Which Saves the Most Money - Dehydrating, Freezing or Canning?

With the cost of food going way up, many are choosing to buy in bulk and store for future use.

But is it really worth it?

Many of you know that a week ago I started a series on How and Why to Dehydrate. In the middle of that series, I had the opportunity to write a guest post at Kitchen Stewardship on Frugal Food Storage (that post is a must read if you are trying to eat well on less money).

Well, all of this talk about food preservation really generated a lot of interest and a lot of questions.

One reader commented that she was interested in purchasing a dehydrator and/or a freezer, but her husband wasn't sure about the cost savings, once one adds in the expense of the appliance and the ongoing cost of operating it. Doing food preserving on your own certainly gives you control over the procedure and the quality of the food, and it is a great step towards a more "whole foods" oriented lifestyle, but we all want to know that we can save money while doing it as well, right?

Well, I did a little digging around and found a fabulous resource that outlined the costs in a very detailed manner.

And after seeing the following chart, any of you who have purchased a dehydrator will feel quite affirmed in your decision (and those who have not will have one more reason to do so). You'll also see what is the cheapest way to preserve food.

FOOD PRESERVATION ECONOMIC COMPARISON

(Of course, costs have changed since this post (and since the book was printed), but I still find this very interesting.)

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FREEZING:

Estimated cost - 16.2 cents/pound

Equipment Needed: Freezer @ $270 amortized over 20 years* = $13.50/year

Repairs: 2% of purchase price = $5.40/year

Packaging: $25.00

Electricity: To operate freezer at 5 cents/kilowatt hour = $35.28
To blanch 250 pounds of food (4 min/pound) = $1.99

Total to process 500 pounds of food: $81.17

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CANNING:

Estimated cost - 5.5 cents/pound

Equipment Needed: Pressure canner @ $65 amortized over 20 years* = $3.25
Water bath canner @ $10 amortized over 20 years = $0.50

Repairs: 2% of purchase price = $1.30

Packaging: 24 dz quart jars @ $4.39/dz amortized over 10 years = $10.53
24 dz lids replaced each year @ $.49/dz = $11.76

Electricity: To pressure can 140 quarts at 5 cents/kilowatt hour = $1.44
To water bath can 140 quarts = $2.22

Total to process 560 pounds of food in 280 quarts: = $31.00

DEHYDRATING:

Estimated cost - 4.8 cents/pound

Equipment Needed: Electric Dehydrator @ $190 amortized over 20 years* = $9.50/year

Repairs: 2% of purchase price = $3.80

Packaging: $500 one-pound plastic bags = $2.50

Electricity: For drying food = $6.50
For blanching 250 pounds of food (4 minutes/pound)= $1.99

Total to process 500 pounds of food: $24.29

(*If the equipment is used for less than the full amortization period, the cost per pound of food increases significantly. Also, if smaller amounts of food are processed, the average cost per pound will increase.)

The above information comes from page 5 of Preserve It Naturally (2010), a book about dehydrating that you can purchase from Excalibur Dehydrator.

The data I use above are from the book, but the costs of energy, equipment, etc. have clearly changed and will vary according to your personal situation, i.e. your energy costs and how good you are at finding bargains on packaging, etc. Still, I think this is an eye-opening comparison.

Individual situations aside, it's clear that dehydrating and canning are extremely cost-efficient ways to store food. Of course, that doesn't mean that freezing isn't a great option either. I mean, if it costs 16.2 cents per pound to freeze something and you can secure the type of deal that I did at a local store about 4 months ago when we got grass fed lamb for about 3.25 / pound, then paying an extra 16 cents per pound still makes the lamb a great deal. Also, there are just some things that lend themselves better to one form of preservation than to another. For example, I don't wish to can or dehydrate meat or chicken broth, but those items both freeze quite well.

So -- I think I have now put my inquisitive mind to rest. And -- I am feeling pretty good about our second fridge, chest freezer, dehydrator, and even about the second chest freezer that we plan to buy later this week. Bring on the sales -- I have room to store the surplus! Now if I can just learn how to can :-)!More posts on dehydrating:

And some great posts on freezing:

If you don't have a dehydrator yet, I whole heartedly recommend the Excalibur Dehydrator, but a blogger friend of mine told me that she has this dehydrator and loves it: