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My goodness – could you please just STOP with the SUGAR!?!?!?! DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS BOOK unless you are trying to get Diabetes.
Rating: 1 / 5

Just received this a few weeks ago. Looks interesting with LOTS and LOTS of great recipes. Can’t wait to try some out. There are MANY I want to give a try to for me and my family.
Rating: 5 / 5

I will be reading this book all winter and it will help me decide what to plant next year ,which isn’t that far off.I start my seeds indoors in Feb.
Rating: 3 / 5

`Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving’, edited by Judi Kingry and Lauren Devine, employees of companies associated with the `Ball’ brand is published by `Robert Rose Inc.’, the publisher of many similar `complete’ volumes. Like many other Robert Rose volumes, especially the `Food Substitution Bible’ by David Joachim, this book accomplishes its objective by sheer volume. If you have any interest at all in finding something that is NOT in this `complete’ compendium, one look at the 400 recipes will quickly discourage you.

Needless to say, this great volume of material is a very good thing overall, however, around the edges of this book are the typical Robert Rose weaknesses of poor editing and pages of relatively useless information. One total waste of effort and space is the table of elevations of various cities throughout the United States. On the face of it, this would seem to be very worthwhile, as elevation determines how long one must boil jars of prepared preserves to safely kill all the microbeasties which may do you harm down the road. The total uselessness of this list is demonstrated by the fact that for the state of Colorado, there are nine elevations, while for California, there is but one, a totally useless one for Mojave, and there is no entry at all for the state of New York! What were these people thinking! Needless to say, this is a minor point; however, it does show a certain lack of editing acumen. The editors would have done a much better service to provide Internet sources which would tell one what the elevation is for each individual’s home town.

The glossary is not as bad, but it also shows some significant editorial lapses. The very first entries cover the terms `acetic acid’ and `acid’ and to either a cook or a chemist, the terms are almost totally useless, as they largely tell one what they already know about acids. What is surprising is that in other parts of the book, acids are explained in much better terms, by describing the pH scale of acids and bases, and using that scale to indicate which ingredients need simple boiling and which require pressurized heat treatment to reach temperatures above 212 Fahrenheit. One big omission is that with all the talk about the importance of relative acidity in canning safety, the book says nothing about ways in which pH can be easily measured to within 2 points with simple indicator papers. If one does any striking out on their own in making combinations of ingredients, knowing the actual pH of the preparation before the preserving step is critical.

The possibly most notable weakness in the book is that all the really good stuff on technique, equipment, and safety is put at the back of the book, rather than at the front. It is obvious that the editors wanted to cater to people’s inclination to jump right in. This is why they start out with five (5) classic `getting started’ recipes with all the details built into the recipes, so you don’t have to wade through all the technical stuff. One of their primary selling points is that preserving is no more difficult than many common cooking techniques such as making a soup or a braised pot roast. I think this point of view is just a bit dangerous. The importance of careful measurements of temperature and pH remind us more of baking than cooking.

Another annoying aspect of the book is the fact that certain points are repeated over and over and over, in almost exactly the same words. And yet, certain important techniques are stated in ways that don’t make a lot of sense. One example is where we are instructed to measure the temperature of a boiling pot that should register several degrees above 212 Fahrenheit. The problem is, one cannot achieve temperatures above 212 Fahrenheit except inside a pressurized, sealed container. So how in the world are you to take the temperature in the sealed pot!

Now that I’ve had all this fun finding weaknesses in this book, I will say that it is still the best source I have seen on preserving techniques. By chance, I saw Alton Brown’s `Good Eats’ episode on preserving as I was reading this book, and the book covers everything in Brown’s episode, and a lot more. The only point on which AB was stronger than this book was in his emphasis on the overriding importance of sanitation.

The best thing about this book is the very large number of recipes. If you happen, for example, to be fond of marmalade, you will find not one, but almost a dozen different recipes here for marmalade, just in case you get bored with plain old orange marmalade. The second best thing about the book is the troubleshooting charts to help you figure out what may have gone wrong with your too stiff or too watery jam. This tells me that the authors realize that preserving is not really that easy after all, and most people will encounter a few failures before they get it right.

So, for the price, this ends up being a very useful resource for preserving fans, even if it does not do the best job in explaining some of the background. I would have liked to see a bit more said about pectin, but then, all the practical stuff is here.

For those who have a yen for a more upscale treatment of preserving, see `Mes Confitures’ by Christine Ferber, translated from the French and published by Michigan State University Press.

Rating: 5 / 5

Excellent book. I want to use it for creating food gifts along with my Jazzy Jars!

Thanks so much.

G. Brock
Rating: 5 / 5