Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving

A+
Lots of knowledge and info, very accessible. Almost unlimited specific recipes on all kinds of things.

So, if I want to take up home preserving, where do I start?
This is my story. My husband came home from work with 18 lbs. of Concord grapes, what was I to do? If we have lemons, we make lemonade, so I figured if I have grapes, make jelly! I’ve never made jelly before. How do I get started? As a self-learner, I’ve always believed that if I have the best information and follow it carefully, I can accomplish my goal. If experts are not available in person, tutorials written by experts have always worked for me. Attention to detail and following instructions EXACTLY are the keys to creating an end-result to be proud of. In this instance, I started with Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. Within the pages of this hefty, 448 page “how to,” I found everything I needed to know to start my jelly making. I learned jelly-making is done using the water-bath method. What else? This book had all the answers.Equipment? I started with a “boiling-water canner.” This can be any deep pot, with a lid and a rack. I purchased, Granite Ware 0707-1 Steel/Porcelain Water-Bath Canner with Rack, 21.5-Quart, Black, but the Ball book explained that any pot big enough to completely immerse the jars in water and is at least three inches deeper than the height of the jars elevated on a rack, (jars must be kept off of the bottom of the pot) will work. The jars must be covered with at least one inch of water and you’ll want extra room for the water to come to a full-rolling boil. A specialized rack isn’t absolutely necessary either, a cake cooling rack that fits inside the pot, or tying extra screw bands together to make a rack, will work. (Canning racks are also sold separately.) I didn’t have a pot on hand to meet these specifications, so I bought the pot/rack combo above. The racks made for water canners have handles, which I think, are the way to go. I’m glad I made the investment because after making jelly, which was out-of-this-world good, I got the canning bug!As I read through the 400 recipes in this amazing book, I went on to make a few other yummy treats. I made strawberry jam, apple pie filling, spaghetti sauce, and salsa. Truly, making these items with the freshest ingredients resulted in the best tasting product we’ve ever tried. I would have made more recipes this year, but in the middle of all this industriousness, I had to pack up for moving across the country! Once I get settled…onward and upward.As a novice, I can’t claim any wealth of knowledge or experience, but I can recommend this book to anyone who wants to get started in home preserving. In my quest, I bought a total of four home preserving books but I only needed this one. I feel that by using the information given in this book I’ve started out on the right track. I found everything I needed to know about equipment, how the process works (boy, am I grateful for everyone who figured all this out, way back when), and have lots of recipes to try in the future. By using Ball’s instructions, I didn’t feel overwhelmed, confused, or like perhaps I should re-think the whole home preserving decision.In future, I will make many more water-bath items (fruits/vegetables high in acidity~~don’t worry this book explains all of that). Some things that I’m tantalized by are: fruit butters, preserves, conserves, marmalades, more jams and jellies, fruit in syrup (peaches, pears, and the like), apples in all kinds of ways, compotes, more pie fillings, fruit sauces, (think cranberry among others), juices, (which is where I started to make the grape jelly), fruit syrups, more salsa, relish, pickles, (it looks like you can pickle just about anything), condiments, (ketchups, BBQ sauces, chili sauces, mustards, vinegars, and the like), and tomatoes, (whole, chopped, and sauced). In total there are nearly 350 pages of water-bath recipes!I’m going to use this book, to branch into pressure canning. Ball outlines all of the equipment I’ll need. In fact, I have a pressure canner, on my wish list right now! I especially want to make soups and stews. There are numerous recipes for vegetables, but for me, I’ll probably stick to freezing those we primarily eat. However, I’m intrigued with the idea of canning potatoes and carrots. Meats, seafood, and poultry can also be preserved in a pressure canner.You’ll see amazing color photographs of several of the recipes, charts for translating ingredients from pounds to cups, neat tips in the margins, (i.e. I added ¼ tsp. butter to my jelly mixture to reduce foaming), condition-cause-solution charts for each section, (i.e. what is the possible cause and suggested solution when soft spreads are tough or stiff), and a section on the “art and science of home food preservation” teaches everything I wanted to know about safely preserving. I thought the science was interesting while at the same time thankful that I didn’t have to figure this stuff out. I’m originally from the Rocky Mountains of Idaho, and found the altitude charts helpful. Processing times vary based on altitude. I’m currently moving around and this is important info…thanks to Google, wherever I live, I can know the altitude! There’s a glossary of terms in the back of this book along with an excellent index.Below is a list of the equipment I acquired for water-bath preserving, based on the recommendations within this book. By using the search engine, you’ll see there are several to choose from. Some of the tools I purchased separately, are sold grouped together in kits. As I continue to home preserve, I’m sure I’ll find more helpful tools to make it easier and therefore keep it enjoyable.Don’t try filling your jars without these items or similar:Progressive International CKC-300 Regular and Wide Mouth Canning FunnelProgressive International CKC-500 Canning ScoopYou MUST HAVE a jar lifter! I use Norpro 600 Jar Lifter. Because the seal on the lid can be damaged, using metal tongs is a no-no using Norpro Magnetic Lid Wand or similar, is necessary.Good luck on your journey! I hope you have as much fun as I have!

