In the food processing and canning industry there has long been a requirement for heating and cooling the canned product. Various types of equipment have long existed for such thermal conditioning of containers, such as cans. Exemplary of such equipment is that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 1,445,196 to Berry and in U.S. Pat. No. 2,043,310 to Thompson. In such prior art equipment are passed along a first helical path within a heating chamber and are then moved to a separate cooling chamber along side the heating chamber. While this equipment performs its designed function, it is bulky and requires considerable space for installation, space which is frequently at a premium in a packing facility. Much of this prior art equipment has also presented difficulties in maintenance and cleaning due to the fixed housing for containing the cooking steam.