This Stardew Valley guide compares Kegs and Preserves Jars, two crucial tools for transforming crops into valuable artisan goods. While both increase profit, especially with the Artisan profession's 40% bonus, their effectiveness depends on the item and player's farm stage.
Kegs and Preserves Jars: A Side-by-Side Comparison
Both Kegs and Preserves Jars create artisan goods from crops, regardless of input quality. However, Kegs generally yield higher profits, particularly with wine, beer, and other alcoholic beverages. These can be further enhanced by aging in Casks, doubling profits with iridium-quality results.
Preserves Jars: Produce jellies, pickles, aged roe, and caviar. They are cheaper and faster to craft, making them ideal early-game. Their lower profit margin is offset by speed, especially for low-value, high-yield crops like blueberries.
Kegs: Produce wine, juice, beer, pale ale, mead, coffee, green tea, and vinegar. While more profitable, they are more expensive and time-consuming to craft and require more advanced materials.
Item Specifics:
| Item In Jar/Keg | Preserves Jar Product | Keg Product | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fruit | Jelly (2x base price + 50g) | Wine (3x base price) | Wine is generally more profitable, especially for higher-value fruits. |
| Vegetables | Pickles (2x base price + 50g) | Juice (2.25x base price) | Juice surpasses pickles for higher-value vegetables. |
| Roe (except Sturgeon) | Aged Roe (2x roe price) | N/A | |
| Sturgeon Roe | Caviar (2x roe price) | N/A | |
| Honey | N/A | Mead (200g) | |
| Hops | N/A | Pale Ale (300g) | |
| Wheat | N/A | Beer (200g) | |
| Tea Leaves | N/A | Green Tea (100g) | |
| Coffee Beans | N/A | Coffee (150g) | |
| Rice | N/A | Vinegar (100g) | |
| Mushrooms (Morels, Chanterelles etc.) | Pickles | Juice | |
| Forage (Leeks, Spring Onions etc.) | Pickles | Juice |
Which is Better?
The optimal choice depends on your farm's stage and goals. Preserves Jars offer a quick return on investment early-game, while Kegs provide greater long-term profits but demand a larger initial investment and more time. A balanced approach, utilizing both, maximizes efficiency. Consider the individual item's value and processing time when making your decision. For low-value items, the faster turnaround of Preserves Jars might be preferable.
