Good all around preserving foods naturally book especially with canning?

Can anyone recommend a good book on naturally preserving foods especially with a largish section on canning time frames for various foods. Want not to buy a book by Ball or whatever in fears of it recommending use their store bought canning products other than the jars and lids themselves or recommending in every jelly recipe etc to just use a box of Sure Gel....we want to have recipes totally without products like that in the recipes.

Thanks for the help!

The Book Review Grid has several books that would be helpful:  https://permies.com/w/book-reviews

This one especially:  https://permies.com/wiki/2711/Nourishing-Traditions-Sally-Fallon

And this one:  https://permies.com/wiki/23245/Art-Fermentation-Sandor-Ellix-Katz

Thank you much! Those books will certainly be useful and will most likely become treasures in our home. I mainly started this thread to find a good canning book for my wife's Christmas present. She's a big fermenter too though. So I will likely buy one of these now for her too! Or both...however is there a good book on everything all in one? Or a book solely on natural ingredients only canning as well? I will look through the reviews section this evening myself but a finger pointed toward any of your all's favorite or most useful books is appreciated too!

Has she already got a copy of the Ball Canning Guide? That is the "bible" of canning.

To be honest, I use the Ball book just for canning times and knowing whether or not something can be raw packed, those type things, but I don't think I've ever made a recipe. Once you have that info, it's fairly easy to extrapolate the recipes to something you will eat. I don't use commercial pectin, but that won't change the processing time for jam. It's the acidity level that matter for water bath canning, so invest in a pH meter for your wife.

If you are looking for jams, jellies etc. with different sweeteners, Marissa McClellan has a good book "Naturally Sweet Food in Jars".

I would recommend Canning for a New Generation by Liana Krissoff. In all fairness, I haven't made many of the recipes, but I've enjoyed reading for the other information it has.

The book is laid out by seasonal produce.  There are recipes for making different products and some recipes to use them.  For example, there is a recipe for salsa verde and then a recipe for enchiladas verde to use the salsa.

There are also suggestions for not wasting produce such as making dried tomato powder from the leftover peeled skins.  Also there are some sidebars that make freezer and other storage suggestions.

As far as the pectin issue, the author prefers not to use commercial stuff.  She does include a recipe that uses it for jam just so people can see how to use it if they want to.

Time to re-read this😀

Lucrecia Anderson wrote:Has she already got a copy of the Ball Canning Guide? That is the "bible" of canning.

I concur.

I just read through a hundred or so recipes. The Ball Blue Book is not a marketing tool to sell pectin. It is a working guidebook. I only found one recipe that recommended adding pectin, and that was generic, not trying to sell a brand name.

Joseph Lofthouse wrote:

Lucrecia Anderson wrote:Has she already got a copy of the Ball Canning Guide? That is the "bible" of canning.

I concur.

I just read through a hundred or so recipes. The Ball Blue Book is not a marketing tool to sell pectin. It is a working guidebook. I only found one recipe that recommended adding pectin, and that was generic, not trying to sell a brand name.

Exactly. I think of the Ball Canning Book as the go-to authority to ensure the ratios/times are right so I won't be cooking up a jar full of botulism (since the ratios of sugar/vinegar etc... are more about safety than taste)

Marissa McClellan has a good book "Naturally Sweet Food in Jars".  

Slightly off topic but not completely. Honey. Super easy to can at home. Just pour it in.

This is one of my favorite books:  https://www.amazon.com/Putting-Food-Janet-Greene/dp/0525933425/ref=olp_product_details

It includes methods for drying and curing.

  classic guide to freezing, canning, and preserving food includes new information on freezing for the microwave, making Christmas presents, canning convenience food, and kitchen equipment.

Here is the "Look Inside"  where you can see the contents:

https://www.amazon.com/Putting-Food-Janet-Greene/dp/0525933425/ref=olp_product_details?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=1544211526&sr=1-2#reader_0525933425

Tina Hillel wrote:

There are also suggestions for not wasting produce such as making dried tomato powder from the leftover peeled skins.

