I can uderstand your concern here nickdutch, but if you check out the link in my first post, you will find where i get mine from. They're under £2 and if you order is over a certain price bracket, you then get free delivery. Still nowhere near what the going rate is over the pond, but, at least the jars are re-usable, the tin can, once opened is spent. How, in the long run, the economics of all this starts to favour the home canning metod i don't know, but i like the idea of having at least some control over what goes into our food chain here. you're also correct in not ruling out cheap tinned foods. as they also make a big difference and addition to the prep larder, as we do stock up on tinned foods from places like Approved Foods here:- http://www.approvedfood.co.uk/mybargainsnickdutch wrote:jansman wrote: Decaff , *I * think we cannot get the gear easily here, simply because it is not part of our culture.
I actually rarely use my canner these days primarily because by comparison with buying cheap value tins, its more expensive, but i do can things from time to time, such as if I buy a whole lump of meat and want to split its usage up over many weeks and have no freezer space
There's just an element of satisfaction being able to add your own home made produce to the store. Your story is similar to ours, regarding the price of the jars and equipment here in blighty, but i'm trying to find a supplier from over the pond. It makes me well envious when i see a dozen quart jars going for between $7-$10.
BTW does anyone know what the import allowance is from the states before paying import duty? I did hear that you are allowed anything upto £18, over that you then have to pay an import tax, but when buying off of ebay once, import duty was added on an item that only cost £10!! Any advice here greatly welcomed.
All the best, stay safe, stay prepared.
Daz
They really do get better prices than us, I do feel we pay so much for everyday things in UK but the shipping costs make it prohibitive to get anything sent over 
Looking at the prices of the simplest component, eg Jars, it's a sad fact that I could probably buy a whole case of cheap canned food for the current UK cost of a single 2 pint Kilner jar...