I wanted to do a photo journal of my experience but it wasn't really that kind of thing. I'll have to use my writing skills to paint a picture in your mind of how fun this was!
First, to get the cannery. I'll give you my "women's" directions. Get off the freeway at 1600 N. in Orem. Turn right. Turn right again at the Harley Davidson place onto Geneva road. You'll go under the freeway and then through a light. Turn right at Center Street which has no light. There is a big building on the corner with a word that starts with C..... Codex? The cannery is the next building on your left, a sprawling off-white building with tinted windows and doors.
If you go to the back of the building I think that's the bishop's storehouse. The cannery is on the side of the building you can see from Center Street. It is only open on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9-7. The doors say "Home Storage Center" on them.
There are three ways to buy food at the cannery. 1. You can buy prepackaged items. 2. You can buy items that you package there yourself in any quantity you choose. 3. You can buy items in bulk, which will need to be repackaged at home. Example: Giant bag of oats.
For numbers 1 and 3, you can totally have kids with you. The nice senior missionaries load your order on a cart for you and it's all really quick. You can pay with a credit card or cash or a check.
If you want to package items yourself, you can't have anyone younger than 8 years old with you. The only reason you would want to package items yourself is if they don't sell them already packaged. It doesn't save you money. I decided to do dehydrated carrots and onions because they are only sold in bulk. I didn't want a giant bag of them, I just wanted 6 #10 cans of each. (I did everything in 6s because that's what fits in a box.)
I turned in my order form and then I had to watch a video about washing my hands really well and wearing a hair and beard net. (They didn't make me wear the beard net. Thank heavens.)
I put on my hairnet and apron, then sterile gloves. There were two senior sister missionaries with me the entire time so I never got confused on what to do. They put the labels on the cans for me. Then we poured the contents into the cans. Nothing complicated. The bulk package of carrots actually fills 8 cans, and even though I only wanted to buy 6, I had to fill all 8. Before I was finished, two people already claimed those cans. There is a shelf of already canned stuff anybody can buy that is just extras from people's orders.
After each can was filled, settled, and filled a little more (to within 1/4 inch of the top) I got to add an oxygen pack to each one and put a lid on top. The machine to seal the cans was only scary the first three times. You just set the can on a platform, pull a lever, wait for it to do its thing and then remove the can.
The onions were a little more complicated. The bulk ratio chart said one bag would fill 12 cans. It ended up filling 17 cans, which made it a way better deal.* I ended up buying the whole bag, and they also sent the last bit home with me because it wasn't enough to fill a can. When you buy the whole bag like that, you have to pay for the cans and lids. Cans are 80 cents and lids are 10 cents. Oh and the oxygen pack is another 10 cents. So it adds only slightly to the cost. And now I never have to go can onions again for a very long time. But I would. It was fun!
There were people there canning things that you can buy pre-canned. It is the exact same cost. I don't know why they would do that. The sisters told me some people do it for family home evening because they want their kids to be involved. I would love to bring my kids there when they are older. They also offer tours of the cannery and bishop's storehouse which would be really fun to see.
That is my experience at the cannery. You will never find any nicer or more helpful people in the world except, of course, at the temple. My only regret is not keeping my hairnet.
*You may have noticed I now had a box with only 5 cans of onions in it, but I also bought a small bag of dry milk and hot chocolate to sample so it filled that extra space. ALL IS WELL!
This is the phone number of the cannery: 801-785-0997
This is the phone number if you have questions about their products. 801-537-5947
Order form information HERE.
People with allergies: They have an order you have to follow if you are canning anything with milk or wheat. Those things always come last so there will be no cross-contamination. That place is so sparkling clean it reminded me of a hospital. Sterile and orderly!
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