Cheap canning supplies locally?

[rcousine]

So thanks to my usual hobby turning into a charitable fundraiser, I suddenly have gone from needing 24 canning jars to needing a 100-200 or more.

Can anyone suggest a good place to buy jars and other canning supplies locally? I can get everything I need (except maybe the canning racks and whatnot) at Save-On, but I really just want to make sure that I'm getting a good price, and not missing out some kitchen supply wholesaler that will sell me jars for .25 apiece or some such (Save-On is somewhere around $7-12 for 12 jars, depending on size and style).

If anyone is interested, I'm (mostly) making crab apple jelly. My church has a crab apple tree on its property, and for the last few years I have collected the apples and turned them into a surprisingly good jelly.

If any of you have access to crab apples and haven't made this stuff, I recommend it highly.

[sanrensho]

Since this is for fundraising purposes, why not go ahead and phone the actual head offices of the manufacturers (Bernardin, etc.)? Tell them that you need the supplies for church fundraising and ask them to put you in touch with a distributor, preferably one that is hign on the chain.

Hopefully, you can continue to use this source for future fundraisers. Good luck!

Edited August 11, 2006 by sanrensho (log)

[eatrustic]

If you don't luck out with donations then the best prices I have found are at Superstore and Canadian Tire (their larger stores).

Both have non Bernardin jars (that are universal) which are just fine and a dollar or two cheaper per case compared to the Bernardins.

[sanrensho]

If you don't luck out with donations...

I was actually thinking wholesale pricing rather than free supplies. I would think that's the least they could do.

Edited August 11, 2006 by sanrensho (log)

[rcousine]

Thanks for the suggestions! If I can't find anything else, I happen to have an inside contact at Canadian Tire, so I'll talk to them.

[anisette]

Don't laugh, but I've seen boxes of them at Salvation Army. They're about 15 cents to 25 cents each. WAY cheaper than Superstore or Canadian Tire. All you have to do is buy the rings and lids. Good luck!

[rcousine]

Don't laugh, but I've seen boxes of them at Salvation Army. They're about 15 cents to 25 cents each. WAY cheaper than Superstore or Canadian Tire. All you have to do is buy the rings and lids. Good luck!

←

No laughing! I work a block from the nearest Sally Ann...let's see if this works...

[anisette]

Don't laugh, but I've seen boxes of them at Salvation Army. They're about 15 cents to 25 cents each. WAY cheaper than Superstore or Canadian Tire. All you have to do is buy the rings and lids. Good luck!

←

I re-read my post and realized my error. The jars work out to be around 15-25 cents each. Not the whole box...but at $1.80-$3 for 12, who's complaining? Let me know if you find any. Here in White Rock they had some earlier on in June, whether they still have them, I'm not sure.

[BBQ Brian]

Superstore had them on sale for the past month or so... 500 ml jars were $5.88/case. I bought 15 or so cases for bbq sauce. There are jar distributors around Vancouver however they are usually specialty jars rather than for canning... I'd be interested to see if you find anything else.

Brian

[rcousine]

Superstore had them on sale for the past month or so...  500 ml jars were $5.88/case.  I bought 15 or so cases for bbq sauce.  There are jar distributors around Vancouver however they are usually specialty jars rather than for canning...  I'd be interested to see if you find anything else.

Brian

←

Thanks. I stumbled across that deal this weekend; the 250 ml jars, probably more suited to my needs, are the same unit price, but either way that's about half the going rate!

This weekend I had some helpers, and we pulled a huge number of apples out of the tree. I haven't weighed them yet, but my estimate is 80-100 pounds of apples. We're talking three green garbage bags loaded to near their weight capacities. Time to make some crab apple juice!