Canning tomatoes vs buying canned tomatoes

Sammysu · January 2011

Which is cheaper? Obviously the better for you choice is making your own but what about on the money scale?

JOEBunny · January 2011

Hell will freeze over before I can another tomato. My grandfather grew the original "CSA" in his spare time. He also used to buy an entire truck load of tomatoes every summer, and we would have to can them in a tiny kitchen with only the wind for air condition. I remember how mad I was when I found out you could get a jar of tomato paste for $0.25 at the store vs. the work that went into it.

It is much cheaper and easier to buy canned no doubt about it. I can't tell the difference if I buy the no salt added either.

It takes at least 10 tomatoes to make one can of tomato paste. As for the sauce and the chopped tomatoes, the jars are expensive, you have to peal them and it probably takes about 3 to 4 large tomatoes, so about 1.5 to 2 pounds.

Kitten80 · January 2011

I am curious about this as well as people say canning..but the canning supplies I found (jars) were pretty pricey. MIL canned pears this summer (and last) and it was a PITA...took foever, very time consuming. Maybe someone can give us a 101 course on it

spiritenergy · January 2011

If you are worried about leaching with canned tomates, then you should buy jarred tomatoes which (in my area at least) are expensive. If you are fine buying tomatoes out of a can, then it is way to cheaper to buy them. If you want jarred tomatoes, then it is cheaper to make them youself, but like the previous poster mentioned it is time consuming. The jars can be reused year after year (you still have to buy new lids). I love the taste of roasted roma tomato sauce that I can not get duplicated from any jarred tomato sauce that I have tried.

lms_bride · January 2011

I don't know anything about canning but I read a blog and she does a lot of canning.

https://creatingnirvanatoday.blogspot.com/

nsees · January 2011

If you grow your own tomatoes or have a cheap option for them in bulk, canning is considerably cheaper, especially for me since I buy organic diced tomatoes. It's also healthier as there is much less interaction of BPA (BPA lined can vs BPA lined lid that your tomatoes never touch.)

The only real cost is your jars (and plants if you grow them) and the cans are used year after year so that cost negates over time. Plus you can usually find someone that you know with empty jars in their basement that are willing to give them to you or sell them to you for next to nothing.

We're tripling our tomatoe plants this year in our garden to have organic canned tomatoes for the rest of year for next to nothing.

HarrietNJMommy · January 2011

Buying canned is cheaper than canning, at least for me.

I do can my own tomatoes. This year, my friend and I did 3 bushels - that's about 165 lbs of tomatoes. We got 50 pint jars of crushed tomatoes.......each bushel was $17. Then you have to factor in the cost of the jars, and your time. Took us 5 hours each day over 3 days (one bushel a day).

BUT, the taste is WAY BETTER than the canned tomatoes. I CAN (no pun intended) taste the difference.

I do it more as a hobby and not a cost savings.........

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Canning tomatoes vs buying canned tomatoes

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