Things You'll Need:
- A good canning book, such as Ball's Blue Book
- A water canner and\or a pressure canner
- Canning tongs, jars, lids and bands
- A non metallic flexible spatula
- The items you want to can
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Step 1
First things first: Study up on canning! It's easy to do, although it does take time. Buy a good canning book or two, make sure you ALWAYS follow reputable recipes that are tried and tested! Remember that to can high acid foods like fruits, pickles and most jams you will need a water bath canner. To can low acid foods such as chili or vegetables, you will a pressure canner. Most pressure canners can also be used as boiling water canners. YOU CANNOT CAN DAIRY PRODUCTS! Only special commerical equipment can can dairy.
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Step 2
Once you've gone over and learned the basics from your book, try some easy canning first. Applesauce is very easy and takes a water bath canner. For pressure canning, try green beans. Always follow the directions carefully. Make sure you pay special attention to the warnings and tips about jars, lids, bands and processing times as well as notes on how to detect spoilage.
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Step 3
Now that you've got a basic idea of how to can, let's get to the point of this article: How to SAVE money canning!
Although canning produce from your own garden is most economical, it isn't the only way to save money by canning. Check out the seasonal produce in your area to see what's on sale month to month. In the fall, it's uncommon in some parts of the country to find apples at less than .30 a pound. If you buy a load of apples you can make apple sauce, apple rings, apple pie filling, apple jelly, even can your own apple juice! You can save a ton by making your own grape jelly with just grape juice. See what fruits are on sale and what you can make with them. Take your trust canning book with you, to see how much produce you'd need to buy to make a batch. And remember, you don't HAVE to make a full batch. You can make one or two cans if you wish, it's simply more efficient to make a full load or more at once. -
Step 4
Check out the veggies at your local store. Do they have a sale on 5 or 10 pound bags of carrots? How about farmer's markets? Often times in the summer, you can get cucumbers VERY cheap and make pickles. Green beans are often on sale too! Or perhaps you found bags of dried beans on sale and don't want to have to soak them, dried beans can be canned too!
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Step 5
Get creative! Strawberries don't can well, but you can crush the strawberries and add some lemon juice and sugar and can up some strawberry lemonade concentrate. Same goes for iced tea with added sugar and lemon for instant iced tea concentrate!
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Step 6
Don't underestimate the power of your canner to can up meats and whole meals, saving you time and money come dinner time. Is there a sale on ground beef, but you simply don't have the freezer space? You can can up ground beef with broth for adding to stews, can it in tomato juice or simply hot pack it in water. It will last much longer canned than frozen.
You can also can items like chicken soup, chili, stews, chutneys, broths, split pea soup, and much more! If it's a great sale, chances are you can use it in canning! -
Step 7
Keep your eyes peeled for sales, but also do the math. There is no point in buying 25 pounds of apples to make apple juice at .35 a pound when you can buy fresh apple juice at the store cheaper than you could can it, unless you simply want to can your own juice. There is no substitute for home made, but make sure you keep your calculator handy if you are really wanting to save money!
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Step 8
Don't buy canning jars from the store new. Many thrift shops have canning jars at a fraction of the price. Make sure, however, to buy your canning lids and bands NEW, never used old bands or lids! These are relatively cheap and easy to find at most hardware stores.
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Step 9
Bring a friend! This will help you save a lot of time. If you invite a friend over to help you can, it'll cut hours off your processing most likely. Offer to pay your friend by giving them home canned foods when you are done!
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Step 10
Remember that canned goods make AWESOME gifts, everyone loves getting home canned foods!
