# Home canned food calculator?



## Freyadog (Jan 27, 2010)

We are in the process of trying to figure out how many quarts and pints of home canned food needed per person.

Is it 2 pints fruit and vegetables plus meat per day?

I thought there was a formula but darned if I can find one.


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## camo2460 (Feb 10, 2013)

I don't know if this is official, but we figure four servings per Quart and two servings per Pint.


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## Toffee (Mar 13, 2012)

This is the site I'm using to calculate my storage. 
http://www.alpharubicon.com/primitive/howmanycansa.htm



> First, look at meal planning and jar sizes. For a family of four, usually quart jars of fruits, juices, and vegetables are good. For jelly and jam, as long as you have refrigeration, use pints. (Homemade jellies have no preservatives and will mold, once opened, unless refrigerated.)
> Canned fish and meat may go in either quarts or pints, but I generally use pints.
> For a couple or a single person, consider canning fish and jelly in ½ pint containers (like tuna cans), vegetables and fruits and meats in pints, and juices in quarts.
> Now figure out how many jars you will need each week.
> ...


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## Patriot (Dec 4, 2013)

Don't get stuck on trying to calculate what is needed.

If prepping. You will never have enough.

If canning for yearly personal use you will figure out how much you need with time.

Otherwise just can what you eat and eat what you can.


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## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

*Store What you Eat! Eat what you store!*

If you follow that motto, what do you currently eat? Open a jar of beans, or canned potatoes, or whatever you have canned. How far does it go?

My grandparents had huge gardens and grandma's canned up a storm. For quarts of fruit, one would be opened and shared out evenly in the 7 dessert dishes for dessert after dinner. When there were less at home, that same quart would be shared until there were less of us.

I would think if you have four in your family, a quart would be a typical meal size amount. If there are 5 people, the quart would still be shared, or maybe a quart and a pint used.

I think the real test would be to eat and monitor from your canned goods.


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## *Andi (Nov 8, 2009)

I can all I can when I can ... What can I say ...


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## Caribou (Aug 18, 2012)

These lists are guides. They were not etched in stone and carried off a mountain. Put up as much as you can or as much as you wish. Date it and inventory it when you put it up. Next year you will know how much you use. Some people are happy with three days worth of food meet aside, they probably are not reading this post. I've heard of people that have over seven years worth of supplies. Most of us settle for somewhere in between. 

When you establish how much of each item you can up you may wish to consider that one year you might get a bumper crop of something and the next year a frost, or insects, or any number of other things may happen to that crop. If you're lucky something else will do well.


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## crabapple (Jan 1, 2012)

*Andi said:


> I can all I can when I can ... What can I say ...


Just wondering if you ever have any canned good that last longer then 24 months?


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## Caribou (Aug 18, 2012)

crabapple said:


> Just wondering if you ever have any canned good that last longer then 24 months?


I found a jar of my home canned smoked salmon that had been forgotten on the back of the bottom shelf for twenty years. There was one problem. There was only one jar, dang but that was good.:droolie:

There was a ship that sank and canned goods were recovered over a hundred years later. The food was still edible and mostly nutritious. Don't believe the expiration dates as they are put there by the attorneys and the marketing people that want you to throw it out and buy more.


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## Patriot (Dec 4, 2013)

crabapple said:


> Just wondering if you ever have any canned good that last longer then 24 months?


We are using a lot of goods from '12 right now


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## *Andi (Nov 8, 2009)

crabapple said:


> Just wondering if you ever have any canned good that last longer then 24 months?


Yes, more than a few times.


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## JayJay (Nov 23, 2010)

Caribou said:


> I found a jar of my home canned smoked salmon that had been forgotten on the back of the bottom shelf for twenty years. There was one problem. There was only one jar, dang but that was good.:droolie:
> 
> There was a ship that sank and canned goods were recovered over a hundred years later. The food was still edible and mostly nutritious. Don't believe the expiration dates as they are put there by the attorneys and the marketing people that want you to throw it out and buy more.


And I ate 20 year old tomatoes, tomato juice, and green beans.
De--lish--ush!!


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