Canning Saves Lots Of Money

[MeAgain]

We have been canning for almost 6 years now.
What we saved by buying on sale and preparing our own is well worth the work and initial cost of a GOOD canner. We tried the other cooker canners and no comparison in the real canner.
Not to speak of we usually know what is in the jar unlike store cans.
Do any of you can?

Here is some of our first go rounds. Beans and tomatoes we got by 25 lb. box before we started growing our own in large quantities.
Correction, this is chicken we got on sale and beans. But we did can 1000s of lb.s of toms over the years too. We canned the bones in seperate jar for dogs, canning turns them into soft crumble'

 

[RadishRose]

I've never tried canning, my family was always small. Great idea about the bones for the dogs, tho', soft and full of protein I would think!

 

[MeAgain]

I've never tried canning, my family was always small. Great idea about the bones for the dogs, tho', soft and full of protein I would think!

Yes it is good for the dogs and they really like it.
We mainly can for the 2 of us to save money and know at least what goes into the jars.
We can get 3 times the amount of i can in a qt jar and get it for 1/3 the price. Plus we have some in case of storms or disaster's and it last for years in jars. We don't store up much just a few dozen.
We canned 65 lb.s of beef when it went on sale lots of cutting up and prepping,but it lasted over a year. Average 2 1/2 lb.s per qt jar. We used it for beef sandwiches, Bar B Que, soups, chili, stews,and etc.
I like to buy organic carrots at Publix in 16 lb. bags and can 2 of them.
We use a propane tailgater on the porch to can.
I really don't like canning potatoes though, they taste like store canned and not like a potato. I made mistake of doing 50 lb.s at once and canned about 60 jars what a waste of time and energy. Just IMO.
Also we don't can squash. It is ok but for me it is too mushy.

 

[RadishRose]

Thanks or the info, MeAgain. Oh my just the two of you? Well, I'm down to just myself now...it would be a huge amount of work for me, so I would never, now. But it is so interesting! I enjoyed the photo!

Canning the beef sounds pretty good! I do prefer frozen veg, tho' except for Roma tomatoes, any tomatoes and tomato puree are great canned!

Oh, the potatoes. Yes, I once bought a can of peeled potatoes marked down, just to see what they were like. You're right, they were terrible.

 

[rkunsaw]

We've been canning the vegetables we grow in our garden for many years. We still can a few things but we don't grow as much as we used to.

 

[RadishRose]

We've been canning the vegetables we grow in our garden for many years. We still can a few things but we don't grow as much as we used to.

Larry, do you grow asparagus?

 

[terry123]

Years ago I canned a lot of veggies and we grew our own. Just me now and my sis gives me jars of canned veggies and they are wonderful. Not worth it for one person.

 

[StarSong]

I've occasionally bought large quantities of fruit/veggies on sale and frozen them, ditto with cooking large batches of various foods, but I've never canned. The thought that there was even a slight possibility of unwittingly adding a little botulism to my family's dinner was enough of a deterrence. Also, I live in earthquake country and have no basement for storing a year's worth of various foods.

I admire your ambition, MeAgain!

 

[rkunsaw]

Larry, do you grow asparagus?

Yes, RR we have a long asparagus bed. More than we need.

 

[RadishRose]

Yes, RR we have a long asparagus bed. More than we need.

Oh, I thought I remembered that, but wasn't sure. You lucky dog.

 

[rkunsaw]

Oh, I thought I remembered that, but wasn't sure. You lucky dog.

Come and visit next spring and you can have all you want.

 

[Capt Lightning]

Another case of American / British English.. When you say 'canning', I assumed that you meant canning in a metal container, not a glass one. Some people do can vegetables etc.. in metal cans, but we do, as the picture illustrates, "preserve" the produce in glass jars.

 

[StarSong]

Another case of American / British English.. When you say 'canning', I assumed that you meant canning in a metal container, not a glass one. Some people do can vegetables etc.. in metal cans, but we do, as the picture illustrates, "preserve" the produce in glass jars.

View attachment 60847

Impressive, Captain Lightning.

I don't know anyone who cans in anything other than jars - which explains my comment about living in earthquake country being a negative for "canning" foods.

 

[MeAgain]

I've occasionally bought large quantities of fruit/veggies on sale and frozen them, ditto with cooking large batches of various foods, but I've never canned. The thought that there was even a slight possibility of unwittingly adding a little botulism to my family's dinner was enough of a deterrence. Also, I live in earthquake country and have no basement for storing a year's worth of various foods.

I admire your ambition, MeAgain!

Thank you star song,
We have been canning for years and never got sick once. Hope we never do. I just ate some of my New Years blackeyed peas we canned a couple years ago.
The trick is to make sure you don't take shortcuts or skip important steps.
Also you can usually tell if something isn't right but we have not had that happen yet.
We canned 65 lb.s of chuck roast when it was on sale and it lasted us over a year. But a lot of work cutting it up and packing. It takes 2&1/2 lb.s meat per quart jar. It was fantastic for Bar B Qs, soups, chili,Stews sandwiches,etc,etc,etc,.
And it saved us a lot of money.We can 25lb.s of tomatoes at a time also.

 

[Capt Lightning]

Apart from "canning" vegetables, we mostly make sauces, pickles, chutneys, relishes etc.. For amusement, I make labels in my computer.. I used to use a very good free label maker from Avery, but now I just use Office..

Mot sure if you make Piccalilli, but here's a label I made ....