Question about Mormon Canneries.

[castle]

I'm new here by the way!. Couple of quick questions if somebody can help me out.

- Do Mormon canneries sell to non-mormons, or just to lds church members?

-Also, I live up in the Great White North (Canada) in the Greater Toronto Area.

Are there any canneries in Canada?

- and finally, is the value / quality of product good at LDS Canneries? I have just been slowly growing my stockpile by buying things on sale, using coupons etc, some items I buy are no-name, some are the brand names. How do the cannery items stand up? Do the canneries sell items individually, or is everything packaged together, in bundles of various items?

Thanks!

[constable01]

As far as i know most do as long as you abide by the rules. If you know a church member I'd ask if they could accompany you just in case.It also helps if you volunteer hours to help others can their stuff too. Now you do have to buy your supplies and food stuffs which are sold "at cost."

most of it is dry pack, usually of very good to acceptable quality, although i've heard complaints about the Powdered Milk, but i wouldn't know as i order that from Emergency Essentials the "Provident Pantry" stuff.

[thomasusa]

I'm new here by the way!. Couple of quick questions if somebody can help me out.

- Do Mormon canneries sell to non-mormons, or just to lds church members?

-Also, I live up in the Great White North (Canada) in the Greater Toronto Area.

Are there any canneries in Canada?

- and finally, is the value / quality of product good at LDS Canneries? I have just been slowly growing my stockpile by buying things on sale, using coupons etc, some items I buy are no-name, some are the brand names. How do the cannery items stand up? Do the canneries sell items individually, or is everything packaged together, in bundles of various items?

Thanks!


Yes, everyone is welcome - but they do require a minimum age for running the machines.


Locations are found here:
providentliving.org/location/map/0,12566,2026-1-4,00.html

try the following:

<table class="featurestext" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td valign="top" width="150"><table class="featurestext" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td>Phone</td> <td>http://providentliving.org/images/spacer.gif</td> <td>(416) 741-3253</td> </tr> </tbody></table> </td> <td>http://providentliving.org/images/spacer.gif</td> <td valign="top"> <table class="featurestext" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td>Address</td> <td>http://providentliving.org/images/spacer.gif</td> <td> <table class="featurestext" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr><td>85 Queens Plate Drive</td></tr> <tr><td> Etobicoke, Ontario M9W 7K4 </td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>
The rules vary but in general it is package what ever you want.
Just don't re-sell it.

I have liked everything I have canned there.

[Twizzles]

Yes, everyone is welcome - but they do require a minimum age for running the machines.


Locations are found here:
providentliving.org/location/map/0,12566,2026-1-4,00.html

try the following:

<TABLE class=featurestext border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width=150><TABLE class=featurestext border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD>Phone</TD> <TD>http://providentliving.org/images/spacer.gif</TD> <TD>(416) 741-3253</TD> </TR> </TBODY></TABLE> </TD> <TD>http://providentliving.org/images/spacer.gif</TD> <TD vAlign=top> <TABLE class=featurestext border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0> <TBODY><TR vAlign=top> <TD>Address</TD> <TD>http://providentliving.org/images/spacer.gif</TD> <TD> <TABLE class=featurestext border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0> <TBODY><TR><TD>85 Queens Plate Drive</TD></TR> <TR><TD> Etobicoke, Ontario M9W 7K4 </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
The rules vary but in general it is package what ever you want.
Just don't re-sell it.

I have liked everything I have canned there.

YES, there have been changes as of last FALL, AND MANY MORE ARE IN THE WORKS.....SO CONTACT YOUR LOCAL ONE.:001_ssuprised:

[castle]

oh, you can your own foods there? I thought you just went there and bought pre-packaged and pre-canned food, I had no idea that you canned your own. That's great.

[thomasusa]

oh, you can your own foods there? I thought you just went there and bought pre-packaged and pre-canned food, I had no idea that you canned your own. That's great.

I have packaged Jelly-beans, Mac and cheese, and a long list of other stuff.
I confess that I canned match books one day. I had to wait till the volunteer running the cannery turned his back because he was a little nervous with my experiments.

[libertygranny]

Unless the rules have changed again from 5 yrs ago, you can not bring in outside stuff to dry pack. It used to be that you could, but i know the cannery we went to when we lived in MI told us people were no longer allowed to bring in outside stuff. The home storage guy told us it was a church/cannery wide policy. So has this now changed? that you can bring in outside product to can?

