Stardew Valley is about growing crops and making a living on the land — but there's more that players can do with their fruits and vegetables than sell them as is. As players develop their Farming skill, they will unlock crafting recipes for items that allow them to preserve and ferment their produce into highly valuable crafting items.
Two such things as Stardew Valley players tend to manufacture in large numbers Barrel
and Canning jars
. Both of these can be used to turn crops – especially fruits and vegetables – into crafting items that multiply their value spectacularly, potentially giving the player huge profits. But is one better than the other? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each option? Here's how Kegs and Preserves Jars stack up when compared head-to-head.

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Updated January 8, 2025 by Demaris Oxman: The 1.6 update brought many changes Stardew Valleyincluding lots of small tweaks and balancing changes. One of these involved expanding the items players can place in Kegs and Preserves Jars. Several forage items, such as leeks, spring onions, hazelnuts, winter roots and more, can now be used to create juice or pickles. This guide has been updated to reflect any additional information that players may find useful when trying to craft items on their farm.
The basics of kegs and cans
Both cans and barrels are useful to have on a player's farm, as they can both be used to turn produce and other items into valuable crafting items. This is especially profitable if players have the crafting profession, which increases the selling price of these items by 40%.
It is important to note that the quality of the item placed in a can or a barrel not affect the quality or selling price of the craft product. A jelly made from a gold quality fruit, for example, will sell for the same price as one made from a normal quality fruit. Therefore, it is recommended players use their lowest quality items to make Artisan products in their cans and barrels.
Canning jars
Canning cans are used to make canned products: Jelly
, Pickles
, Aged roe
and Caviar
. Players can obtain cans as rewards from the packs of quality crops or rare crops at the community center, or as prizes from the prize machine. The craft recipe for cans is received at Agriculture level 4 and requires:
The following items can be crafted with a canning jar:
Objects are placed in jars |
Product |
Base selling price |
---|---|---|
Any fruit |
[fruit name] Jelly |
2x [base fruit price] + 50 |
|
Potted [item name] |
2x [base item price] + 50 |
Roe from any fish except sturgeon |
Aged [fish name] Rome |
2x [roe price] |
Main room |
Caviar |
2x [roe price] |
Barrel
Barrels, meanwhile, are used to produce drinks. Some are alcoholic, such as Wine
, Beer
and Light beer
; however, Coffee
, Juice
, Green tea
and Vinegar
also produced in barrels.
The farmer can get kegs as a reward for completing the Artisan Bundle or the Brewer's Bundle. They can also appear as prizes in the prize machine. To create their own, players will learn the recipe for Farming level 8:
Object placed in barrel |
Product |
Base selling price |
---|---|---|
Any fruit |
[fruit name] Wine |
3x [base fruit price] |
|
[item name] Juice |
2.25x [base item price] |
|
Light beer |
300 g |
|
Beer |
200 g |
|
Mead |
200 g |
|
Green tea |
100 g |
|
Coffee |
150 g |
|
Vinegar |
100 g |
2:34

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Barrels or cans: which is better?
Advantages and disadvantages of barrels
As players can see in the tables above, goods produced in barrels generally result in greater profits than those produced in cans. For example, wine is the much more profitable choice for fruit. It is also worth noting that alcoholic beverages produced in casks (wine, beer, pale ale and mead) can be placed in a Barrel
to age them, which increases their quality and thus their selling price. An Iridium quality craft item will sell for twice as much as a normal quality.
But while barrels produce much more valuable products, they are more expensive to manufacture. Making barrels en masse requires first forging many metal bars, crafting several Tappers, and waiting for them to yield oak resin. Additionally, if players plan to age their cask products in casks, they must purchase the home's final upgrade for 100,000g (and possibly craft additional casks from wood and hardwood). Kegs also take much longer than cans to reach their final product — and that's not considering any aging time.
For experienced Stardew Valley players, crafting barrels can be fun, and maybe not even difficult. But Preserves Jars also have their benefits and should not be overlooked.
Pros and cons of cans
Because they require only basic materials, canning cans are cheap and easy to make. They can help farmers earn a lot of money in the first few years on their farm, especially before they learn the barrel crafting recipe. Many players tend to phase out their cans once they have produced a large number of kegs, due to lower sales values for jelly and pickles.
It's worth having a few left though. Canning cans take much less time than barrels to yield their product. This faster conversion means they can be just as profitable, especially for low-value, high-yielding crops such as Blueberry
. Generally, if a fruit's base price is 50g or less, it is more profitable to put in the can because of its shorter processing time. The same applies to vegetables with a basic price of 200g or less.
It's also worth noting that some items that cannot be placed in barrels can be placed in cans and vice versa. For example, players can choose to place their fruit harvest in either a barrel or a can. But only a can can increase the value of roe, and only a barrel can make an artisanal product of honey. With this in mind, having both cans and barrels on their farm is important for players who focus on growing crops and crafting goods.
Stardew Valley
- Released
-
February 26, 2016
- Developer
-
Worried Ape
- OpenCritic Rating
-
Powerful