Pantry Preparedness – Assurance Through Preparation

I've been working on getting an adequate supply of food storage for my family of 5. I'm not at all a pro with canning and such, so I wanted to take some easy and common-sense steps. I decided to buy a large rack for canned foods to have in my garage so I can store off-the-shelf canned foods. After doing a lot of research online, I was shocked at how hard it was to find an extra-large standing can rack system with a large amount of storage. On Amazon, I found countless can organizers for inside a pantry to hold 10 to 15 cans, but I needed something that would hold hundreds of cans so that we could have an adequate food storage supply. In the end, I chose the pantry can system from Thrive which has a capacity of 375 cans. It is 24" deep and 75" tall. The cost was $299 and it is built extremely well, with a smart system for loading and unloading the cans so you always grab the oldest can from the front. However, there are also quite a few other can rack storage systems available, so before we get into the details of the Thrive system, we need to see if Thrive is even the best on the market. Thrive Versus the Other Can Rack Storage System Options There are actually far fewer options for large storage can racks than you may think. While I first started looking, I thought there would be plenty of options on the market, but I was surprised to find that there actually are not. Your biggest decision is if you want to go with Thrive, or if you want to go with one of the commercial solutions for a commercial kitchen. The problem with many of the commercial kitchen Solutions is that they are not designed to fit some of the small cans that you will find in the home store solutions. Commercial kitchens generally use large number 10 cans exclusively, and so they weren't won't work well for small can such does tomato paste work cans of tuna. However there are still some good solutions to consider, so let's take a look. Channel Manufacturing CSR-9 The Channel Manufacturing can rack storage system is a very solidly built option and only slightly more expensive than the Thrive 72. It fits both #10 and #5 cans, but it won't work for the smaller cans that many homes will purchase for cooking. Having said that, it's a solid choice. Check out the CSR-9 here. New Age 1250CK The New Age has one feature that is handy, but also could possibly be a liability for those using it in a home setting. It's set on very large and tough wheels. The trouble with the wheels is that while it would be perfect for moving it around a commercial kitchen, I personally see a little danger of it tipping in a home setting with children. If your kids are like mine, they'd turn that thing into a push toy immediately. Check Out the New Age 1250CK here. I'm sure there are many other options for you to consider, but I wasn't able to find others that could work for a home setting for storing food in a pantry or garage. Difficulty of Assembly Overall, I am quite happy with the result of this can system. However, there were a few things that were quite daunting. After I first took the system out of the box, I was shocked at how difficult it was to assemble. It took me about an hour to assemble because the directions were unclear at times. However, I have had much worse installs than this one. It wasn't horrible, but there were a few steps where I was left scratching my head and wondering if I would be able to figure this out. The part of the assembly process that was most annoying was putting together the plastic can holders. You have to reach back and hook them onto a little knob and it takes quite a bit of time. I felt like this was a poor design for assembly even if it turned out fine once completed. The fact that this thing can store everything from huge #10 cans down to tiny tuna and tomato paste cans makes it very versatile so it can handle everything we throw at it. Okay, we don't actually throw the cans at it. That would be foolish. Build Quality The build quality of this unit is absolutely fantastic. It is extremely sturdy and built with metal on all of this structure surrounding the storage area. The storage racks themselves with the cans are made of plastic, but they are quite sturdy and I don't think we will ever have any reliability issues. Depending on the unit you choose, the amount of cans that it stores will differ. I chose the 24in version of this can rack system, and it stores up to 375 cans. However, if you choose the 18-inch version of this can system you can only store 250. The Thrive 72 comes in both black and white, which I appreciate since I like the clean white aesthetic for my garage (which stays fairly well temperature-controlled throughout the year), where I store the cans. Cost I felt that the price of this can rack system was a little high, but I wasn't disappointed with the quality. I did wish that I could find a less expensive version for about the same price, but I wasn't able to find anything looking online. I did think it was a little cheap that they charged me $21 for shipping, given that this was an expensive $300 order. Dear internet retailers, we expect you to pay your own cost of delivering your products to your customers. I know that sometimes Costco has can rack systems available for sale and they will likely be cheaper, but I looked and looked and couldn't find anything at the time I was ready to buy. I spent about two hours searching online for an extra large size can rack system like this one, and this is the only one I could find that was intended for home use and wasn't on Wheels like most of the commercial systems are.

Most Recent Artices