I thought I made that up!! Independent inspiration :)
Works really nicely!

Pearl Sutton wrote:

Tina Hillel wrote:

There are also suggestions for not wasting produce such as making dried tomato powder from the leftover peeled skins.

I thought I made that up!! Independent inspiration :)
Works really nicely!

Good to know it works! I am usually too lazy and leave the skins on whenever I use tomatoes. Works out great having a hubby who feels the skins are there for a reason.  Who am I to disagree😀

Tina Hillel wrote:

Pearl Sutton wrote:

Tina Hillel wrote:

There are also suggestions for not wasting produce such as making dried tomato powder from the leftover peeled skins.

I thought I made that up!! Independent inspiration :)
Works really nicely!

Good to know it works! I am usually too lazy and leave the skins on whenever I use tomatoes. Works out great having a hubby who feels the skins are there for a reason.  Who am I to disagree😀

If I recall correctly, I was canning a batch of romas that had REALLY tough skins, so I slipped the whole batch. Then dried and powdered the skins. Normally I don't do that. Way too much work.

The book Nourishing Traditions goes into some detail and has a ton of recipes that rely on lacto fermentation, where you add some real whey (not the protein powder!) or salt to food you pack into a glass bell jar, and after several days the food will be ready for long term storage or use. No need to use heat (so one less bottleneck to preserving a large harvest) and it can increase the nutritional value of the preserved food.

We have only 'recently' invented freeze dry and canned food, but I like them alot.
Dehydration and Fermentation are the traditional and probably the more eco-friendly and healthy way.

Honey
natural nectar preservation by dehydration, technically it is also partially fermented too.
Mason Jar Blender + Honey + Fruit = Jam/Jelly.

Solar Dehydrator
herbs
nut (makes shelling so much easier later)
mushroom
fruits
fruit leather
vegetables (beans, peas, peppers, beets, carrots, turnips, potatoes, yams, onions, squash, and cereal grains)
vegetables (leafy greens should be blanched before dehydrating)
Fruit Leather
Leafy Green + Fruit Leather ( like a fruit leather but with kale/spinach/etc thrown in too)
Squash + root/tuber/herb Leather (Vitamix type blender help with water content of 'batter')
Fruit Jam/Syrup (Similar to fruit leather just scraped off earlier)
* Adding kefir grains to fruit leather/jam/syrup (incl squash/green/etc) add some benefits of fermentation.

Fermentation
I like Water Kefir and Milk Kefir whey for fermenting juice, grains and vegetables.
Can even make ale/beer from grains with a bit of added yeast (wild/saved starter or purchased).

Here is a book with some recipes too.
https://www.daff.gov.za/docs/Infopaks/Solardrying.pdf

Wow lots of replies since earlier! Some very good suggestions indeed from all of you!

I'm gonna order a book or two tonight. Definitely a good fermentation book and probably the Ball guide book since it sounds as if it's more of a good reference than tailored to buy store products showcase. Definitely need the ratios and times as per acidity etc.

Thanks again for the kindly help!

Ok new question...looking through books for sale online I see that there are many editions of the Ball Blue Canning book ranging from 1949, 1969, 1972, 1994, plus newer. I personally think the older ones are inclined to be more "natural" in nature generally speaking knowing how times have changed. However I could be wrong too as I haven't had the liberty to ever look through any of them. Any comments on an edition that is most preferable to any of you all?

Derrick Clausen wrote:Ok new question...looking through books for sale online I see that there are many editions of the Ball Blue Canning book ranging from 1949, 1969, 1972, 1994, plus newer. I personally think the older ones are inclined to be more "natural" in nature generally speaking knowing how times have changed. However I could be wrong too as I haven't had the liberty to ever look through any of them. Any comments on an edition that is most preferable to any of you all?

Get the newest one. They are all "natural" however they get upgraded due to improved methods for food/canning safety.

