Economic side of canning

[Mensah_xx]

Thinking more about the money side of canning lately. Some foods feel like they save a ton compared to store bought, while others maybe not so much. For example, I've found tomatoes are a huge saver especially when the garden is overflowing but something like green beans feels a little less clear once you factor in the time and jars.
What foods do you can that really give the biggest economic savings compared to buying canned at the store?
Lets talk

 

[Pre_War_Tech27]

Thinking more about the money side of canning lately. Some foods feel like they save a ton compared to store bought, while others maybe not so much. For example, I've found tomatoes are a huge saver especially when the garden is overflowing but something like green beans feels a little less clear once you factor in the time and jars.
What foods do you can that really give the biggest economic savings compared to buying canned at the store?
Lets talk

You're on the right track with tomatoes. When your garden produces more than you can eat, making sauce, crushed or whole tomatoes can really stretch your dollar. Jams and jellies from backyard or wild fruit also help, especially if you find sugar and pectin on sale. Soups and stews made in bulk usually cost less than store-bought cans and let you control the ingredients. Green beans are less certain unless you grow a lot and already have a pressure canner and jars.

Have you tried canning chili or bean soup after a holiday ham? That's a good way to turn leftovers into shelf-stable meals. I usually wait until late summer, when prices drop and then spend a weekend putting up enough to last through winter. Let me know about your setup and how often you can, as that'll show where the savings are.

 

[Abdul Muhamed]

Thinking more about the money side of canning lately. Some foods feel like they save a ton compared to store bought, while others maybe not so much. For example, I've found tomatoes are a huge saver especially when the garden is overflowing but something like green beans feels a little less clear once you factor in the time and jars.
What foods do you can that really give the biggest economic savings compared to buying canned at the store?
Lets talk

You have to think of cost over years, not just at "start-up". A canner, pressure canner, jars, jar grabbers all cost money, but will last many years, so the average cost/year is minimal. Once you have them, the only real recurring cost is lids and your time. I usually use lids multiple times, if you're careful removing them, and they make a tight seal the next time, they are no different than a "new" lid. Thus, I probably spend about $12/season and can on average 100 quarts of produce- that is 12 cents/quart. We have a large garden and rarely ever buy fruit/veggies in the store as our shelves in the basement are full of our own. Aside from cost, we know our produce was grown by us, and we know we used no fungicides/pesticides.

Having said that, canning kale, spinich, or cabbage is less cost-effective than canning corn, tomatos, or fruit. I also can meat that I get on sale, so it saves room in the freezer plus money. I figure we save money on everything we can because it costs us the seeds and the lids only. Thus The 45 qts of tomato puree, stewed tomato, spaghetti sauce, and whole tomatoes on our shelves now cost us about 12 cents/quart. The time involved is another story: planting, weeding, staking them up, harvesting, watering, blanching, removing skins, canning, all take a huge amount of time but unless you literally can't spare the time, it is worth it.

 

[Master Yi]

You're on the right track with tomatoes. When your garden produces more than you can eat, making sauce, crushed or whole tomatoes can really stretch your dollar. Jams and jellies from backyard or wild fruit also help, especially if you find sugar and pectin on sale. Soups and stews made in bulk usually cost less than store-bought cans and let you control the ingredients. Green beans are less certain unless you grow a lot and already have a pressure canner and jars.

Have you tried canning chili or bean soup after a holiday ham? That's a good way to turn leftovers into shelf-stable meals. I usually wait until late summer, when prices drop and then spend a weekend putting up enough to last through winter. Let me know about your setup and how often you can, as that'll show where the savings are.

You have a good point about soups and stews. They really stretch the budget. @Mensah_xx if you've got freezer space, canning meat after sales is another huge saver compared to store-bought cans.