How do you prefer to preserve your food? Canning or freezing? It’s probably split about halfway as to those who prefer canning and those who prefer freezing. My preferred method is canning. Of course, there are some things that just don’t work as well when canned. Things that come to mind are a lot of meats:
- Steaks, ground meat, ribs, etc. for grilling
- Brisket or Pork Butts for smoking
- Fish for frying
We flash freeze fruit and then vacuum seal it and even though jams, jellies and juices work great for canning, whole fruit for our use seems to work better in the freezer.
Last year I froze quite a bit of eggplant parmesan. That would not have been a good candidate for canning. No matter your preference, there are time when one method of preserving food just works better than another and that’s the beauty of this . . you can do whatever works for you!
Even though canning is my preferred method of storing food, we still have freezers and they’re always full. Before we picked the hog up from the butcher recently the freezers were recently cleaned out and defrosted so I halfway know what’s in them. I do prefer manual defrost over frost free freezers and our big freezers are manual defrost. We open them about twice a week to get food out for a few days and I end up defrosting them once every 14 – 18 months. My opinion is that foods, especially meats, last longer in manual defrost freezers. Also, there are less parts to go out or cause problems with the manual defrost. I’ve read that if your freezers are stored in areas that are not climate controlled, it’s better to have manual defrost and most of the time, our freezers have been stored in non-climate controlled areas. There was a time when frost free models used more electricity but with newer freezers, I’m not sure that’s true these days.
Freezer
When we were in MO, probably the spring of 2010, I bought butchered chickens from the Amish and canned them. Not long ago, I found a jar that had been packed with something else and decided to open it and try it. The chicken tasted exactly like it had when it was freshly canned . . four years later. I think we would all agree that a chicken, or anything, that had been in a freezer for four years, would probably not be fit to eat.
The reasons I prefer canning are:
- A freezer is mechanical . . it can go out. It can go out when you’re away from home and you don’t even know it’s out til everything is ruined.
- Whether there’s electricity or not, the jars of food are going to be fine.
- Foods in jars are generally pretty much ready to eat where frozen foods most often require defrosting and then at least some amount of cooking. I think about something like field peas that have been blanched before freezing. They still need a good half hour of cooking before they’re done. Canned field peas have been pressure canned and other than heating them up, there’s not much else that needs to be done.
- There’s no limit to how many jars of food you can have, so long as there’s an empty spot somewhere! With freezers, you’re limited to what you can cram in there.
- When moving (and I hope it never happens again), even though the movers aren’t happy to see all the jars, they move just fine. I don’t think I’ve ever had a broken jar. Even with dry ice and multiple ice chests, I’ve never been successful with moving frozen contents. When we moved here, I was determined to save the sour cherries in the freezer. It was 7 or 8 days from the time our freezers were turned off, cleaned out and loaded, until they were set up at the house here and with us in hotels and using dry ice, I was not able to save the cherries.
- If I want to share my canned goods, it’s easy to stick a trunk load of jars in the car and take them to MO or LA or wherever I’m going without worrying about keeping the contents frozen.
Those are my thoughts. Anyone have anything else to share on the advantages of one method over the other?
Jannette B says
I find that I enjoy the taste of many canned foods ever the frozen variety. Green beans seem to get really watery too, when frozen. I’m like you though – I enjoy some foods that are frozen, and others that are canned.
I can’t imagine trying to freeze pizza!
Susan says
FYI, you couldn’t grill it, but we can hamburger when there’s a good sale, and it’s great in casseroles or chili and things like that – Sloppy Joes, pizza. Etc. I’ve thought about making pulled pork or machaca beef and then canning that, but I don’t know if it would work. Hence, I’m still thinking! LOL
Kathleen says
Freezing is easier. Canning is more practical.
Norece says
I prefer canning over freezing. We are trying to get down from three freezers to two (one is full of dog food). Canning is a lot more work, but I am happier with the results.
Michelle says
I don’t enjoy the canning part itself, but I definitely agree with your thoughts on why it’s better!