For instance in '49 they had times/guidelines on pressure canning meat etc....but the times/methods have been revised since then (they use labs/test kitchens to analyze the results for different foods and jar sizes etc....) to further minimize the risks of botulism. Plus new types of veggies/meat have likely be added to the latest books.

Canning must be done properly because mistakes can be fatal (botulism). The books contain lots of recipes too but their main purpose is as a definitive and up to date procedure/safety guide.

Maybe you can take a look at the copies at your local library to help you decide on which book. Thats usually my trap. I read it at the library and then I have to have it for my use, but it gives me a chance to see how useful it would be to me.

I tend to go for the more recent books, maybe cause I've only been doing this a few years.  I figure standards and varieties change so the newer books might be more up to date.

What about "wild fermentation" also by Katz? Or should I go with "art of fermentation"? Both got me intrigued and figure they are likely similar in many regards. Comments on the better of the two?

Bought already " naturally sweet foods in jars". We don't completely avoid sugar though prefer the alternatives if possible. Couldn't help but not get that one! She'll definitely love that but I have the feeling I will too.

Gonna do the newest ball canning book then. Thanks for clearing up my question!

Lacto-Fermentation (Vegetable)
http://culturesforhealth.com/media/docs/Lacto_Fermentation_eBook.pdf

Water Kefir Fermentation (Fruit\Juice\Honey)
http://culturesforhealth.com/media/docs/Water_Kefir_Ebook.pdf

Milk Kefir Fermentation (Milk\Cheese\Butter\Sourdough)
http://www.culturesforhealth.com/media/docs/Kefir_Recipe_eBook.pdf

Let me know what you think of these free ebooks. They do have links sending you to there website to buy their starter but there is no need to buy their starter.

Thank you sir! We used to make both water and milk kefir. The water kefir is still good. The milk kefir culture we lost due to leaving our home from hurricane Michael. Couldn't make it back until it had sat way too long and got very yeasty smelling in a not so appetising way. So the chickens that remained after the storm got it. Lost 5 of 22 chickens but could have been worse obviously.

We do kombucha too both one with black tea and sugar and another with Kratom tea and sugar. We like the honey and green tea type and used to make that one regularly too. Can't get good honey regularly enough now albeit we live in tupelo honey country. People feed them corn syrup all year due to lacking times of flowers...

Did order the newest edition of the Ball Blue Canning book. Very excited!

S Bengie those books are awesome! Had a good look through the contents after downloading them. Very useful!

Derrick Clausen -- if you are trying to think up other x-mas gifts I would consider a food dehydrator and/or some mylar bags for food storage. The mylar would be great especially in hurricane country, it preserves many whole dried foods (rice, pasta, dehydrated veggies/fruits) for years/decades. The bags aren't a "sexy" xmas gift but very handy to have around and if she wants to store or dry food she will want/need them.

Anne Miller wrote:This is one of my favorite books:  https://www.amazon.com/Putting-Food-Janet-Greene/dp/0525933425/ref=olp_product_details

It includes methods for drying and curing.

  classic guide to freezing, canning, and preserving food includes new information on freezing for the microwave, making Christmas presents, canning convenience food, and kitchen equipment.

Here is the "Look Inside"  where you can see the contents:

https://www.amazon.com/Putting-Food-Janet-Greene/dp/0525933425/ref=olp_product_details?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=1544211526&sr=1-2#reader_0525933425

Yes! One of my favorite books, too! I learned about canning from this book, and it also talks about a lot of other preservation methods, though not much about fermentation. As all the others said above, I rarely or never used an actual recipe from it, but read whole sections over and over again for the information about how things work and why.

I love both of Katz's books. Wild Fermentation is more of an inspiration, and The Art of Fermentation is more encyclopedic.

I thought it might be good to update this thread with a couple of suggestions:

https://permies.com/wiki/152738/Year-Grid-Kitchen-Kate-Downham

Here is the information for the  USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning 2015 Revision by The USDA

USDA-Complete-Guide-Home-Canning

The best thing about this book is that it can be downloaded for free:

https://nchfp.uga.edu/publications/publications_usda.html