Can Confusion

I'm studying for my very upcoming DTR exam and have been avoiding learning about can sizes because I'm scared to memorize the various sizes and how many servings they contain.  So here's me brain dumping all I know about can sizes. 


What I found from Wikipedia, summarized
Different Sizes:
Size 7/8: one serving of 1/2 cup (weighs 4oz)
Size 1 "picnic":  2 or 3 servings totalling 1 1/4 cups (weighs 10 1/2 oz)
Size 303: 4 servings totalling 2 cups (weighs 15½ ounces)
Size 10: most widely used by food services, 25 servings totalling 13 cups (weighing 103½ ounces)
taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tin_can

I wanted to see how much each serving contained in a #10, I divided 25 by 13 and got 1.92 which wasn't helpful. When I converted the 13 c to ounces and divided that by 25 I got 4.16 oz.  So I guess it is safe to assume that each serving from a #10 can is a little over 4 oz or half a cup.  I did the same for a #303 and got a little under 4 oz (3.875 to be exact). 

I think it is also important to know that there are 6 #10 cans per case.  It came up on a practice question on my DTR study guide from the CDR.



Then I found this from fooserviceequipment.com, a very  helpful but scary chart I'm worried I will spend the next 30 hours trying to memorize...until I realized it doesn't tell you how many servings each can contains.  It would appear that most are 4 oz servings, but I don't want to assume that and be wrong.

Can Sizes
8 ounces	8 ounces	1 cup
Picnic	10-1/2 to 12 ounces	1-1/4 cups
12 ounces vacuum	12 ounces	1-1/2 cups
#1	11 ounces	1-1/3 cup
#1 tall	16 ounces	2 cups
#1 square	16 ounces	2 cups
#2	1 pound 4 ounces or 1 pint 2 fluid ounces	2-1/2 cups
#2-1/2	1 pound 13 ounces	3-1/2 cups
#2-1/2 square	31 ounces	scant 4 cups
#3		4 cups
#3 squat		2-3/4 cups
#5		7-1/3 cups
#10		13 cups
#300	14 to 16 ounces	1-3/4 cups
#303	16 to 17 ounces	2 cups
Baby food jar	3-1/2 to 8 ounces	depends on size
Condensed milk	15 ounces	1-1/3 cups
Evaporated milk	6 ounces	2/3 cup
Evaporated milk	14-1/2 ounces	1-2/3 cups
Frozen juice concentrate	6 ounces	3/4 cup

taken from http://www.foodserviceequipment.com/PROLINK-WEB/cookingconversion3.htm#Can Sizes and Equivalents

Then I stumbled upon this beautifully organized rectangle of numbers and measurements on the same website.  I wish I could spend a couple hours in a tattoo parlour getting it inked onto my forearm in about 4 pt Arial font.  I really did.  Until I realized it would be about as attractive as a tramp stamp on my lower back and unless I planned on limiting my dating to fry cooks or dishwashers it would not help my game.  Sigh.  I'll try to mentally ink it into my cranium for now.

Common American Can Sizes
Size Number	Weight	Cups	Servings
1/4	4 oz	1/2	1
3/8	6 oz	3/4	1
1/2	8 oz	1	2
1 picnic	10 1/2 oz	1 1/4	2 - 3
211	12 oz	1 1/2	3 - 4
300	13 1/2 oz	1 3/4-2	3 - 4
303	15 1/2 oz	2	4
2	20 oz	2 1/2	5
2 1/2	28 1/2 oz	3 1/2	7
3	33 1/2 oz	4 1/4	8
3 cylinder	46 oz	5 3/4	10-12
5	56 oz	7	14
10	103 1/2 oz	13	25

taken from http://www.foodserviceequipment.com/PROLINK-WEB/CookingConversion2.htm

I have a hard time getting myself to memorize this, because form my experience at where I work now, the DTR does not deal with cans and measurements.  There is a food service director that does this instead.  However, I will admit that I have seen one of the DTR's do projects analysing current recipes for kcal counts and she has to go through every ingredient and figure out serving sizes.  Still, she would refer to a chart like this and not her memory.  Even at a previous food service job at the Children's Center we were able to refer to a chart just like this attached to the wall above the prep area. 

ANYWAYS instead of whining, I need to spend my time MEMORIZING and STUDYING.  Here's a practice problem I encountered on the practice test from the CDR:


How many cases of #10 cans of green beans are needed to serve 285 1/2 c portions?

First of all, if you don't know how many #10 cans come in a case, you're screwed.  We know that there are 6 per case, so we can move on with our calculations instead of blindly picking answer C.

Secondly, we know that each can contains 13 cups or 104 oz.  We need a total of 1,140 oz.  1,140/104=10.96 or rounded up 11 #10 cans. That means we need 2 cases since each contain 6 cans.  

(The study guide attacked the problem a little differently, they said that since each can has 25 servings, multiply 6 cans by 25 servings to get 150 servings per case.  Since you need 285 servings total, you would need 2 cases.)

So what do we need to memorize after doing this problem?  
There are 6 #10 cans per case
Each #10 can contains 13 cups or 25 1/2 c servings


How many #10 cans of green beans must be bought to make 200 1/2 c servings?

We know that each can has 25 1/2 c servings, 200/25=8.  8 #10 cans


A 2oz portion of beans is needed per servings.  How many #10 cans should be ordered if making 235 burritos and each can weighs 5 lbs?

We need 470 oz or 29.375 lbs total.  Rounding that up to 30 lbs, we would need 6 #10 cans at 5 lbs each.

This question didn't require anything memorized, just basic math.  How nice!