Although I love watching videos and reading blogs about canning, books are one of the best ways to learn canning. The reason for this is that it’s easy to look up canning information in a book at the exact moment you need it. With that in mind, these are the two best books on canning that I personally recommend.
the best canning books
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I’m going to delve into my two most recommended canning books. but for those of you who only want to know the two books, here they are!
- the complete book of home food preservation ball
- the complete guide to pressure canning: everything you need to know about canning meats, vegetables, meals in a jar and more
honorable mention
If you’re only buying two canning books, take the ones listed above. however, if, like me, you enjoy collecting cookbooks, I recommend adding the following to your collection as well.
The Beginner’s Guide to Canning: 90 Easy Recipes to Can, Savor, and Give as Gifts
complete guide to home canning (by the us department of agriculture and the national institute of food and agriculture)
Note: The above book is published by the US Department of Agriculture and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture. It’s nothing fancy, but it has very solid information. so if you’re only buying three canning books, be sure to add this one to the list.
The New Book of Canning and Preserving Balls: Over 350 of the Best Canned, Jam, Pickled and Preserved Recipes
back to ball canning basics: a foolproof guide to canning jams, jellies, pickles and more
the amish canning cookbook: plain and simple living at its best homestyle
Now that you have the full list of the best canning books, for those of you who like details, read on for my specific thoughts on what I think are the two best canning books.
why these are the best canning books
Before I delve into what I consider to be the two best books on canning, I want to briefly give you the reasons why they made the list.
First, each of the books provides a lot of solid information on canning. This “basic” information on canning is absolutely vital, especially if you are new to it. even experienced canners will probably learn a few things from these books.
When it comes to the best canning books, if you’re only going to buy one, I recommend The Complete Home Canning Book. In my opinion, it’s the best canning book out there. however, it has a flaw. while it does cover pressure canning, it includes a very small number of pressure canning recipes.
That’s why I included The Complete Guide to Pressure Canning on my list of the best books on canning. This book fills the gap in pressure canning recipes and information that is missing from the ball canning book.
Without further ado, let’s get into the essential details of what I consider to be the two best books on canning.
#1: The Complete Home Preservation Ball Book
The reason I love this book is that it includes a ton of information on the basics of both water bathing and pressure canning. for example, it covers the following information:
home canning team
This section of the book covers the basic things you need to start canning. listed items include the following:
- bain-marie canner
- pressure canner
- canning jars and lids
- canning utensils
I’ve linked to each of those elements above. If you want to buy a single canner to do everything, and you also want a more high-tech option, I recommend the Nesto Smart Canner. it’s what I use for both waterbath and pressure canning. if you can’t get the nesco, then pick up the tortoiseshell. aside from the canner’s name and logo, they are exactly the same. 🙂
starting
The introductory section of the book includes the following five basic canning recipes:
- strawberry jam
- mint jelly
- simple house sauce
- traditional corn seasoning
- pick -a- vegetable pickles with dill
The basic idea here is that these recipes make great beginner canning recipes. once you’ve canned them, you’ll feel more confident about canning any of the other recipes in the book.
My only complaint with this selection of recipes is that they are all bain-marie recipes. I understand why they chose to focus on bain-marie recipes in this section because bain-marie canning is the easiest and best way to start canning. if you’re feeling nervous about canning, then it’s a great idea to can these recipes first.
preserve recipes
The next section of the complete book of home canning is all about recipes! the recipes are divided into the following categories:
- soft spreads
- fabulous fruit
- sauce, relish and chutney
- condiments
- perfect pickles
- tomatoes
- low acid pressure canned foods
There are several things I love about the recipes in this book.
tested canning recipes
The first thing I love about The Complete Book of Home Canning is that all the recipes are proven. Especially if you are relatively new to the world of canning, you may not feel confident evaluating the safety of various canning recipes. You can prepare each of these recipes with confidence, knowing they are safe.
easy to follow recipes
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In addition to being tried and tested, the recipes in this book are easy to follow. they first include how much yield you get from the recipe. for example, you can see that the recipe will fill five pints, or seven quarts, etc.
The next part of the recipe is the list of ingredients. all ingredients are provided in both US measurements (eg cups, teaspoons) and their metric equivalents (eg kg, ml).
