An issue that holds people back from home canning is setup costs. I hope this article will reassure anyone in that position that the costs involved are quite reasonable and a worthwhile investment.

First, you need to decide what kind of canning you are going to do – hot water bath or pressure. Hot water bath canning is for high acid foods like jams, jellies, relishes, pickles, and the likes. It is far and away the cheapest method for canning and produces immediate results that will encourage you to continue.

Pressure canning is for low acid foods, like meat, vegetables, soups, stocks, beans, and the likes. It has a higher capital cost, but vastly increases what you can put up – see my red beans recipe for an example of what you can do with previously pressure canned food.

BASIC COSTS

• Hot Water Bath Canner: price varies, but I have seen a no-name HWB canner in Fred’s for between $18 and $20

• Pressure Canner: On Amazon.com they usually come in around $80. This is the pressure canner I bought and I am very happy with its performance.

• If you get a pressure canner you need to have the pressure gauge calibrated every year by your local county extension service, which is usually a free service. I use a weighted gauge to take the guesswork out and to eliminate the need for annual calibration.

• Mason jars: depending on your preference for brand names, a tray of 12 jars run from about $7 for no-name pint jars to $14 for branded quart jars. The no-name jars in Fred’s (Golden Harvest) consistently run $7 for pints and quarts, $8 for half pint “jelly jars”. For most people a couple of trays of half pint and pint jars will do nicely.

• Accessories: there are LOTS of accessories for canners. It is very easy to get carried away! What you can get away with is a timer (most modern cookers have one built in, or you can use your cellphone); tongs to remove the jars from the hot water; a cookie cooling rack. The bespoke canning packs are very nice, but not necessary till you know how much canning you will be doing. I have found this kit very useful for my purposes but your mileage will no doubt vary.

• Lids and rings: in most cases I am anti-brand – I would rather pay less for the same function. With canning lids I have found that the rate of failure to seal is significantly higher with no-name lids than with branded lids. As lids cost $2 to $3 for 12 of the Ball brand, I bite the bullet and accept that the brand *is* superior to the no-brand version on this occasion. I wouldn’t worry about picking up rings, as every new tray of jars come with rings and lids, and you remove the rings when you put the jars on the shelves. Rings are also *dirt* cheap and last for a very long time.

• Books: every modern canning book takes its lead from the USDA guidelines. The entire USDA cookbook is available as a free PDF download from the University of Georgia Extension Service. If you download them onto your kindle, nook, or computer, it is entirely free. The recipes are consistently good and pleasing and are generally pretty easy to do.

To break down the costs into the two types of canning:

HOT WATER BATH
Canner $20
Jars $30 (24 half pint and 24 pint)
Lids $6 for a couple of extra packs
Books $0
Total: $56

PRESSURE
Canner $80
Jars $30
Lids $6
Books $0
Total: $116

BOTH
Hot water Canner $20
Pressure Canner $80
Jars $30
Lids $6
Books $0
Total: $136

Once you have made these basic investments and made several batches of jams, stocks, beans, etc., you can then look into which accessory packs will make life easier for you. Don’t be in a rush to buy the accessory packs – I had been canning for about a year when I bought one, and it has been incredibly useful for me ever since.

I hope this will encourage more people to take the leap into home canning.