Crushing A Food Pan With A Forklift

We here at Kitchen Combat fully believe in the power of forklifts. Whether it is lifting a couch to your roommate's second-story balcony or flipping a car during a riot in style, forklifts are pretty magnificent. Therefore, when we decided we needed to test the value of theCambro polycarbonate food pans, it was only natural that we thought of our sponsor's beloved forklift, Norman. You don't name your forklifts?

Norman is a 6,500 lb. Caterpillar, and inside of his cold steel exterior, there indeed does harbor a beautiful butterfly of a machine. The Cambro food pan, in contrast, weighs possibly 6 oz. and it can harbor any number of things; chicken, mac n' cheese,grilled charlies.pretty much any food product that will fit within its confines. Since they come in a variety of sizes, that could mean any variety of foods. Of course, we were a little skeptical of the durability of the Cambro food pan. It is really lightweight, first of all, and the polycarbonate is relatively thin. However, after throwing it on the ground and hitting it with a baseball bat, it was barely affected. There were a few marks on it, but no cracks, no dents, no structural effects at all.



That led me to thinking "So what the heck is polycarbonate, anyway?" Well, everyone knows its chemical makeup is 1/n [OC(OC₆H₄)₂CMe₂]_n.But what are its properties? The always reliable Wikipedia notes that a basic attribute of polycarbonates is that "Unlike most thermoplastics, polycarbonate can undergo large plastic deformations without cracking or breaking." Well, I could have told you that. It's almost as if I could be writing these Wikipedia articles.

In any case, although the food pan was ultimately rendered unusable by Norman, it put up a good fight. I firmly believe that in any kitchen, the Cambro food pan would be strong enough to stand many years of abuse. Unless, of course, Norman finds a way into your kitchen. In which case, you have bigger issues at hand.

Published by:
Ramona Weisent

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