canning vs. freezing?

ijack

In past years I've frozen most foods when they're in season or I have an abundance; tomato sauce, herbs, fruits and veggies. It's super simple and it works for us because we have a chest freezer.

I'd like to try canning this year, but don't know what I should can and what I should freeze. What do you do and how do you decide which each item?

pixieprincss

We are big freezers. I started to read up about canning since we are growing a lot of things this year, but almost everything we are growing requires a pressure canner, not water-bath canning. I don't think a pressure canner is in the budget this year, so we might do some pickling (water bath canning) and freezing.

WendyGR

I can thiings like salsa, chutney, trying to make jam. Whole fruits and veggies I normally just freeze.

uncannycanuck

Vegetables are better (IMO) frozen. Many benefit from blanching (partial cooking) first.

I have canned jams (rarely spoil), salsa (need to be more careful to sterilize things and process long enough, but can do with a hot water bath), and all kinds of fruits with my mom. Fruits in a sugar syrup are pretty safe to water can: peaches, plums, pears, crabapples, saskatoon berries, raspberries, etc. I prefer berries frozen, but home canned peaches are delicious. 

Homemade pickles are also very safe - the vinegar makes it unlikely they will go off. Most of my mom's recipes aren't even heat processed. 

Canning meat (which sounds crazy, but my mom does chicken and fish) requires a pressure canner.

SuperGreen

I've found How to Store Your Garden Produce to be very helpful.  It has a section on each fruit and vegetable, how best to store them (can, freeze, or root cellar), and how to process them for storage (how long to blanch green beans before freezing, for example).  The instructions are very simple and we've had great success with them.  We generally freeze vegetables, and will can sauces and diced tomatoes this year.  We're not storing anything that requires a pressure cooker, we don't have the space for one and have enough veggie storage going on as it is!

suzymarie

I do a mix.  Last year I canned tomato sauce, soup, and salsa.

I canned pickled beans, cucumbers, and green tomatos.

I froze all the fruit.

This year I still have pickles left so I am going to freeze my beans.  Oops, we didn't eat them very fast.

I like canned tom. soup bc you can keep a jar in your office for emergency back-up lunch.  And canned tomato stuff is better for me bc I never remember to thaw it before I need it.  Also anything I want to trade or give as gifts needs to be canned ideally. 

cme25

I also do a mix, but we don't have much freezer space.

 I can tomato products (stewed, salsa, spaghetti sauce) in a water bath; borrow a friend's pressure canner to can carrots; can fruits in light syrup or as preserves; and freeze some whole berries, rhubarb, and green beans (blanched).

We never have leftover peas. Potatoes, onion, and garlic go in a dark cool place. We also rarely have corn left after September, but if we need to store it, it goes in the freezer (blanched) for a week or two until it inevitably gets scarfed up.