to wonder why baked beans and the like come in round tins, when square ones would make much more sense.

[AwesomePan]

Square ones would make all of the packaging and transporting and storing so much easier and cheaper than having round ones. There isn't any 'freshness' or refrigeration issues, just storing issues. Tea comes in square tins, often.

I know there are more urgent and pressing matters to attend to, such as BGT and events in Yemani, but does anyone know the answer to this?

[bibbitybobbityhat]

Easier to open a round tin with a tin opener.

[bibbitybobbityhat]

Easier to manufacture round tin.

[chicletteeth]

Difficult to open a square tin with a tin opener methinks.
Not all tins have pull off tops, but everybody has a tin opener

[pinkhebe]

how would you open a square tin with a tinopener? (or am I being really thick )

[seaweedhead]

Aren't round ones easier to open though? Unless they have a ring pull of course...

[CMOTdibbler]

Its much easier to make round/cylindrical tins than square ones

[seaweedhead]

Ooooh! Great minds think alike eh?

[HazeltheMcWitch]

...also a cylindrical tin is much stronger than a square one (with same materials) would be.

[AwesomePan]

hmm..but just about all tinned fish have ring-pulls, and are square'ish. The costs saved by transporting and storing square ones would easily outstrip the cost of putting ring pulls on. Shurely.

[LemonEmmaP]

You get more volume of beans in a round tin than a square one that uses same amount of tin. So it's cheaper to make round tins. I guess someone has worked out that tin saved is more than packing/storing/transporting costs.

[chicletteeth]

No they don't.
None of my tuna tins do!
Cylindrical tins stronger, easier to shape during production too

[Glitterknickaz]

manufacturing process is easier with cylinder and rigidity is better with a cylinder

[AwesomePan]

hazel - is that to keep those feisty beans inside the tin???

why is making round ones cheaper? Same process, same material, same size.

[hobbgoblin]

Corners are dead space.

[chicletteeth]

Snap Hazel

[jenniec79]

Round tin uses less metal for the same volume - ie cheaper material cost
Corners make stress risers so more likely to fail - not too much of a problem with tea as not preserved in the tin, but with beans etc could be dangerous not just messy (eg if botulism got in)

[chicletteeth]

Why would it be the same size?
What do you mean? The same volume?

If you make a square tin, you have to be able to bend the metal into place at right angle repeatedly then join the whole thing

Cylindrical ones, you just roll

Like you said, BGT is probably more important than this

[diddl]

Wouldn´t it be harder to get everything (liquid) out of a square tine?

Harder to scrape?

Also-the tea caddies are meant to be reusable?

[AwesomePan]

ah, stress riser makes sense.

not sure about corners being dead space INSIDE the tin. Certainly outside re all of that space wasted due to he roundness.

[katvond]

WTF

[chicletteeth]

Well awesome my guess it Heinz and the like have probably considered this once.
Decided it wasn't going to b a money-saver and indeed would perhaps be a money-drainer and have decided proceed with cylindrical ones.

Tetrapaks however?

[AwesomePan]

why would it be harder to get stuff out (liquid esp.) and why is scraping a round tine better than a square tin? Wit ha square one you get the stuff literally cornered.

[chicletteeth]

decided to proceed

[chicletteeth]

Can't fit a flipping spoon into the corner of a tin can you?

[AwesomePan]

chic - oh I know about Heinz et al having looked at this already maybe ( but you never know) - bit the reason why we use space-wasting round tins re storing and transporting them isn't so obv.

The stress thing on lining points makes most sense.

All of the other answers are just from a point of prejudice against square things.....