Monday, February 23, 2009

Bring the Cannery Home!


Ever rented the can sealer before? Did you know you can do A LOT of canning in your own home? The cannery is a wonderful place to get food storage items and can them in a quick orderly fashion. However, they are limited in the foods they offer. Renting the can sealer is free and is very user friendly; it's really a great way to customize your food storage for your family! I have so many things that we actually eat (in my storage) and it gives me a lot of comfort knowing that I know how to use & cook with (most) of the things in my storage, so I don't have to learn in the midst of a crisis. I'm still working on a good rotation system, haven't figured that one out yet.......

Here's what they look like set up:


I rented a can sealer last week and did the following items: spelt rotini, quinoa, spelt flakes, rice, brown rice, various pastas (sm shells, bowtie & penne), soup mix, granola and buttermilk pancake mix. I've rented can sealers several times and I've pretty much gotten my "years' supply" so that's why I've started some things that have shorter term shelf lives (granola, pancake etc). I can rotate these things within 1-2 years and then do more of them as I run low. But my pastas, soup mixes & rice will last 25-30 years!

I usually order my food in bulk from a local grocery store (Winco), they typically take 1-3 days to get my order in and they have a HUGE variety of things to order. I've also gotten some good deals from Sams Club. I pick up the can sealer, cans, lids, oxygen absorbers from the cannery and I'm good to go! Please note, the can sealers have to be scheduled in advance.

Here's my spelt rotini- I was soo excited to add this to my storage, I don't do well with whole wheat products, so this is a fabulous option for me.

Please keep in mind that there are many ways to add to your food storage and learning new things can be fun and empowering, especially in times like we're facing today, it's always good to be as independent from society as you can be!

11 comments:

foodstr2 said...

Keep in mind that items like salt, sugar, cornstarch, baking soda will store for years in jars. There's no need to buy them canned, or can them yourself. Just load them into canning jars to keep them dry. (Remember to store both iodized and regular salt, separately.)

Bruce
http://www.internet-grocer.net/product.html

Anonymous said...

I have NEVER hard of this type of home canning! You say you can rent the canner for free? Where?! Very very interesting!

Jamie said...

Depends what area of the country you are in - look for an LDS (Welfare) Cannery in the surrounding area. They are the ones that loan it out for free, or you can go to the cannery and buy food there then use their canner at the cannery.
Let me know how it goes and where you find one in your area.
-Jamie

Anonymous said...

You say that your rice, etc will last for 25-30 years- do you mean your brown rice will last that long as well?? Thanks

Jamie said...

No - brown rice does not last that long - only white rice. Brown rice only has a shelf life of (maybe) 6 months due to the oils that it contains.
Too bad, huh?

Jane of all trades said...

how do you order from winco? I would love to do that but I don't know where to start?

Jamie said...

If you have a local winco, just go talk to their customer service people about ordering... if you don't have a local one - maybe you can call for a listing of their bulk food stuff they can order for you?

good luck.

Cheri said...

Do you know if you can can candy bars? If so how long do you think you would last?
Thanks!

Jamie said...

I think freezing chocolate items work better than canning them - they will store better... It has something to do with the oils in the chocolate, I think that is what I remember...

RatSlave said...

I realize this is an old post, but thought I'd add a few other places to order bulk grains and legumes. You mention ordering from Winco. You can also order from Bob's Red Mill in Milwaukie, OR or from www.azurestandard.com (you have to sign up to see the prices but an account is free). I do order from Winco but they don't carry all grains. Just be mindful and check other locations because as of this weekend, Basmatti rice is cheaper at Costco per pound than at Winco. I found that Bob's Red Mill has rolled oats on sale for less than Winco because they have a 20% off sale as of this writing.

Unknown said...

I rented a can sealer from www.proactivecanning.com. I did 640 #10 cans in one weekend. Do #10 cans if you can.

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