Dottie N. says
I think for me it’s 50/50 canning/freezing. When we moved 2 hours away 20 years ago, all we did was unhook the freezer, loaded onto the pickup bed, drove it to the new home, brought it in the house and plugged it in. Nothing thawed during that trip.
We are in the process of moving cross country (1600 miles away) and we’re leaving our freezer in current house. We did purchase a freezer for the new house and have been slowly moving some things via ice chests. Everything has stayed frozen. Now I will add that most of this food was moved over the late fall/early winter months and that was helpful in keeping things frozen.
What’s left in current freezer, we’re eating down until we move and what little (if anything) will be given to neighbors here.
Have already moved most of my canned goods and once we get settled, it will seem “almost” like Christmas!
Pam in KC says
My dad’s parents had two big chest freezers – I can’t remember them canning anything – not that they may not have. I can’t see canning working for corn on the cob or fried okra — the latter was put up with the cornmeal already on it. I seem to remember getting home with some of the food – and it’s an 8 hour drive today – of course at not more than 9 years old what do I really remember?
Theresa says
I’ve done both, but I typically freeze soups and stews on the weekends (and spaghetti sauce) and we use it up over the next few weeks. I don’t have a pressure canner, so I’m limited to preserves, jellies and jams. That’ll change when I retire.
I’m also planning to use my induction range to dehydrate fruit and veggies; that’s not a bad way to store things either.
Terri says
I prefer the taste of frozen vegetables to canned, whether it’s home canned/frozen or store bought. I just think they taste more like fresh. We like most of our vegetables sort of crisp tender, and you can’t really get that canned. I used to can tomatoes and peaches, things you can do with a water bath. I’ve never owned a pressure canner.
We ;live in an apartment now and storage is a problem. I do have a freezer, but it’s unplugged and empty. My husband won’t let me turn it on because he says it;s a waste of electricity to run an empty freezer. I keep telling him that I have to plug it in before I can start filling it, so we’re sort of at a stand-off right now. It’s asparagus season here and I”d love to buy 20-30 pounds to freeze, so we have it later in the year when it’s $2.99 a pound at the grocery store!! I have to win the freezer argument first though!!
Diana in RR,TX says
When I did both it really depended on how I was going to use it. Started out canning fruits for pies but then later on froze some for our home made ice cream-the real stuff with the cooked custard etc. Always froze the meats probably because my Mother always did. Galen’s Mom would can the pork tenderloin. If I get back into canning would probably can some meats. We never had a problem moving the freezer, but then our moves were in the winter and in the north. We would rent a U haul, put in the loaded freezer and off we went. Our move to Naperville we couldn’t get in the house right away so our realtor parked the Uhaul at his house and plugged in the freezer. MN another cold weather move. Our first move was funny-you know how fast transfers can come up-ours almost always in the Fall. I had been canning all summer. The packer was stuck in the basement for 2 days packing – he wasn’t happy-he thought he was going to drive the truck, not be packer. He grumbled a lot!
Linda Enneking says
I recently found some meat in my freezer that had been in there for over seven years. I was diagnosed with cancer seven years ago and after that had three foot surgeries that kept me off my feet for several moths at a time, then a hip replacement. With all that I was not able to go into the basement to see what was in the freezer. I found a whole chicken that I thought I would throw away, but it didn’t look bad at all. I rinsed it thoroughly, put it in a pot of water with onion, celery, and onion, and cooked for a few hours. I figured if it tasted bad I wouldn’t be out much if I had to throw it away. I was surprised that it tasted pretty good, and it made a good batch if chicken noodle soup, not as good as a fresh chicken but still very good. Of course I didn’t mention to my family how old the chicken was, and I would not recommend leaving food I the freezer this long, but I’m glad I used the chicken and didn’t just throw it away. After that success I used some spare ribs that had been there several years. They also turned out very well. The key is to be sure there is no freezer burn, and to rinse thoroughly to remove frost that has that stale taste. Food that has not been properly wrapped or has freezer burn has to be tossed, it is not fit to eat.
