstration by Johnny Vaughan of a device that could remove all the snot from a bunged-up person's head in one go. How might it have worked and is it still for sale? I would appreciate it if somone could help me out on this one. I vaguely recall reading an article which describes how a ship used a concentrated volume of sound to ward off some pirates which were attempting to illegally board the ship, and in so doing so successfully fended the pirates off by causing them to become disorientated. What was this new technique called and how was it so effective? Why did the insect repellent lotion OFF! applied on my hands suddenly not work anymore on angry ants when I disturbed their colony? When did tin cans first get used?

1 I'll Be Seeing You This is a quiz on the book "I'll Be Seeing You" by Lurlene McDaniel. McDaniel, Lurlene Average 10 Q Jacifan May 07 03 588 plays 2 I Take My Hat Off To You - Well, Hats, Actually Headgear of all sorts crops up in this quiz. Can you select the item to suit each description? All questions are multiple-choice. Hats Tough 10 Q Philian Jun 26 03 1578 plays 3 Boy Did I Show Them Short, sweet, and all multiple choice. You pick the player who went above and beyond to prove their point. Have fun! :-) Mixed Records Challenge Difficult 10 Q Nightmare Jul 13 06 1035 plays