Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving

5 Responses to “Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving”

1. J. L. Moulton says:

   April 25, 2010 at 2:11 am

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

   April 25, 2010 at 3:00 am

   Just received this a few weeks ago. Looks appealing with LOTS and LOTS of fantastic recipes. Can’t wait to try some out. There are MANY I want to give a try to for me and my family tree.
   Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
3. B. Marold says:

   April 25, 2010 at 5:06 am

   `Ball Perfect Book of Home Preserving’, edited by Judi Kingry and Lauren Devine, employees of companies linked with the `Ball’ brand is published by `Robert Rose Inc.’, the publisher of many similar `perfect’ volumes. Like many additional 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 `perfect’ compendium, one look at the 400 recipes will quickly discourage you.

   Needless to say, this fantastic volume of material is a very excellent thing overall, but, around the edges of this book are the predictable 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 really 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; but, 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 terrible, but it also shows some significant editorial lapses. The very first entries take in the terms `acetic acid’ and `acid’ and to either a cook or a chemist, the terms are nearly really useless, as they largely tell one what they already know about acids. What is surprising is that in additional parts of the book, acids are clarified 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 huge 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 arresting out on their own in building 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 excellent stuff on technique, equipment, and safety is place 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 ongoing’ 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 hard than many common cooking techniques such as building a soup or a braised pot heat. I reflect this point of view is just a bit treacherous. 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 nearly exactly the same words. And yet, certain vital 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 `Excellent 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 take place, for example, to be fond of marmalade, you will find not one, but nearly a dozen different recipes here for marmalade, just in case you get bored with unadorned ancient orange marmalade. The second best thing about the book is the troubleshooting charts to help you figure out what may have gone incorrect with your too stiff or too watery jam. This tells me that the authors realize that preserving is not really that simple after all, and most people will encounter a few failures before they get it right.

   So, for the fee, 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 wanted to see a bit more said about pectin, but then, all the practical stuff is here.

   For persons 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.
   
   Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
4. L. FRIEDHOFF says:

   April 25, 2010 at 6:52 am

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

   April 25, 2010 at 8:07 am

   Brilliant book. I want to use it for making food gifts along with my Jazzy Jars!
   
   Thanks so much.
   
   G. Brock
   Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5