Advice on Canning Books

10 years ago

Hi,

New Canner here. Last season me and my girlfriend got pretty involved in canning, made 10 old jars of strawberry jam, 15 jars of mustard pickles, 10 1L jars of dill pickles, 20 500mL jars of banana peppers, 10 mix 500mL - 1L of Beets. needless to say after all that work only two things made it, the beets are 'OK' a little too sour, perhaps over boiling on the stove. The mustard pickles(the pickles in general) were disgusting. The recipe we decided on was not a roux starter but was intact a flour slurry turned the entire bath into a spirited mess. The strawberry jam turned out perfect.

Im looking for advice on how to avoid these pitfalls like. I don't feel much like wasting all that money at the market this season. The best way i know how is research and books. sure internets useful but lots of garbage to sift out. I've been using a lot of The Americas Test Kitchen books lately due to their explanation on things. Is there anything similar for preserving specific boil canning?

i appreciate any advice on this matter.

Featured Answer

digdirt2

10 years ago

First I'd suggest saving the America's Test Kitchen books for cooking only. They are not considered safe-to-use canning books. Sure as long as one sticks to only high acid foods (most but not all fruits and pickled foods that use at least 50% vinegar in their brine) their recipes are probably safe but there are much better canning books available.

The first principle of canning safety is that cooking and canning are two very different processes. Cooking is an art. Canning is based on science as it has the potential for being hazardous if not done properly.

So the science, the research underlying safe home canning comes from one source - USDA labs at the University of Georgia (NCHFP) and their partner university labs at Purdue, U. of Wisconsin, etc.. All the basic info, research, and many approved recipes are available on their website and in their books - So Easy to Preserve (available on their website) and USDA Complete Guide of Home Canning

available at Purdue.

Then there are the Ball Canning books that are based on all that research. The Ball-Blue-Book-Guide-Preserving is considered the beginner canners bible if you will and is available most anywhere canning supplies are sold as well as on line. It is usually sufficient for those only interest in boiling-water-bath (BWB) canning and high acid foods. Its companion book Ball-Complete-Book-Home-Preserving

is a much more expanded book with many more recipes and commonly recommended for those who do pressure canning of the many low-acid foods such as vegetables and meats.

There are of course other approved books and many discussions here about them that the search will pull up. But those linked above are the ones to begin with and learn from before one moves on to other sources.

As you have noted there is a great deal of inaccurate, and some down-right unsafe, sources on the web for canning info (YouTube videos should be avoided except by very experienced canners) but the NCHFP website and the Ball website (freshpreserving.com) can be fully trusted.

Hope this helps.

Dave

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Comments (9)

User
Original Author
10 years ago
Wow very thorough. Thanks so much, know that your advice will be accepted and put into practice, thanks.
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floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago
Sorry but the title made me smile... wouldn't they go soggy? ;-)
digdirt2
10 years ago
LOL good one floral - I missed that completely!!

Dave
annie1992
10 years ago
Floral, I thought the same thing, LOL.

Like Dave, I suggest the Ball Blue Book. I also have Small Batch Preserving, but it really is small batches. Another resource is the online National Center for Home Food Preservation, as Dave mentioned. If you have a local extension service, they are very helpful and have lots of good information too.

Happy Canning.

Annie
farm8654
10 years ago
I once got a lovely, recent book from the local library on canning and nearly had heart failure. It advocated non-heat canning, open kettle, and preserving of all kinds of no-no's like flour and oils. I spoke to the librarian and asked them to PLEASE remove it from the shelf. Just because it's in print doesn't mean it's valid. The USDA and Extension publications have been tested and we know they're good. For questions, don't hesitate to call your local extension office, or they have an 800 help line. I think it's 1-800-ext-info or maybe 888-ext-info. Does anyone know for sure?
PRO
beesneeds
10 years ago
I use the Ball Book, and Food in Jars, and Preserving by the pint for print books. Online I use various sites, USDA and state extensions, universities.
And then I have a small collection of various old canning recipes. Sometimes it's fun to look through them and compare them to current standards.
Destls
10 years ago
I'm so glad I found this thread. I was wondering about the blog "Food in Jars." She seems to follow the NCHFP guidelines, but I didn't want to use any recipes without asking on here if anyone has checked her blog out.
annie1992
10 years ago
beesneeds, I also have a collection of old recipes from places like Farm Journal and family members. I took the preserving classes at Michigan State University extension in my county, and I've refreshed a couple of times with their on-line "class", just to be sure I'm up to date.

So, I'm confident using Grandma's old sweet relish recipe, and the old Ball Blue Book pickled beet recipe, and have sorted out others that I'm just not comfortable with.

Plus, each year when I get ready to start canning beans and other vegetables I check for updates to last year's times or methods, so I can stay on top of changes.

Annie