My Search for Canning Supplies

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I have found myself with an abundance of tomatoes from the garden that we harvested over the past few days. What to do with them? I decided to can some and make some marinara sauce with some; that should get us through the winter without having to buy tomato products.

I spent about 2-1/2 hours this afternoon and literally went in circles, trying to find supplies for canning. I've never canned anything before, so this was definitely a learning experience for me. I started this morning, pulling out my mason jars. I had about eight pint jars and about a dozen quart jars with no lids. I have a large stock pot so I thought if I could find a rack for inside that pot, I would be able to fit seven jars in the pot. I would also need a jar lifter. So I hit the highway.

I started out at Walmart. Their canning supplies consisted of two canners with rack ($18.97), a canning tools kit (including a jar lifter), and miscellaneous mixes for pickles, jams, etc. I did not find anything to use as a canning rack. I decided to hold off on buying anything until I hit a few more stores. This being a small town, I didn't have many choices.

I headed down to Canton since I thought the canning supplies would be more plentiful there - I had assumed that more people canned in Canton (no pun intended). I stopped at Fred's and Maxway (Big Lots-type stores) but found nothing but a few canning jars. I then went to Cold Mountain Hardware. That was a neat store -- a hardware store in the front and a junk/antique store in the back. They did have a few canners there, but nothing under $50. They also carried jar lifters at $9.99. Walmart had a whole little canning tools kit which included a lifter and funnel and a couple of other doodads for $6.97 -- so I did not get that jar lifter. I did pick up a really nice basket, though; nice and deep with a wooden handle, perfect for harvesting our garden bounty. Since it was my first time shopping there, the proprietor gave me 20% off, so the basket came to $8.00. I also picked up an item that I'm hoping Michael will be able to use as a birdbath -- it's a garbage can lid, galvanized and brand new. I couldn't resist picking it up at $1.49.

My quest took me back to Waynesville, this time to another hardware store. By this point I had given up on finding a canning rack and decided I would just buy a whole new canner. They did have some, including a 7-jar canner (which was $18.97 at Walmart), which they wanted $24.99 for. The jar lifter they had was $7.99. I walked out with nothing. Back in the car, this time to KMart. They had one canner, which was a kit consisting of a 7-jar canner (same size as the one at Walmart), a canning rack and a canning tools kit. The price was $50.00. They had several boxes of pint jars and one box of quart jars, which was $9.99. Again, I walked out with nothing.

Back in the car, this time back to where I started -- Walmart! I was worried that two hours had gone by and they might not have any of those canners left. I was quite surprised to see a whole new display of canners! They had also restocked the quart canning jars. I walked out of Walmart $39.00 later, but happy. I now have a new canner, a canning tools kit, another dozen quart jars and new lids for the jars at home. A great investment that will last me years.

I probably would have saved a lot of time and money by just getting the canner at Walmart when I first saw it, but I really did get an education in canning supplies for this area. Sometimes we have to learn things the hard way. I have also come to the conclusion that, even though I would like to patronize our local merchants, when it comes to saving money you just can't beat Walmart. I saved myself at least $30 today just by shopping around.

My next step will be the actual canning process. This should be interesting!