Diana g in UK says
I would love to give canning a go, even looked in a big store for a canner, not really sure what I’m looking for! The only thing I could find was a little pressure cooker is it the same thing?
Bottling as we call it, is not very popular here in the UK, in fact I do not know anyone that does it.
Viki says
I can’t stand canned corn but love it frozen and I can’t stand frozen green beans but love them canned, so I think there is a place for both. I used to freeze peaches, but they always seemed a bit stringy and too sweet tasting, but tried canning them one year and never went back to freezing them. On the other hand, frozen blueberries are perfect for smoothies.
CJ says
Well I PREFER freezing, it’s much easier, and everything can be frozen whereas not everything can be canned. However, I can as much as possible for all the reasons you mentioned. I keep one freezer entirely for cheese, butter, flour and grains, and a second for meat and some fruit.
Cookie E. says
I like to do both. And while I have generally frozen soups, stews, chili, and chicken, this year I’m planning to can some . I’m also planning to do some dehydrating as well. Aside from the Ball canning book any suggestions for books or recipes that they’ve used successfully is greatly appreciated.
Joan says
I do both. I freeze a lot of things now that I would have canned when I was younger. However, had a deep freeze “die” last year. I was lucky enough to go out to get something and found it was not real cold feeling. OH OH– but almost everything was still frozen and we transferred it to a “freezer in waiting” and only lost about $200 of food. Everything else was still solid. I do carry “freezer insurance” and after listing all the stuff that was questionable and disposing of same, the company paid me for all that was lost. Cost for adding it was very little. The freezer that died was over 40 years old though, so we had a spare just in case.
DS lives across the street and is big into canning and freezing too. He actually helps me now as lifting a full pressure canner is very difficult for me.. He plants his garden in my back yard as his is small, so I have the advantage of not having to tend the weeding etc. Even set up an irrigation system that I just have to turn on to do the watering.
Terri says
All I can think about when looking at your picture is that beautiful carton of Blue Bell ice cream…….
But I am loving all of your canning/freezing posts! And friend was over this weekend and I made a deal with her. If I get a canner and they will cook a couple huge batches of gumbo I’ll can then for us and we’ll both have gumbo this winter!
CindyM says
I pretty much have followed what my mom did… freezing some foods and canning others. I almost always can tomatoes and tomato products, although last year, at the end of the season,, I did make a couple of big batches of spaghetti sauce and decided to freeze that — it’s been good — still have a couple of quart containers to use, but it was sure easier. Of course when I freeze things like that, I’m pretty sure I’ll use them in less than a year. If I was preserving for more long term, I would have canned them. I still can apples and applesauce, because my mom did. peaches get canned. And any kind of berry gets frozen. Corn and peas are frozen, but green beans are canned. My mom never canned meat, so neither do I! When they would have a hog or steer butchered (we lived on a farm and raised both), they would keep much of the meat at the locker and just go there once in a while to bring some home — so the freezer wasn’t full of a whole hog or side of beef.
Pat (EagleKnits) says
When our kids were young, I did a lot of freezing, because that’s what my mom did. I also canned pickles and jams in a water bath, but never learned how to pressure can, because mom didn’t do it. You’ve gotten me interested in canning, though, mainly because I like the idea of having food without all the preservatives and added ingredients. I have two very old pressure cookers, but don’t know whether they can be used for canning or not. Dehydrating foods has also piqued my interest, and I wonder if that would be a better choice for us than canning. Of course, I don’t own a dehydrator either. I’d like to learn more about both topics from those of you all who do them.
Donna says
I like green beans and tomatoes canned although I have frozen a few tomatoes and they were ok in soups. I also like peaches canned. Canning takes more time so the time factor usually determines how I put stuff up.
Diane says
I use both methods too. I love the fresh taste of frozen vegetables but I can a lot of juices, sauces and fruits. I use both methods because my freezers (4 plus 3 refrigerator freezers) are always full.. We actually use a lot of what I preserve. It is a lot of work but I feel it is a much healthier option.