Great book for learning about canning
My peach tree is to produce heavily this year and also my strawberry patch, raspberry, blueberry and cherry bush. Knowing I will have more than I can use or give to friends and wanting preserves for the winter from my crops I decided to look into canning. First, this book saved me from buying an expensive pressure canner (need special one for canning vs regular pressure cooking) since I have no desire to can meats or other low acid items. Nor do I plan to can tomato or other items that are as inexpensive to buy in the store and not worry if I have done it right or risk various problems (which they outline as risks). They even noted that what I had in the kitchen would be sufficient to do what I wanted without buying special hot water canner. However the hot water canner with rack is inexpensive and I bought one locally at Walmart for same price as Amazon, $19, with rack and holding 12 half pint jars. I plan to do 8 jars at a time so this will work well for me. Rack will fit over top to make for easy removal of the jars after heating which the pots I have on hand would not allow. Having saved me from expensive pressure cooker this was minor price to have equipment designed to do the job. Especially glad I went this route after reading how I have to heat lids and jars before filling and then how to remove after heating process is complete. Also I wondered why I needed the magnet tipped tool to lift lids, until I read section that I had to heat these lids in hot water before placing them on the jars in the canner after filling. So these special tools are very useful and they are inexpensive. The same was true of Pectin (able to get smaller sizes at better prices per oz), jars (bigger variety with freezer friendly ones noted) and special tools for lifting cans etc. Even with my prime membership. The canner itself same price. Did, however, buy dissolvable labels from Amazon not available locally as well as other items.Was glad I bought jars locally since some were freezer friendly and some were not! Had to return first ones after finding could not put in freezer. Also one jar was broken on lip in manufacturing (no glass in the box) and easy to return for partial credit locally.One thing about this book is puzzling and that is that the detailed description of hot water canning (and pressure cooker canning) is at the back of the book, not the front. Also some recipes are odd in that they include some fruits but not others. For example, I plan to can strawberries this weekend and wanted to used powdered Pectin but in section on powdered Pectin no mention of Strawberries. They are mentioned in section not using pectin at all or using liquid pectin. Result is that I have put bookmarks in the various places in the book that I will need until I learn how to do this correctly. While this is a bit puzzling as to why it is organized as it is (I would have put the section starting around 409 in front of the book) there are references back to this section clearly noted. Many of the recipes look good and interesting and will give some of these a try once I get comfortable with canning. Must admit the section discussing various potential disease causing issues was a bit daunting! But has not discouraged me from trying to see if I can do this correctly.One important section in the back worth special note and that is the listing of altitudes and how that affects the timing of the canning process. I live in Missouri at altitude close to 1000 feet. Would not have thought that would affect my timing but according to the chart I need to add 5 minutes to the time. Since most of the recipes I plan to use call for 10 minute heating that increases my time by 50%! If at higher altitudes than mine important to note the additional time required from this chart. Again, this would be useful in the front of the book as it is not insignificant in properly performing the canning process.Overall, despite the items above, the book is extremely useful and will be a great help. I am very happy with it having learned its organization. For those like me considering or just getting started in canning and probably those who are experienced this seems a very worthwhile purchase. For those thinking about canning this book could be especially important as it will likely save you from buying the wrong items to do the canning and make sure you have all you need on hand first time you want to do canning.

If you’re starting with preserves and water bath canning like me, this book is a must have. Everything is very well explained and there are so many recipes to try out!

excellent book :: must have