I couldn't wait for our pressure canner to arrive so I went and purchased about 5 pounds of cucumbers to make into bread and butter pickles. After canning they are suppose to sit for 7 weeks before eating. Argh!! I actually wanted to figure out how much 5 pounds (about 12 medium size) would make and how much it would cost per jar.
Here's the cost break down:
$7.68 : 12 medium cucumbers
$1.67 : sweet and sour mix (I should have made my own but I'm lazy at the moment)
$1.06 : 4 cups of 5% vinegar
$0.25 : 3 cups of sugar
$0.15 : water and heat
$7.50 : 8 – 1 pint regular canning jars
Total: $18.31 ($2.29 a jar)
Compare to $3.49 for Vlasic brand and $2.85 for generic
Awsome! I can actually save money. Not that $1 a jar really is much but the fact that I made it faster, better, cheaper is even better! I think I can bring the cost down even more when I grow my own cucumbers. I'll basically be replacing the $7.68 I paid for the cucumbers for my own labor and then saving a bunch when I reuse the jars.
Only 7 weeks to go and I'll know if they are any good! Yummm!