Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving

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 Funnel Progressive International CKC-500 Canning Scoop You 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!

This is a wonderful book and well worth its money. Not only is it hard backed but also spiral inside. The pages turn easily and it has hundreds of recipes and how to do things. I can and I bought this for my daughter who wants to start canning some food items.

Alot of info, step by step instructions and recipes in this book. Great buy and looking forward to using it this canning season

I got the hard cover version, very good book, well made. I have never canned before and this book really helped me get started, and is easy to follow along with. Highly recommend it!

This book looks like it is going to be a huge help with new recipes and tips for me as I am an amateur canner. The book is well constructed (I bought the spiral bound edition) and that is also it's downfall. It looks like the manufacturing process had some major issues. I got about 25 pages in, and found that already 3 pages were not cut atvthe exterior edge. Meaning, if I don't cut them or return the book, I will have to cut the out edge of a lot of pages. I'm returning this one for a replacement that hopefully doesn't have this same issue. And hopefully Amazon doesn't put it back on the shelf and resell it....

We have a raised bed gardens (put together in a rectangle, but sectioned off for each bed to produce what it needs to) and our garden produced beautiful fresh cucumbers! What else to do with so many besides salads! Can them and turn them into pickles! This book is awesome! And makes an awesome addition to our garden, canning shelf! We gave most of our produce away. However we plan to can more next time and this book will help us do just that! This book has beautiful pictures and a page that tells you about home canning equipment with pictures of the equipment. This sections shows you the tools you will need and gives you the information you will need for each tool. Glossary in back of the book, produce purchase guide, home canning problem solver section, altitude section, pickle problem solver section and so so much more! So many recipes, this book will make anyone happy and keep you busy canning! You will be so happy with this book! We have owned this book for over a year and we are still happy with our purchase! You can never go wrong with ball anything! Hearing stories throughout the years of my great grandparents and grand parents canning stories I knew I had to have this book and start my own canning history and tradition with our children. No matter your skill level you will love this book! The instructions throughout this book are great, the ingredients are simple for many of the recipes and are things many will keep or already have around the kitchen. Some things may need to be purchased, but most of what I see I already have on hand and keep on hand. We are very impressed with this book, and could not have asked for a better book! We like to teach our children where food comes from, this book helps us to teach and show our children how to preserve the food we grow! You will not be disappointed with this very detailed book and you will refer to this book often. We are a family of more than six and love to grow our own food and now will can more of what we grow! Happy reading, and canning! What great rewards you will have from the work of your own hands. You will also know where your food comes from and what ingredients are truly in your food! Why buy can food, when you can make your own! Enjoy!

Bought this as a gift. She loved it. Lots of great recipes and also simple instructions for both water bath and pressure canning. May buy one for myself!

This is a great book for beginners. I'm super happy to get it. I haven't tried any recipes yet because I'm a nervous beginner, but I hope to do so soon after my canning class through my Agrilife extension. I trust Ball, so I'm sure their recipes are good!

Highly recommend this book.

Very handy book to have, top marks

Knowledge

É um livro muito bom, mas com poucas receitas e dicas de fermentação ácido laticas, que era o meu interesse maior. Tudo é fermentado com vinagre.

Goed startersboek, maar ik hoopte op meer foto's om inspiratie op te doen.