# Canning- How to get Started?



## TechAdmin (Oct 1, 2008)

How did most of you get started in canning? 

I've been wanting to do it for a while, but need a good (cheap) starting point.


----------



## goshengirl (Dec 18, 2010)

I got started with a pressure canner (presto, and not super big), a dozen jars, and a bunch of chicken on sale. I've been hooked ever since.  

At first I was reluctant to start because it seemed expensive (buying the pressure canner and the jars), but now it is such a fact of life around our house that I can't imagine being without it. The canner is a one-time purchase, and the jars can sometimes be scored cheaply on craigslist - although I find that doesn't happen as often as I'd like. That said, it's been worth it.

I have both a pressure canner and a water bath canner, but sad to say, I've never used the water bath canner. If you only get one, get the pressure canner - most things (maybe all?) that you can do in a water bath canner can also be done in a pressure canner, but not the other way around.


----------



## Possumfam (Apr 19, 2011)

Not having a pressure canner, I started with tomatoes. I already had the tomatoes and a huge pot for the water bath, so the only investment was the jars. After you get comfortable with it, you'll find yourself expanding to other fruits/veggies/soups etc... Gotta admit, I love it, too! You can do it!:congrat:


----------



## *Andi (Nov 8, 2009)

At our house canning was/is just a part of life. 

One thing about it once you have canned your own, you will never want to go back to store bought. The taste for one thing is so much more ... I could go on and on ... 

You said cheap, check adds/yardsales for jars ... And you can by a small 
pressure canner at wally world eek for around 60 bucks but I didn't pay that much more to get a better one. 

Best of luck!


----------



## UncleJoe (Jan 11, 2009)

Possumfam said:


> Not having a pressure canner, I started with tomatoes.


That's how I started as well. When I saw the food packages shrinking without a corresponding drop in price, I decided it was time to package our own from the garden. Then I moved up to pressure canning so I could do low acid veggies and eventually meat. Now canning is just a regular part of life.


----------



## UncleJoe (Jan 11, 2009)

*Andi said:


> At our house canning was/is just a part of life.
> 
> One thing about it once you have canned your own, you will never want to go back to store bought. The taste for one thing is so much more ...


 So true. Tomato sauce actually tastes like.... tomatoes. Who'd a thunk. 

And I'll repeat myself for the umteenth time. Estate sales are your best friend when looking for jars.


----------



## *Andi (Nov 8, 2009)

UncleJoe said:


> And I'll repeat myself for the umteenth time. Estate sales are your best friend when looking for jars.


I did forget Estate sales  and I have one to go to Saturday ... Lots of cool, *Andi kind of things on the list. :wave:


----------



## partdeux (Aug 3, 2011)

Ball Blue Book

Jars... But be careful, I've gone to estate sales where they are charging double the price in stores.

big pot for water bath

Look for pressure canners at estate sales too.

Once you start, there is no end. I joke that SWMBO would can rocks if she thought it would make them edible.


----------



## UncleJoe (Jan 11, 2009)

partdeux said:


> Jars... But be careful, I've gone to estate sales where they are charging double the price in stores.
> 
> 
> > I've seen that when there are large numbers of Amish and Mennonite at the sales. The key is to not get caught up in the bidding frenzy. Know when to drop out.


----------



## Emerald (Jun 14, 2010)

I bought my own water canner at a yard sale for $3 with the rack and 7 jars in it. I used it for over 15 years and darned if a couple years ago the darn thing got a hole in the bottom and flooded me out with hot boiling water. Right in the middle of canning tomato sauce for my daughters wedding dinner. 
Lucky for me my mother's best friend (who is like another Aunty to me) was home as my mom was gone for the week. She gave me her big pressure canner and I have found that I can double stack in that puppy (quarts on the bottom and pints on the top) and I use it as a water canner too. just fill it like my old canner.
I do pressure can when we get deer and my mom/brother/daughter have all thought about going in on a grass fed cow and maybe a nice pastured porker. So I would do much more canning if that happens.

But if you are starting out. buy a water canning set up at walmart. They have the jar tongs and lid lifter and the rack in the pot and pick up a ball blue book. 
Also let your family know that you are canning again. thru the years I have been the receiver of boxes and boxes and boxes of canning jars.. every shape and form you've ever seen.. I found that some of them are worth more at the flea market. All those fancy blue ones. A friend almost fainted when she saw that I can with them..  I now kinda keep those and the big glass topped wire bail ones for storing my herbs and dry goods. 
Yard sales are good for canning jars too.. but I still find good sales sometimes and buy new. I was low on pints. I have jelly jars and quarts out the hinny but had no pints.. now that most of the family is grown and out I need smaller ones for just hubs and I or son and I when he is home. I even can my tomato sauce and stewed tomatoes in the jelly jars as sometimes I need just a bit or have a hankering for stewed tomatoes in my scrambled eggs.