Below are step-by-step written instructions. Especially if you are new to canning, I recommend that you take your time and follow the recipes step by step.
tips
Not all recipes include tips, but many do. I find the tips really useful. Here’s an example of a tip, in the orange chili jam recipe, found on page 96:
If your mixture hasn’t reached the gel stage when you first tasted it, return the skillet to medium-high heat and cook, stirring constantly, for an additional 5 minutes. repeat gel test and cook as needed.
low acid pressure canned food recipes
If you look at the list of recipes above, you’ll see that the final recipe section is about pressure canning low-acid foods. while water bath canning is great and definitely the best place to start, pressure canning opens up a whole new world of what I call, “practical canning.”
What I mean by practical is that it is food that really nourishes you, in a more sustainable way. water bath recipes are great for making life better. Let’s face it, in both good times and bad, it’s good to have some tasty foods like jams, sauces and pickles. but you really can’t survive on those foods.
That’s where pressure canning comes in. pressure canning allows you to pack meat, beans, vegetables, soups, stews, chili, etc. in other words, the “meat and potatoes” of a diet.
To add the best variety to your prepper pantry, it’s best to do both the water bath and pressure canning.
so I’m glad the complete home canning book includes a section on pressure canning. Having said that, when you look at the number of pages devoted to water bath canning (332 pages) versus pressure canning (29 pages), the emphasis is clearly on water bath canning.
which is why the next book on my list focuses entirely on pressure canning. But before I get to that, let me cover the rest of what goes into the complete home preservation book.
the art and science of home food preservation
This section is probably the most or least interesting part of the book, depending on your own personality and areas of strength. if you like to delve into the essential scientific details of any topic, including canning, then you’ll love this section of the book.
This section of the book covers the following subtopics:
- acidity determines the thermal processing method
- spoilage microorganisms
- ensuring quality food
- equipment
- heat from boiling water step-by-step processing
- identification and elimination of spoiled food
In this section you can expect a definition of terms. for example, when the book talks about hermetically sealing food in jars, it explains:
“hermetic” means “completely hermetic”; therefore, when a jar has an airtight seal, no air can get in to recontaminate the food.”
Important: Even if your eyes tend to glaze over when it comes to scientific information, if you read only part of this section, be sure to read the section that covers the heat processing step with boiling water. per step When I started canning, I referred to this section every time I canned something in a water bath!
how altitude affects preserves
The next section of the book is important, especially if you live where the elevation exceeds 1000 feet. canning recipes are generally based on people who live at elevations of 1,000 feet or less. if you live at an elevation greater than 1,000 feet, you should increase the amount of time you can eat something when you water canning at bath, or increase the amount of pressure you use when pressure canning.
This section of the book is one of the reasons I consider this book one of the best canning books because it’s so important. Now the good news is that I also provide a condensed version of this information in my article, How Altitude Affects Canning | how to adapt canning recipes based on altitude.
final sections in the complete book of home preservation balls
The final sections of this book cover the following canning information:
- home canning problem solver
- farm produce buying guide
- glossary
The Home Canning Troubleshooter covers common problems like jars that won’t seal or open. each problem is divided into the problem, the cause and the prevention/solution.
The produce buying guide section is very helpful because for each fruit or vegetable, it tells you how much you need to buy for a given number of ounces or pounds. for example, it tells you that approximately 20 jalapenos equals one pound. I love this because canning recipes often call for a certain amount or weight of ingredients. this section helps you know how much product to buy for each recipe.
Of course, the glossary is also helpful when you come across a canning term you may not be familiar with.
why the complete home food preservation book is the first of the best canning books
After reading all of the above, you can certainly see why I recommend The Complete Home Preservation Book as the first of the best canning books. if you only buy one book on canning, this is definitely the one to buy!
#2: The Complete Guide to Pressure Canning
But if, like me, you want to add “real food” to your prep pantry, you definitely need to learn how to press the can.
That’s why I was delighted to find the book, The Complete Guide to Pressure Canning: Everything You Need to Know to Can Meats, Vegetables, Meals in a Jar, and More, by Diane Devereaux (aka “The Diva of Pressure Canning”). ).
