LDS Cannery in CA was awesome!!!!

[vera21375]

Just wanted to share a little about the my food store purchases. I've been buying bulk food from Henry's, Whole Foods, Online, Safecastle, etc... I've been putting off going to the LDS cannery here in San Diego, because of the stuffs I've been reading on here. You have to be a member, they try to recruit you, blah, blah, blah.

I decided one day just to call and see for myself. They were only open Tues., Wed., Thurs. from 10-2pm. I went, talked to the gentleman filled out a paper with basic info name and phone number, they put non-member on the paper, he gave me a quick briefing (S.O.P.) for canning and using their facilities. I told him I only wanted to buy in bulk and that I would package the food at home. He said Ok..... here's the list, mark off what you want and stack everything up so I can see the quantity of each item.

After that, he let me go to town. It was a blast, I picked up over 2800 lbs of food!!!! On the SUPER CHEAP!! Now I have a lot of work to do, but... The people that were shopping started asking why so much? how long? how about water? solar? they were asking me everything about everything!!! My favorite question of the day was what else should I know??? Kinda cool... but I'm by no means any kind of expert So.....I told them about this site, and how there were so many myths about the canneries. They started laughing. I also told them 91% of the info on here is dead on. Just read and take everything with a grain of salt.

If your in the SoCal area or anywhere as a matter of fact. Please make sure you go/call a LDS cannery and find out for yourself if it's worth the effort.
No I'm not Morman, was raised Catholic, I do believe in the Lord, I now attend a non-denomination church. so I'm not trying to "recruit" for anyone....

[Nvncibl]

Good 4 U, Vera !! Holy cow - 2800 lbs !?!?! That seems like it would take a month or more just to repackage / can.

U may have seen my recent post on my visit to an LDS cannery in MI. I had a great time, too. In case anyone doesn't know - They will loan out a portable can sealer for two weeks at a time, at no charge. I turned that down due to the distance to the cannery. I'm going again on the 22nd of this month to get another load. I may bring a friend this time. We'll see.

[SofaGeorge]

How much did this cost you?

[loadthedog]

Can you purchase the food already canned? I would like to just go and buy the stuff and bring it home. All of the repacking seems to be a lot for a novice. Plus, what do I do with 100's of lbs of wheat, oats, etc. I have never cooked with that stuff. Yes, I do not have a clue! LOL

[SurviveIt]

Its nice to see the truth come out and verified. Really, their only motivation is to get the food storage out of the canneries and dry pack facilities and stored in the home. If there is a disaster, they know those facilities in the area of a disaster probably will be down. Thats why they are trying so hard to get people to come in and pick it up. The only stipulation is that it be used for your home and your family. No commercial re-sale is permitted.

[vera21375]

Nvncibl........ your post was the reason why I decided to call and check it out for myself. So thank you sir.

Loadthedog.... Yes sir I think there was some prepacked stuffs like potato pearls and short term storage food stuffs pancake mix, coco mix, etc... I promise packaging your own food with mylar, O2 absorbers, buckets and a vacuum sealer is easier than changing oil, less dirty too. You have to watch some videos on here. Ask the ppl at the cannery whatever questions you want they'll help for sure.

SofaGeorge......about $1800. about a gold coin a couple oz of silver for comparison.

[willow]

Did they just have rice, beans, and grain? That was all I saw at the LDS website.

[Nvncibl]

Originally Posted by vera21375

Nvncibl........ your post was the reason why I decided to call and check it out for myself. So thank you sir.

You very welcome.

I was pleasantly surprised at their lack of "control" in what we were doing. They gave our group a short run down on the health & safety stuff, how to operate the can sealer and the labeling. It's very easy to run the sealer. Just set the can on the grooved base plate and turn the handle to lower the top piece that pushes down the lid (sorry for layman's terms). Each can took 7-10 seconds to load, seal and remove from the machine. The process of packing the food in each can is longer but not bad at all. Powdered milk make a mess. No way around it.

I really recommend the LDS trip. It's cheap and feels good to know it'll be good for 20-30 yrs.

There was a shelf of pre-canned items from the last visitors. If you open a huge bag of something and dont need all of it, then you can it anyway and leave the rest for the next guy. He in turn will do the same for the next person after him. We used this pre-canned selection to make quick work of a few items we needed smaller numbers in. The bag of apple slices makes a LOT of cans !! Beware... if time is getting short, don't open one of those. They smell really good, though.

[Nvncibl]

Originally Posted by willow

Did they just have rice, beans, and grain? That was all I saw at the LDS website.

Nope... they have LOTS more than just that. Call the local cannery and ask. They will gladly tell you what's getting low and when more of something is on the way.

Here's a site with the list of food available:

http://www.providentliving.org/pfw/m...40_000_pdf.pdf


Here's a good site to see what to expect during a visit. Watch the video's:

http://intelligentlivingpoes.wordpre...-pack-cannery/

[willow]

Thanks. I really do need to check them out.

[vera21375]

Something else..... I prefer the bucket storage system to canning, but, the cannery here said they didn't mind if we brought in other products to can. so keep that in mind as well. Good luck... keep preppin!

[ColoradoGal]

Originally Posted by SurviveIt

The only stipulation is that it be used for your home and your family. No commercial re-sale is permitted.

I'm so careful with that aspect that I won't even use the pancake mix when we do pancake breakfast fundraisers.

[ColoradoGal]

Originally Posted by vera21375

Something else..... I prefer the bucket storage system to canning, but, the cannery here said they didn't mind if we brought in other products to can. so keep that in mind as well. Good luck... keep preppin!

wow, this is the first i've heard that will let you can things brought in.

[BethinNY]

Originally Posted by ColoradoGal

wow, this is the first i've heard that will let you can things brought in.

That must be site-specific as well. My local cannery will only let you can what they stock.

[TareanSmiley]

Living in Utah, prepping has been encouraged by the church for ever. The only problem with our canneries is that they are often swamped!

I've been avoiding them lately simply because of all the people. On the other hand, it's nice knowing that many people in this state take preparedness seriously.

[faif2d]

I have used the cannery here in Texas and found the folks that volunteer to be very caring and helpful. The first time I went I had a Mormon friend go with me and it was no problem. I asked the woman in charge if I needed to bring my friend again and she said that would not be necessary. The church was just trying to get the food out into homes. The first trip was the only time I actually canned and it was work but interesting at the same time. The engineer in me wanted to take the lid machine apart but I restrained myself!

[TREX]

Cannery very soon.

Like the cans but also like to have most in bags

[bsmedsker]

Originally Posted by vera21375

Something else..... I prefer the bucket storage system to canning, but, the cannery here said they didn't mind if we brought in other products to can. so keep that in mind as well. Good luck... keep preppin!

I'm actually the cannery manager for the Richmond Cannery and it is policy that food is not allowed to be brought into the cannery to can. That is the purpose of the portable sealers we loan out. You can purchase cans and oxygen obsorbers to take home and can items we don't have available.

Brian

[Leo123]

Has any one tried to go to the LDS cannery in San Diego lately? I went yesterday based on Vera21375 great review and i was told they do not sell to non members.

[ColoAngus]

Where in Colorado did you find the cannery?