Canning or food saver?

Question

Hi,

I would like to know which people think is better. Canning food or using food saver? We are looking at both options but not sure which is best. We do have a deep freezer. We are looking to save food for a long period of time. We want to be able to save stews/soups/fresh veggies/fruits etc.

Any suggestions/advice would be great. Thank you.

Answer 1

You can freeze almost everything. After a couple of minutes of blanching, you simply chill, pack and freeze fresh produce. Cooked recipes likewise are easy to portion out and freeze. Your initial start-up costs are relatively minor with the cost of a sealing gadget and a steady supply of bags.

Canning will take a considerable investment in equipment. At the very least you will need a water bath canner for high acid foods, and a pressure canner for low-acid foods, plus the handling tools and assorted canning jars and lids. Even a modest start-up can quickly add up to $300-$400.

There’s more to canning than just slapping a lid on a jar and getting it to seal. Be prepared to spend some quality time studying, you will not only need to to learn how to can, but also the safe and correct processing methods for each and every thing you intend to can.

While you can easily freeze most of your favorite recipes, you can't safely process ANY of your homemade recipes in canning. The recommended method is to either locate a safe and tested canning recipe that is similar, or can the ingredients separately and then use those canned products to assemble and cook the recipe at serving time.

Answer 2

I am a former chef and would say both method have there benefits, I use both, for soft fruits and veg the foodsaver is the best, but hard veg or things you can process and keep for a while or that are better canned there is  were you have to decide.

For me I can, pickles, beans, okra, tomatos in sauce and chili sauce ways, I buy a bushel of romano beans and shell them cook them with herbs and the jar them with a olive oil mixture for salads or in pasta dishes in the winter. I buy soft fruits for crumbl and pies and make chutneys/jams both have there 2 ways of processing also.

I live in Canada, specifically Toronto, and we have a large ethnic comunity here as such I get things during the summer and fall not avaiable in the cold winters here, look at the foods you like, how you like them and the convienence of the 2 methods, with the foodsaver method you can pop them into a pot of water to cook or make a hole and microwave them.

Sit with your family and look at the food you can use for these methods and try to experiment with the 2 ways and see which work for you, it can be a cost savings issues to, and your may find your happier with your own results more.