Only money for one: canner or foodsaver?
 

I'm thinking ahead about what to do if I get a good harvest this summer and how to preserve anything for winter. I have a limited budget this year and can't decide if a canner or a foodsaver would give me the best bang for my buck.

I'm planning to do salsa, spaghetti sauce, and homemade V8 juice. I have room for canned items, but I also have a deep freeze that will have plenty of room. We're also meat eaters that try to buy in bulk.

I'm leaning toward a foodsaver, since we could use that for meat as well as garden items, but I'm not sure how much the taste will be affected by freezing. (I realize that you can't use a foodsaver for liquids, so my plan was to freeze anything liquid first, then pop the frozen stuff into a bag to seal up.)

I've read the threads here on freezing and canning, but I kind of get the feeling that most people here do canning instead of freezing. Frankly, I simply can't decide, so talk to me.

my vote is for the Foodsaver

Buy the foodsaver for meats and foods with fats. Buy a 20 dollar walmart enamelware water bath canner and have the best of both worlds. The water bath will save you an easy 80 bucks.

I vote for the Foodsaver- Tilia is wonderful- I have had mine for years. I freeze sauces and veggies in plastic containers then tale them out and vacuum them when they are frozen-- no mess that way.

My vote would be for a canner! With a pressure canner you can preserve veggies and meats long term...no freezer burn either!
[URL="http://s243.photobucket.com/user/barney097/media/garden2012004-1.jpg.html"][IMG]http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff95/barney097/garden2012004-1.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
[URL="http://s243.photobucket.com/user/barney097/media/garden2012005-1.jpg.html"][IMG]http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff95/barney097/garden2012005-1.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

I use my canner so much more than my food saver. I love it for canned beans and broth.

You can use a big canning pot for most tomato products which can be BWB, about $25,would allow money for a food saver?

I would go with the pressure canner if you plan on low acid foods.
With a freezer you keep paying for the food.
And I buy the huge chubs of ground chuck and divide it out into 1/2 pound balls and freeze it in ziplock bags.
This way you can pull out a 1/2 pound ball at a time.
I dont the same thing with chicken thighs .
What I do is put out parchment paper in the big upright freezer and pre freeze stuff.
Every now and then I will turn them so they dont get frozen to the paper.
Then they go in the bags.

A few years ago I used a vacuum port on my motorcycle as a vacuum pump along with a needle to air up basketballs.
I filled the ziplock with tomatoes and sucked the air out pulled the needle as I closed the bag completely.

It worked great.
Any meat properly wrapped in freezer paper should be fine for a year.
Pork will go rancid anyway in about a year or more.
Pressure canned it will last a lot longer.

Worth

I can, freeze and dehydrate things from my garden. BUT, after a hurricane, with the power out for 5 days, I've lost everything in my freezer before because my generator was not powerful enough to keep the chest freezer in the garage going. As for the texture of frozen vs canned, I think it's about the same. I like canned tomatoes but not frozen. I like frozen corn but not canned. It's all about personal preference. As others have said, if you can manage both, even in a modest way, it might be worth your while. Sleep on it for a few nights.;)

I just found this one 21 quart on Craigs List for $175.
And they are $218 on amazon.
[IMG]http://images.craigslist.org/01111_5V8C2m0r8gn_600x450.jpg[/IMG]

What is a foodsaver?

[QUOTE=Stvrob;458139]What is a foodsaver?[/QUOTE]

A person that saves food. :twisted:

No they are those vacuum sealers.

Worth

I have two of the big Prestos. Love them. Sturdy,tough,simple. Don't bother with a guage, buy the weights if it doesn't come with them. One of mine did,the other didnt.
The gauges have to be calibrated yearly by someplace like the Extension office.
I use my dehydrator a lot,too. Makes great dried tomatoes and cheap liver treats for the pets.

Worth... I paid $230 for one just like that, worth every penny!

All American #921 made in Wisconsin