Review: Shelf Reliance Cansolidator Pantry

By now I’m sure all of our readers have had time to gawk at the wonderful photos in previous posts showing large shelving units with impressive amounts of canned foods with a nice rotation system built in.  These Shelf Reliance products are favorites of the folks around here.  A wonderful local company delivering something we all love. But let’s face it.  Not all of us have room for a large shelving unit, or maybe we just cant afford it.  Better yet, maybe you’re like me and you have one, but you also really need a way to rotate a few cans that are in your kitchen too.  And as impressive as the rack is, it just doesn’t quite match the decor of the kitchen.

Enter two other products made by the same company, the Cansolidator ‘Cupboard’, and the ‘Pantry’.  Two smaller sized roller systems designed for use in your kitchen/pantry/closet.

These two products fill the niche discussed, where you need to provide some rotational storage inside your house, or for a much lower cost than a full rack.  Made out of a higher-density plastic, they provide an adjustable frame which you can alter to fit different can sizes (tuna fish, tomato paste, soup, etc.).  The Cansolidators can then be attached to each other, or stacked for increased storage.

Putting them together is a ‘snap’, literally. The box contains two types of parts, which connect together with snaps.  Once attached, the device is quite strong, but not something you’d be standing on.  More than strong enough for the cans you put in there though.  As you can see in the picture, the actual can width allowed (from normal perspective) is a fixed amount, unlike the larger roller systems, so yo won’t be adjusting this for #10 cans.  It does however hold all your normal sizes that you would normally keep in your pantry.

In the picture on the right, you can see the snap grid you use for sizing.  You should be able to make out the small numbers that help with making sure you get things lined up correctly.  This is important to your sanity!  It’s quite annoying to set up something like this, only to have your cans not actually roll properly because you didn’t take the time to make sure you snapped in the right position, pinching your cans.  This takes out the hard work of counting X spots from the right to snap in for your third row :)  Just align the numbers.

Putting the system together really is nothing more than a couple minutes work.  No tools whatsoever are needed, and you really don’t want to try to do anything like gluing this together (I had somebody ask that already).  Why? because it’s very simple to disassemble, or reset to fit different cans, if you need.

Fitting to the cans you want is the hardest part of the whole setup, and it’s not a problem of fitting the cans, but deciding which ones you want to put in there. Fitting the cans can be as simple as setting one in, then grabbing the next piece. Just remember, until all the pieces are in (especially the top braces), the structure *will* be wobbly. It depends on the whole thing being put together, to really get its strength.

So which do you want? Well, where are you planning on putting this, and how many cans do you need?  The names really do fit the location you will be using them, the folks at Shelf Reliance put some good thought into their measurements.  Just check out the sizes here to see.  The ones shown in my pictures are the larger “Pantry” model.

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Cupboard:

• 20 cans
• 9.75″ x 10.5″

Pantry:

• 40 cans
• 10.75″ x 16.5″

Summary:

The Cansolidator line is a great product for people who need:

1. A little more can rotation
2. Want to try out can rotation
3. Are in a tighter budget
4. Need rotation in their existing pantry or cupboards

Would I buy again?  Well, as you can see in the next picture, I have.  Even with a full roller rack at my house, these helped bring more commonly used items closer to the kitchen where they are used.  The spaces can be adjusted to fit the odd-sized cans we need (such as the tomato paste, and diced chiles in the picture).  While not as industrially-strong as a full metal rack, they are sufficiently strong for their needs, as long as you aren’t trying to move them with the cans still inside (would you really try?).  They hold a very useful amount of cans for rotation in the house.

For buying them, I know Wal-Marts around us regularly carry them, and Costco usually does too.  Of course, you can also order directly from them at the Shelf Reliance website.  They’ve even passed along a discount code to readers, 20% off MSRP for your whole order (Sans already discounted multi-packs).  Just use the coupon code PREP20, and give it a try.

Have you tried these too, or are you planning on getting one?  We’d love to hear in the comments.