----------



## Beaniemaster2 (May 22, 2012)

I'm with goshengirl, don't waste your money on a water bath canner, most everything requires a pressure canner except for tomatos and a few other things and you would probably end up buying a pressure canner anyway... Take a look at the National Center for Home Preservation for information on safely canning food or yes, just buy the Ball Book...

http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_home.html

Like everything else, it does require an investment but will serve you well for many years to come... Yes, Yard sales, flea markets, etc. often have great buys, just stay away from that cheap brand at Walmart, they have been known to crack. If you have a Dollar General in your area, once a month on their site, they offer a $5 off a $25 purchase so that's 20% off! They carry Golden Harvest which is a good jar, so you can buy 3 dozen jars with lids and rims for about $22 after the coupon depending on what size jars you buy. Only other things you need is a jar lifter, jar funnel and a lid lifter... Adding salt is optional, but if you plan to use it, get some canning salt, regular table salt contains additives...

Good Luck but most of all have fun!


----------



## UncleJoe (Jan 11, 2009)

Beaniemaster2 said:


> Adding salt is optional, but if you plan to use it, get some canning salt, regular table salt contains additives...


...and it turns the liquid in your jars cloudy. Not life threatening but a bit unappealing visually. 
Personally, I use sea salt. Very concentrated and I've found that I use about half as much per jar.


----------



## TechAdmin (Oct 1, 2008)

UncleJoe said:


> So true. Tomato sauce actually tastes like.... tomatoes. Who'd a thunk.
> 
> And I'll repeat myself for the umteenth time. Estate sales are your best friend when looking for jars.


I've been hitting those up like a mad man recently.

Not a a single jar found. Lots of tools though. Most of them I don't need unfortunately.


----------



## ComputerGuy (Dec 10, 2010)

Right now watching YouTube vids on pressure canning meats.

Right now we have canned around 12 Bread and Butter pickles, and 30 Kosher Dill pickles. Our cucumber harvest is going great guns!


----------



## *Andi (Nov 8, 2009)

ComputerGuy said:


> Right now watching YouTube vids on pressure canning meats.
> 
> Right now we have canned around 12 Bread and Butter pickles, and 30 Kosher Dill pickles. Our cucumber harvest is going great guns!


Remember to watch more than one...


----------



## LilRedHen (Aug 28, 2011)

I started with pickles, so did my dd. Then I borrowed my mother's pressure canner and after a successful session or two canning green beans, she told me to keep it. That was 26 years ago. Just bought a new one this year and used it for the first time last week. The new one is a Presto 27 quart. I got a steal at Amazon for fifty five bucks last Christmas. You will need some big bowls, a strainer, a jar lifter, a jar funnel, a ladle, cans, flats and rings. I have been given cans, bought them at yard sales, estate sales and on sale at various stores. I have used a water bath once and it wasn't worth the hassle.


----------



## *Andi (Nov 8, 2009)

First I have found a place for both my pressure canner & my water bath ... they both have there place, and I would not like to give up either ...

You are talking differnt way of putting by the product.

To me they are both rather cheap in the long run ... (getting it from the store) 

Put some money aside for either or and work for the other... 

There is alot cool stuff that comes along with it ... get them if you can, if not do without till you can. (but to be honest ... they are cool and make things easy but can be done without.)


----------



## chris88idaho (Apr 30, 2012)

Wow very insightful, I have been wanting to get into canning for awhile now


----------



## cybergranny (Mar 11, 2011)

LilRedHen said:


> I started with pickles, so did my dd. Then I borrowed my mother's pressure canner and after a successful session or two canning green beans, she told me to keep it. That was 26 years ago. Just bought a new one this year and used it for the first time last week. The new one is a Presto 27 quart. I got a steal at Amazon for fifty five bucks last Christmas. You will need some big bowls, a strainer, a jar lifter, a jar funnel, a ladle, cans, flats and rings. I have been given cans, bought them at yard sales, estate sales and on sale at various stores. I have used a water bath once and it wasn't worth the hassle.


You can use that Presto 27 qt pressure canner as a water bath canner as well. It's right in the instructions. I recommended it to my friend and that's what she uses. So being frugal, that would be the way to go.


----------



## netandtim (Oct 8, 2008)

So, Austin - did you take the plunge and try canning? Inquiring minds want to know!


----------



## kappydell (Nov 27, 2011)

i learned as a child to peel tomatoes & stuff jars so mom could can them. as a teen i did the loads of tomatoes alone. when i married my mother gave me a pressure cooker that also would hold pints and half pints. i got canners from the local thrift stores very cheap as farms became subdivisions and grandmas donated their canners. my late husband told me i could stop buying canners when i got 4 of each type, then i started collecting jars. the recycle center gave me a couple hundred when i asked them to keep an eye out for them when they came thru there. so most of my stuff is 2nd hand. i just bought a med size pressure canner which is much easier to lift when full. id start with water bath canning - those sets at wal mart are quite cheap and you can do an awful lot in a boiling water bath: jams, preserves, jellies, fruits, fruit juices, pickles, tomatoes, and pickled veggies of every kind, ketchups and sauces. Even some deli stuff - 3 bean salad, canned coleslaw, dilly beans, salsa, etc. If you find you enjoy canning you can always add a pressure canner.


----------

