Peter Durand

Peter Durand was a British merchant who is widely credited with receiving the first patent for the idea of preserving food using tin cans. The patent (No 3372) was granted on August 25, 1810 by King George III of England.

The patent specifies that it was issued to Peter Durand, a merchant of Hoxton Square, Middlesex, United Kingdom, for a method of preserving animal food, vegetable food and other perishable articles using various vessels made of glass, pottery, tin or other suitable metals. The preservation procedure was to fill up a vessel with food and cap it. Vegetables were to be put in raw, whereas animal substances might either be raw or half-cooked. Then the whole item was to be heated by any means, such as an oven, stove or a steam bath, but most conveniently by immersing in water and boiling it. The boiling time was not specified, and was said to depend on the food and vessel size. Neither was the patent clear on the preservation time, which was merely said to be "long". The cap was to be partly open during the whole heating and cooling procedure, but right after that, the vessel should be sealed airtight by any means, such as a cork plug, a screw-cap with a rubber seal, cementing, etc.

In his patent, Durand clearly mentions that the idea of the invention was communicated to him more than a year ago by a friend abroad. The patent itself consists of two distinct parts: first, the description of the original idea, and second, observations by Durand himself. Durand was clearly suspicious of the invention. However, having a curious mind, he performed a thorough test of it by himself, sealing meat, soups and milk, and boiling them as described. The original inventor had only experimented with small food volumes, whereas Durand envisioned future large scale production and therefore preserved up to 30 pounds (13.6 kg) of meat in one can. For unknown reasons, Durand used only tin cans rather than glass vessels. He arranged for the cans to sail with the Royal Navy for a period of four to six months. Several members of the Royal Society and the Royal Institution examined the food upon its arrival, and found that it was perfectly preserved.

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