[Ligure]

As I understand, the policy is that you CANNOT bring in your own stuff anymore. I think some legal thing was the reason.

Ligure

[Julie]

Can you still borrow the dry pack canner and use it at home. I knew people that used to do that and then you could can whatever you wanted.

[Ligure]

Can you still borrow the dry pack canner and use it at home. I knew people that used to do that and then you could can whatever you wanted.

Thanks for mentioning that. Yes you can borrow the canner for personal or personally supervised usage. Just don't try to use it in the bathtub.:biggrin (2):

Although I am not sure who they would lend it out to. I haven't checked if they do credit checks or some such about that.

Ligure

[Twizzles]

Unless the rules have changed again from 5 yrs ago, you can not bring in outside stuff to dry pack. It used to be that you could, but i know the cannery we went to when we lived in MI told us people were no longer allowed to bring in outside stuff. The home storage guy told us it was a church/cannery wide policy. So has this now changed? that you can bring in outside product to can?


YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY CORRECT ON THIS< NO OUTSIDE FOOD!!! GOVERNMENT RULES< :crazy:

[DMGNUT]

As I understand it, the canneries do not loan out their canning machines.
Having said that, the policies or rules may differ in other areas.
In our area they do not, but all the stakes in our area have a canning machine of their own that you can "check-out", like a book from a library, and return it when you're done.
They ask that you keep it no more than 1 day, but if no one else has "signed-up" for it, they don't really care how long you keep it.
Also our cannery has certain food stuff that they "can" on certain days.
Usually its the same 3 or 4 food items for the whole month.
Everything goes into #10 cans followed by an oxygen absorber (for the dry pack items).
You'd have to check with someone from that area (or the cannery itself) to see the schedule (they're made about a year in advance).
There is usually an "open" time (at least once per week) when anyone can come in.
Otherwise its usually people from a specific stake (but that doesn't mean no one else is allowed).
They're pretty flexible about the sign-up sheets... they mostly just want to have an idea how many folks to expect on any given day.
As for the wet-pack canning... that's a whole different story... you do have to sign up for that, and in advance too.
I think our cannery still sells the "starter kits" ... and usually already has those pre-canned and boxed (something like; 2 cans wheat, 1 can beans, 1 can rice, 1 can powdered milk, and 1 can of something else, for like...$32+/-... not sure about the price anymore).
Hope some of this helps.
You'd get much better info from a church member in your area (or the cannery itself).

[Earthling]

The Ogden cannery told me they don't let you can outside food because someone brought contaminated wheat with weavil in and it contaminated the whole place. They had to shut down for several days and it was a huge expense and mess. So no more outside food.

Our cannery has a canner you can check out last I used it several years ago. I mean how are you going to can your own "interesting" stuff otherwise? :wink (4):

[Gennut]

Recently there are some new rules, apparently from govt. sources, that make it so you can only can one item at any given time in the dry pack area, so more and more items are coming to the local canneries already canned and you buy either in the #10 cans or the 25 lb. bulk. The Church is building a huge facility in SLC to do the canning and then it goes to the local ones for sale.

That is convenient for those that don't want to can or have the time, but I'm sure the price might go up because of the transportation. But as in our local cannery in Springville, with 3 brand new canning stations, the equipment now is very under utilized. Last year I went in to can several items and with family and missionary help, I did 40 cases in under 2 hours. If I had to do one at a time, I'm sure it would have taken longer.

If you have access to a can sealer, from the cannery or your stake, you can do it at home, but then you have to buy the cans, lids, oxy packs, and the product and transport it. But just buying the stuff already canned is convenient but doing it yourself does bring satisfaction, doesn't it?

[prairiemom]

Our stake has a can sealer (as well as a Mylar bag sealer and a dehydrator) that is available for anyone to check out and use. Of course you have to provide all your supplies--cans, lids, oxy packs and food. But there would be no limitations on what food you could can.

The canner is available from church distribution, so if your stake (or ward, if they have the budget) should look into getting one if you live far from a cannery. And now with all the gov regs it makes traveling any distance to a cannery not worthwhile. So there's more need for wards and stakes to have their own canner. And Mylar bag sealer.

P.S. Welcome, Castle. Hope to hear more from you.

[Charsee]

Basically, every cannery has different rules at least in the Salt Lake area.

