Food is a necessity all humans require to thrive and simply survive, and our methods of preserving food have advanced as our knowledge in food has evolved.
If you were to go back in time hundreds of years ago, you would never have witnessed freezers and cans as methods of food preservation, so it’s safe to say that you’re lucky to have been born in the 21st century.
Ever since the introduction of freezers and cans as a way of preserving food, the worldwide population experienced a boost that was never witnessed before. Now you are so fortunate that you can choose between freezing your fruits and vegetables or pressure canning them.
Keep reading for an in-depth look as to the pros and cons of both pressure canning vs freezing food.
What Are Pros And Cons Of Pressure Canning Food?
Over five years ago, the Canned Food Alliance performed a survey that unearthed that over 80% of Americans either eat or prepare meals that incorporate canned foods several times a month.
When looking at Americans who eat canned goods on a weekly basis, that percentage is reported to be over 30%, which is still a lot of the population. The number of Americans canning their food rests at over 50%, which is no surprise considering the pros attached to pressure canning food at home.
The Pros Of Pressure Canning
The Pros of Canning:
Custom Choose Food
Pressure canning your food at home permits you the luxury of hand-picking your own ingredients that you store, so you don’t have to settle for any fruits and vegetables you don’t believe to be fresh enough.
The ability to custom choose your food is particularly useful for individuals who have food allergies or adhere to unique diets.
For instance, those who are diagnosed with diabetes can pick and choose food that caters to their diet, which means that you’ll always have healthy food ready no matter the situation.
The same logic applies to those with food allergies who are trying to pressure can their food. Regardless if you have gluten, peanut, or dairy allergy, you have total control over what ingredients go into your food. So you don’t have to look for the label that warns people that the food you’re eating was packaged in a facility that contains nuts.
Freedom To Make Unique Recipes
The food combinations and recipes you can make when you learn how to properly can food will seem endless. In fact, you can easily take your favorite recipe and tweak it up, so you develop one specific to pressure canning.
The recipes a majority of Americans seem to love canning is hands down jams. This is because jams are simple to make and last a long time when stored properly.
The Cons Of Pressure Canning
The Cons Of Canning:
Requires Background Knowledge
Pressure canning food is a much more involved process than you may think. It consists more of just putting food in a can and screwing on its lid.
Pressure canning mainly incorporates heavy-duty equipment that you need to educate yourself on before you take matters into your own hands and start canning your food. You need to be able to use a pressure canner, which seems like a science experiment in itself.
Requires Separate Equipment
Way before you embark on your pressure canning journey, you, unfortunately, have to invest in particular equipment that is necessary to properly can your food.
If you decide on pressure canning your food, you’ll have to buy a pressure canner on top of the lids and jars you’ll need to store your food in the first place. You may also want to consider purchasing a jar lifter since it’ll prove to be beneficial when you have to remove the jar from the boiling water inside the pressure canner.
A pressure canner will make your attempt at pressure canning your food a much more expensive endeavor, but it does have its perks.
Time Consuming
The time you have to spend to just prep for the pressure canning process is what makes a lot of individuals reconsider canning their food, to begin with. You have to be very precise with picking out the necessary ingredients so you can efficiently fill the jars and store them.
Every time before you even fill up your jars, you have to sterilize your canning jars, which will take you at least 15 to 20 minutes of your day. This means you have to put time aside before you start the canning process.
Short Shelf Life
Canning your food has the downside of having a shorter shelf life, which can be an expense on your part further down the road. You have to keep track of the room temperature if you want to ensure that the canned food does not go bad.
The last thing you want to do is risk eating contaminated canned food because the chances of some deadly bacteria forming remain incredibly high. In some cases, some of the bacteria that can develop may kill you or even cause nerve damage.
The Pros Of Freezing Produce
The Pros Of Freezing:
Separate Equipment Not Required
As long as you have a fridge with a freezer section at home, then you won’t have to buy any other expensive equipment to freeze your food correctly. In fact, the only purchase that’s required on your part is Ziploc bags, wax paper, and mason jars.
Simple Process
As you can see above, pressure canning takes a lot of time and effort, but you can’t say the same about freezing food. This is because freezing requires no sterilization or pre-cooking, so it makes storing food a 30-second process.
Safer To Store Food
Freezing food requires no boiling water or pressure canners, which reduces the chance of you having to put up with an accident that injures your body in some way shape or form.
Long Shelf Life
Food that your place in the freezer are automatically immune to spoiling because the extremely low temperature of your freezer prevents any harmful bacteria from growing.
The Cons Of Freezing Produce
The Cons of Freezing:
Requires Electricity
For your freezer to run, it requires electricity, so you’re not in luck when the power in your home goes out for too long of a time. In fact, if the power in your house isn’t restored on time, you run the risk of losing your frozen produce.
Canned Vs Frozen Vegetables Cost
When comparing the expense of pressure canning vs freezing your food, you realize that freezing your food will keep costs low in the long run. Keep in mind that freezing produces costs significantly less than pressure canning food as well as it doesn’t take up as much of your time.
Final Thoughts
Instead of picking a particular way of storing food, you should incorporate both pressure canning and freezing your food to make the most out of your produce. Plus, learning how pressure canning will go a long way if you’re stuck in a situation where it’ll come in handy.
For those who have any additional questions regarding pressure canning vs freezing, you should feel free to leave them below. We will make it our top priority to provide ample answers.
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