Rookie Question

[Ldychef2k]

So, here's where I wear my newbie suit.

Aside from a few batches of jam over the years, I have been canning for a grand total of six weeks. It has become an obsession, and that's not brag, just fact. Last night, I counted my jars and of all three sizes I have 372. Okay, 85 are jam, but still....

Here's my question. When is "enough" How many jars do you put up to say, last a year? Do you have a ratio of meat to veggies to fruit? Or do you just go with what you happen to have.

I am single and live alone, but have a daughter, grandkids, and aging parents. I hope to have enough to make their lives easier as well.

I am just curious as to how you guys use your canned goods, whether you rely on them pretty much exclusively or to augment purchased food.

Inquiring minds and all that.

Thanks for your input. I am VERY interested in your answers.

Kris

 

[sylvie]

I never can enough so I'm not certain what the magic number is.

I still have jelly from 2004 that is fine. Good thing too because we had 2 non producing years and are thankful to have plenty until we make more.
That is how it goes with all my vegetables so I can more than needed.
For just the two of us I figure 2 quarts of tomato sauce per week for September through May. In actuality I can until I run out of tomatoes.

I don't can meat, so no numbers there.

 

[freemotion]

I have only been canning for a little more than a year. Before that, I froze everything. It got too hard to find room in the freezer, and most people with freezers have suffered major loss in power outages and such.

I prefer to have a variety of foods to eat, so I can't imagine living just on canned goods. I don't believe it would be a balanced diet. So canned goods are just part of how I store food.

I like certain things canned, other things I find too gross. So I focus on what we like and what is convenient. I prefer stews and certain stews canned to frozen. Chili and spaghetti and pizza sauce is better canned, too, IMO. And of course, jars and jars of catfood, and the jars and jars of broth from cooking all the chicken for the catfood.

Certain nutrients are destroyed in canning that are multiplied by lacto-fermenting....especially enzymes and vitamin C. So I think the two storage methods compliment each other nicely. Dehydrating is another method I use, and was hoping to experiment more with this year, but the garden was a partial flop again due to all the cold and rain here, now the blight has hit my garden. Next year!

 

[SKR8PN]

I dunno what to tell you kris. We haven't found the magic number yet either......

WE rely on what we put up all year long. The Wife and I very rarely go to the grocery store anymore. I bake the bread and usually make the evening meal and I use as much of our own stuff as I can. Tonight we are having green beans, potatoes and ham that I will stick in the crock pot around noon. The beans and potatoes were raised here and the pork was raised by my neighbor.
We also have two very large freezers that we keep stocked at all times. I hunt so that provides us with another food source. We also us the food dehydrator for a lot of stuff, simply because it is another way to conveniently store food stuffs. Like Free mentioned, some things are better canned, some are better frozen and some are best if dried. Just depends on what and how you like to eat.

 

[patandchickens]

Last night, I counted my jars and of all three sizes I have 372. Okay, 85 are jam, but still.... Here's my question. When is "enough"

I dunno, but 85 jars of jam are definitely well PAST 'enough' LOL (That's enough to use 1.5 jars of jam a week for a little over a year -- and probably represents about 85 lbs of *sugar* that you've bought... )

More seriously (and yeah, I always make more jam/jelly/marmalade than I technically need to, too ) there are three good ways of estimating what you need.

One is to look at what you use, or estimate and do the math. For instance if you typically use about 2 quarts of canned tomato sauce per week, then you need about 100 jars per year. Remember that some things you will probably be eating during only part of the year -- for instance you would only be eating canned beans for maybe 9-10 months (or less in some areas) because the rest of the time you'd be eating FRESH. Similarly, if you cannot envision eating more than one jar of pickled beets per month, maximum, then more than 12 per year will end up either being given as gifts or lingering into next year. (It is ok to have jars hang around til next year, or even longer, but the taste and texture and nutritional quality do decline noticeably).