Because people have checked out canners and never returned them fewer canneries have them to lend anymore. They are very expensive to replace and are easily broken and so often they have to be repaired and/or are missing parts that weren't returned, etc.

Those still available to be lended in my area require you to belong to a ward/stake and provide a driver's license so that a copy can be made in case there is a problem with retrieval.

Talking to the people in the main cannery at Welfare square, non-members are supposed to be accompanied by members when they buy or can the food at the canneries. But each cannery has different missionaries making these decisions so there may be some more lenient than others in following the rules.

There are some great ways to can foods using mylar bags with irons, oxygen absorbers, plastic buckets/dry ice, Pete bottles, etc. You-tube has some great "how to's" there.

The quality is not very high on some of the foods, i.e. wheat...they like to have it around 12 percent protein but that is a goal not a promise. The beans are not as clean as those you would buy in the store and so you have to be especially careful to sort them to get the rocks, etc. Not all foods are grown on Church owned farms (mostly staffed by volunteers), but some of it is and so there is no competition to get the best product as you get what was grown.

[namastemama]

Unless the rules have changed again from 5 yrs ago, you can not bring in outside stuff to dry pack. It used to be that you could, but i know the cannery we went to when we lived in MI told us people were no longer allowed to bring in outside stuff. The home storage guy told us it was a church/cannery wide policy. So has this now changed? that you can bring in outside product to can? Hi new here,no it has not changed. the problem arross when someone brought in their own food and it was full of bugs and infested the entire cannery and they has to toss out all the food. You cna still borrow a canner to take home though.

[libertygranny]

our ward has its own can sealer, it is sitting in my patio right now. Well, it has been at my house for the past 3 yrs and no one in the ward has ever asked to use it!!! Myself and my 3 daughters have used it on numerous occasions, but for the past 6 months, since my hubby and i have had no money coming in, we have not been able to buy stuff to can.

As for the quality of the stuff you get at the church canneries/storehouses, depending on the area you're in, the church stuff is cheaper and better for the price. When we lived in MI is was cheaper to go to the cannery and buy the stuff that is there vs ordering from one of the places that ship....shipping was almost as much as the stuff unless you ordered tons worth. Plus, most of the places only shipped stuff a couple times a year on a semi w/a minimum order, which was a pain to get people to order and commit to pick up!

Now that we are back in So CA we have more options, ie there is a Honeyville store about 35 miles from us and we have boughten stuff there. Would like to get in on the good sale tomorrow, but it takes money! But then again, we have been at the stage where we are adding more of the "nice" things to have ie powdered butter, powdered shortening, freeze dried cheeses, etc.

When we decide what we're going to can we price check at Costco, the cannery, Winco, and Honeyville store and we get the stuff at the cheapest place. That is one reason I like being able to can the stuff at home because when we did sugar last year it was cheaper at Costco.

[phylm]

Libertygranny:

My experience has been much the same as yours. We now check out Sam's Club or BJ's for sugar, rice, beans and flour, before going to the cannery. I like to have bread flour in my storage, too.

I buy my oxygen packs at the cannery by the 100, and we use them to seal the dry foods--rice, beans, wheats, flour, oatmeal, macaroni, etc.--in the buckets that we either bum at delis in supermarkets, or buy at Emergency Essentials. I try to budget for more of the "easy-open" bucket tops there, too.

Had a great vacuum sealer given to me last year, so I ordered the jar sealer attachments from Amazon, and we have sealed walnuts, pecans, and dehydrated foods with it. Really pleased with it.

Our cannery in Jacksonville had to stop non-member groups (with the exception of a few good people) from buying at the facility, because some local religious groups were abusing the privelege. When the missionary sister told me that, I said, "Oh! My cousin's husband can't come up with out me?"

She said, "He's practically a member anyway. Of course he can come!"

Take a member to the cannery. It's a great missionary tool.

[CurtisG]

I never went to the Dallas cannery (about a 2hr drive), but i called ahead and they said i was welcome as long as i wasnt reselling.
There is supposed to be a cannery near Austin that would be easier for me to get to.

[prairiemom]

Definitely look at local sources. We buy beans and wheat from local elevators for quite a bit less than the prices at the storehouse. (We're getting some hard white spring wheat next month for 20¢/lb. Pinto and Navy beans for 30¢/lb)