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As the name implies, this book is about pressure canning. in fact, there isn’t a single bain-marie canning recipe in this book.
This book is divided into two parts:
part 1: canning 101
The canning 101 section is divided into three chapters:
- canning basics
- the pressure canner kitchen
- your first batches
basics of canning
The canning fundamentals chapter covers the following:
- a brief history of canning
- why I love pressure canning
- canning 101
- what can I do with pressure canning
- what shouldn’t I press?
- how does canning affect nutrients?
the kitchen of the pressure canner
The pressure canner cooking chapter covers supplies, basic instructions, and safety.
these are the specific sections of the chapter:
- essential tools and equipment
- non-essential supplies
- buy a pressure canner
- why do I need to let my pressure canner sit after processing?
This chapter is very helpful because it really breaks down the most important aspects when it comes to buying a pressure canner.
for example, under the heading “shopping for a pressure canner,” provides information on the various parts of a pressure canner, types of pressure canners, determining which pressure canner to buy, including four questions to help you choose the perfect pressure canner.
your first batches
This chapter takes you step-by-step through the process of pressure canning two things: green beans and chicken.
I think these two were chosen because they are two of the most common things to do. This is similar to the Getting Started section in the Complete Home Preservation Book. The biggest difference is that the ball book focuses exclusively on getting started canning with five popular water bath recipes, and this book covers two popular pressure canning recipes.
What I love about this part of the chapter is that it goes into extreme detail on how to press the can for both the chicken and the green beans. if you follow the details of these two recipes, you can easily follow all the other recipes that don’t go into as much detail.
This chapter concludes with the top 10 rules of pressure canning, including tips such as:
Always keep the vent pipe clean and free of debris.
then provides five tips for successful pressure canning and a handy table for solving pressure canning problems. this table includes the problem, reason/cause, and solution/prevention of the specific canning problem.
This chapter concludes with tips for storing your canned goods at home, as well as tips for buying seasonal produce.
part 2: recipes
The recipes in this book start on page 37. If you’re an experienced canner, you may be able to skip the first 37 pages of information, though it’s at least worth skimming through. we all have new things to learn!
but let’s face it: we want canning recipes!
tinned tomatoes and vegetables
One thing I love about this book is that the canning recipes range from basic to advanced. First, the recipes start with canned tomatoes and vegetables. there are plenty of standard tomato-based recipes you’ll find elsewhere, but don’t let that put you off. In addition to the standard tomato canning recipes, like how to can stewed tomatoes, there are also tomato-based canning recipes that I haven’t seen anywhere else, like the bloody mary mix.
canned beans and legumes
The following is a chapter on canning beans and legumes. The recipes in this section go beyond the typical basic instructions for canning beans. for example, one of the recipes is canned butternut squash with navy beans and bacon. another is chickpeas with roasted tomatillo. I have made this myself, and it has a nice Indian flavor.
preserve broths, broths, soups and stews
The following is a chapter on canning broths, broths, soups, and stews. The recipes in this chapter range from the basics, like canning chicken broth, to interesting options, like canning chicken chow mein.
canning of poultry, meat, game and fish
The following is a chapter on canning poultry, meat, game, and fish. this is a relatively short chapter, but it has some interesting recipes for canning. two I want to try are the BBQ pulled pork and beef tips and the sauce. There are no hunters in my family, but if you have friends or family who hunt, you’ll be happy to see canning instructions for venison, rabbit, and pheasant.
meals in a jar
For the most part, I’m an ingredient canner, which means I can can individual ingredients, like canned tomatoes, instead of meals, like a stew. That being said, I love the convenience of being able to grab a jar from my pantry that is a complete meal in a jar. We all have days when we don’t feel like cooking or we’re in a hurry. That’s when meals in a jar really come in handy, and that’s what this chapter is about.
This section of the book includes 20 recipes for canning food in a jar. These recipes range from beef stroganoff to Asian chicken thighs and chicken curry with vegetables. I love that these recipes are unique compared to the typical pressure canning recipes you find in most books.
so, there you have it! If you buy just two canning books, be sure to add The Complete Home Canning Book and The Complete Guide to Pressure Canning to your list.
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