• Home
  • Stores
    • Safeway and Albertsons Northwest
  • Printable Coupons
    • Coupons.com
    • Special Savings Printable Coupons
    • RedPlum Printable Coupons
    • SmartSource Printable Coupons
    • Featured Printable Coupons
  • Digital Rebates
    • Ibotta App Coupons
      • Ibotta App Coupons Explained
    • SavingStar Offers
      • SavingStar Offers Explained
  • Coupon Basics
    • Coupon Lingo: What Do All Those Crazy Abbreviations Mean?
    • Coupon Basics: The Beginner’s Guide To Coupons!
      • How to See if Safeway Just For U Coupons are Store or Manufacturer Coupons
  • Online Deals
  • Around The House
    • Recipes
    • 52 Week Money Saving Challenge
    • Household Tips
    • Gardening
    • Kids Articles, Crafts, and More
    • Healthy Eating
    • Homeschool
    • Money Saving Tips & Budgeting

Canning Your Own Food: Is It Worth It?

I acquire monetary compensation (at no cost to you) when you shop using links on this site. Disclosure Policy and Privacy Policy.

by Raking In The Savings on June 20, 2019
in Household Tips, Money Saving Tips, Transfer

Many people want to can their own food but get overwhelmed when they start looking into it & want to know if canning your own food is worth it. It can seem like a huge expense to get started, but can save you a lot of money in the long run. Plus, you’ll know exactly what you are eating and can adjust to your own preferences!

Canning Your Own Food: Is It Worth It?

When you first start canning, like most new things, you will spend more time doing it.  After a few canning sessions, you’ll be shocked at how little time you actually spend in the kitchen!

Canning is a safe and effective way to store food by sealing the food in jars and heating them to let out any air, preventing bacteria from growing and spoiling your food.

Before you get started, you need to decide which canning method you are going to use. Water bath canning (covering the jars with water and boiling) works best for fruit, pickling, and canning preserves. Oven & dry canning are reserved for dry goods only. Pressure canning is great for meat, veggies, and some fish.

Oven Canning

Oven canning is the cheapest one to get started on. All you need are canning jars, dry goods (think flour and other grains, and dehydrated foods), and an oven. There is a lot controversy over oven canning so many people choose not to use this method at all, so we aren’t going to teach you how to do it today! If you are just wanting to make sure bugs don’t get in your flour, try putting in an open stick of Wrigley’s Doublemint gum. It helps repel bugs and doesn’t change the flavor at all! 

Dry Canning

Dry canning is similar to oven canning. It’s only used for dry goods (less than 10% moisture) but you don’t use an oven. Instead you use oxygen absorbers to stop bacteria from growing. I typically see this done with items that stay good for very long periods of time, but haven’t tried it myself.

Water Bath Canning

Water bath canning & pressure canning are the only methods endorsed by the USDA and those are the two I stick to. Water bath canning is done by submerging closed jars in a special HUGE pot. These pots come with a lid and a special rack that makes it easy to add and remove the jars safely.

Pressure Canning

If you want to can meat, fish, or low-acidic foods, you’ll need a pressure canner like the one above. They have a steam-tight lid and a special gage.

Although pressure canners can be a little expensive (water bath canners go on sale for about $20 this time of year), it is a one-time expense. Canning is the most cost-effective way to make and store your own food.  It’s even cheaper if you grow your own food, but many people buy organic produce/meat to can. Picking up produce from your local farmer’s market is a great way to support local farmers and is normally cheaper than buying organic produce from the market.

While canning can seem like a time-consuming process, once you are done you can have an entire season’s worth of canned produce and meat that is ready with little effort at dinner time!

For many, the benefits from canning your own food outweigh the time and initial expense!

Disclosure Statement: This post may contain affiliate links. Please see the full Disclosure Policy at the bottom of the page for complete details.

Comments

  1. Elise @frugalfarmwife.com says

    June 25, 2014 at 8:40 am

    Canning is definitely worth while for me. Jars and a pressure canner are a semi-one-time expense that I think saves money in the long run since I’m able to essentially knock out a whole bunch of cooking at one time, and it takes very little energy to heat up a can of food before serving.

    Reply
  2. aprila says

    June 26, 2014 at 8:44 am

    thank you for all of the tips. Thanks for linking up at Tell Me About It Tuesday. We hope you hop over and share with us again next week.

    Reply
  3. Katy @ Purposely Frugal says

    June 26, 2014 at 8:27 pm

    Hi, I found you at Living Well Spending Less, Thrifty Thursday! You’re article got my attention, because I’m just starting to get into canning. In fact I just made post about it: http://purposelyfrugal.com/2014/06/24/i-can/#.U6zkUJRdWSo
    and right now I have some pickles cooling on the counter that I canned just tonight.

    Reply
  4. Antionette Blake (@ambde) says

    June 27, 2014 at 10:15 pm

    Thanks for sharing this at the #WWDParty.

    Reply
  5. Miz Helen says

    June 28, 2014 at 2:01 pm

    Hope you have a great weekend and thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday!
    Come Back Soon,
    Miz Helen

    Reply
  6. Barb @ A Life in Balance says

    January 2, 2015 at 9:44 am

    Canning our homegrown produce was definitely worth it for our large family. I wish I still had the time to have a garden and can.

    Reply
  7. Jamie says

    February 1, 2015 at 2:24 pm

    I have never canned before, but have thought about it! This was a very helpful article!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Previous article: How To Encourage Your Kids To Read Over Summer Break
Next article: Don’t Miss This HOT Price on Original Slinky!
save more money groups

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Disclosure Policy | Privacy Policy
Copyright © 2017 Raking In The Savings. All Rights Reserved.