Do you have a garden overflowing with ripe fruits and vegetables? If so you might want to think about canning all the yummy treats from your garden. Fruits and vegetables go bad very quickly and canning is a great way to preserve your hard work! Canning isn't always a cheap hobby to jump into. In fact canning supplies can end up costing you a pretty penny. Use the tips below to help you save on canning supplies and make your dollar stretch a little further.
How to Save on Canning Supplies
Use Coupons
When we think about coupons, food items often come to mind. However, you can find coupons for canning supplies in your Sunday paper. I have found several coupons for mason jars in my weekly paper. Combing your coupons with store sales is the perfect way to stock up on supplies. You can also use the popular 20% off coupons from Bed Bath & Beyond to maximize your savings.
Garage Sales
Picking up canning supplies at a garage sale is a great way to save a lot of money! Spend a Saturday or Sunday afternoon going from garage sale to garage sale. You might be surprised at the amount of canning supplies you can find. If you find jars at a garage sale then all you will need to do is buy new lids.
If you do pick up mason jars at a garage sale make sure to inspect the jar first. You will want to ensure that there are no cracks or chips on the jar.
Freecycle
Freecycle is a wonderful way to get free items from local people in your community. Everything on Freecycle is free! Do not be scared to post an ad stating that you are looking for canning supplies. You will probably get a lot of supplies and the only cost to you will be your gas.
I once asked for a stand up freezer on Freecycle and had a response within an hour!
Ball Newsletter
Make sure you are signed up to receive the Ball newsletter. Ball often sends out promotions and specials and you will want to make sure you can take advantage of these awesome deals.
Ask Friends & Family
More times than not friends and family have canning supplies taking up space in their kitchen. People sometime decide they want to start canning and then give up and are left with a lot of supplies. Your friends and family might be willing to give these items to you for free in return for some yummy canned goods. It doesn't hurt to ask and remember every supply is a dollar saved!
Safety Tips:
- You should not reuse pasta jars or other glass jars that held any sauce. Some of these jars will have mason listed on them, but it is not recommended that you re-use them.
- Discard any jar that has been damaged.
- Some will say that you can re-use lids but it is best to only use the lids once.
- Most fruits can be canned using the water bath method, but low-acid vegetables and meats must be canned using a pressure canner.
julieann r says
I was wondering why you can’t use pasta sauce jars?
Mattee says
The’yre just not tempered for reuse, and can break.
Tanya says
Correct me if I’m wrong because I read that and thought, “Oh my gosh! I can’t reuse my Mason jars when I make sauce!”.
I think they mean the glass jars that you get at the store when you store-buy your sauce.
Alea Milham says
You can reuse Mason jars. You just need to buy a new seal when you reuse them for canning.
Regina says
You wouldn’t happen to have the canning recipe for the yummy looking stuff in the picture at the top of this page by chance?
Celinda says
I too would like the recipe for the yummy looking stuff on the picture at top. Looks like pickled stuff that would be great for end of season stuff (onion, peppers, zucchini, pickles, limes??)
Deborah says
I reuse all of my glass jars. Only Mason jars for can ing though. The others I use for my dehydrated items. I love preserving foods. It’s so enjoyable to look at what you have put up and think, I did all this for my family. It also saves us money.