Another way is to look at any of the fairly large number of published schemes for 'here is the amount of food you would need to store up to eat on for one year'.

The final, and probably best way (but you can't do it til next year) is to write down what you use for the next year in a notebook. Not just your own canned products, but also write down how much of what store-boughten canned and frozen and dried goods you used. Then next year you can use that as a guide for how much to put up (or at least, how much you don't necessarily need to put up *more than*).

I can tell you from personal experience that a) the more variety of things you can, the less apt you are to have lingering 3-year-old leftovers -- so, 50 jars of green beans is more likely to have some jars still on the shelf when NEXT harvest season is over than if you had 20 jars of green beans, 20 quarts of yellow beans, and 10 jars of peas, because you will not have gotten so bored of eating the same thing. Also b) anything that you get really excited about canning, particularly if it involves a recipe you read in a book or produces jars that are just beautiful to look at, you will probably produce disproportionately too much of. See above re: jam

Fortunately, about 99.99999% of us are not in the position of having our survival til next June depend on canning enough this year; so it is ok to be kind of lopsided about it

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[Beekissed]

I can as many and as much of the staple foods~tomatoes, corn, meat, etc. Dessert foods I cap it at 50. If I've made too many, these make wonderful gifts during the holidays, housewarmings, etc.

There is never "enough" canned goods on the shelf, as someone just may need food, you never really know. I'm like you, I have extended family and even folks at church who may be wanting some of it.

When the cellar is full of everything, I live out of it. Fresh lettuces and such I will purchase at the store if mine aren't leafed out yet, but I try to live off the food I have preserved.

So, the answer is purely subjective, due to space and personal needs. Can like there is no tomorrow when you get the chance.....you never really know when that food will come in handy.

 

[Ldychef2k]

Every single answer is the one I need ! I know that doesn't make sense, which is normal for me, but truthfully, I am able to gain something from each of you. Yes, it's a subjective situation, and that's what so great about the answers. I didn't have a clue how to even begin thinking about it, and now I have lots of ideas. I can see which works for me.

Anybody else want to contribute?

(BTW, my nephew in law works at a plant where they package restaurant sized condiment packages. Occasionally, the forklift he is driving will accidentally nick a 25 pound bag of sugar. Oh, the humanity !!!!

I think I made so much jam because I got so much fruit free. Plus, I can give it away easily. I experimented with sort of savory jams, too. Tomato, onion, jalapeno, red bell pepper. The last three also had vinegar. Pretty yummy !

Thanks again !

 

[user251]

can you can to much? or have to many jars? Alot of people would pay good money for one of thse jars of jam/jelly you have. im on a jar collecting frenzy if i see one i get it then i will bust a gut to get SOMETHING in it asap. the main reasons are 1. i enjoy it and 2. is i truly believe the economy is going to tank real soon and alot of folks are going to be hurting really badly and i want me and my family to be prepared. it the fireman in me to be ready for whatever comes. im not fear mongering its just my opinion. by the way skr8pn beautiful pantry!!

 

[Dace]

Ok since you are listening to all voices.....let me make the disclaimer that due to a move, I am not really canning this year and last year was my first

I also kind of agree with everyone. Can whatever you can get your hands on, then just track of how much you have produced then next summer as you prepare to can some more to an inventory. Don't plan to get it right this year, there is a learning curve with everything, so let this be your year of learning!

I do not like many canned veggies so next year I plan to play around and find the ones that my family will eat.

Also don't forget stores of staples, flour, rice, pasta and beans. Those can really help carry you thru...which I am sure you know that but I had not seen it mentioned!

 

[Henrietta23]

Don't have much to contribute since I haven't gotten into canning big-time yet. I will offer this though. I made a bunch of jams and marmalades after Christmas. I had close to 40 jars. Between what we've enjoyed ourselves, what I've shared with family and what I've given as thank you gifts or hostess gifts, etc., I've made a pretty big dent in those 40 jars. And I'm hardly a social butterfly!