Canning with store-bought produce

[signseeker]

So, does anyone here can foods using (gasp!) store-bought produce? I'm getting into canning more and I wonder if store-bought would work...?

[Earthling]

I have found that if you have to buy it - unless you are getting it dirt cheap - that it is cheaper and easier just to buy it canned. In fact at the price of peaches for example - it is probably more expensive to can your own. Of course the quality of your own is better. It depends on how fussy you are and how much time you have. We know you are not a food snob . . . :yikes: that's my job. :smilielol5: and even I won't can if it's cheaper to buy it done.

[signseeker]

I appreciate the money saving factor... but I'm willing to overlook that while I'm still in the learning process. I want to get the skill set going - that's my main goal right now.

Guess what else?? DH found a steamer/juicer at DI for $6 this week! Yesssssssss! Concord grape juice - oh, yeah! :party:
Did I mention it's brand new? Oh, yeah!

[arbilad]

It's a good thing your DH is going to DI instead of you. The shoes are safer.

[signseeker]

Dude, he's addicted to DI. It's weird.

So, does anyone happen to have a bumper crop of pickling cucumbers coming on?

[prairiemom]

Wow--VERY cool about the DI find. Try apricot and cherry juice as well. You have lots of apricots and cherries around there, don't you?

Now and then our grocery stores have good buys on something and I'll can it. Mostly things like potatoes or carrots. Esp when I do giardineira, I buy cauliflower, canned baby corn and baby carrots.

I think you're smart to improve your canning skills, even if it makes it a little more expensive. Canning isn't only about saving money. It's also about taking advantage of the times of plenty (the plenty can be more food but also having plenty of money to buy food, even if it's not on sale or plenty of time to process food), improving skills (not just canning skills, but rotating, using what's in storage, getting family used to home-canned, etc) and having healthier, tastier food.

[arbilad]

Frequently you can save money by going to "pick your own" farms. They don't always call it that - the local pick your own place is calling it a harvest festival. But you can get tons and tons of vegetables for low prices. We've been doing it for a couple of years now in order to have vegetables for canning.
Farmers markets can sometimes also provide bargains.
The local "pick your own" farm also has what is called a CSA program. They're not signing people up anymore because of significant crop loss from hail, but what they do is for a certain price (for them, $600), you get a certain amount of vegetables a week (they do a bushel) for 20 weeks. That's a huge bargain and I'm definitely signing up if they do it again next year.
So look for "CSA farm" in your area; maybe they have something similar.

[signseeker]

I just did 34 qts. of apricots... found the juicer the next day or something. Our cherries were wormy. Would wormy cherries still work in the juicer? Just leave the little worm carcasses behind with the skins?

I'm going to look into trying to get locally grown produce - whether it's people in the ward or farms or whatever. There's a good website I found that can help you find local U-Pick farms...

www.pickyourown.org (http://www.pickyourown.org)



arbi- I can't believe you're quoting that rabble-rouser, Sam Adams! :yikes: (good quote)