Canning & Preserving for Dummies [Paperback]

Karen Ward (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2003 | Series: For Dummies (Lifestyles Paperback)

Thought about canning and preserving your own food? Maybe you haven’t given it a try because you believed it would be too involved. The truth is, today’s methods and procedures for home-canning, freezing, and drying food are simpler and easier than ever. And now, with this easy-to-follow book, you’ll get the information you need to can and preserve food safely.

Canning and Preserving For Dummies makes putting up fruits and vegetables in your home as easy as pie. Featuring up-to-date safety guidelines and simple, fun techniques, this practical, friendly guide is for anyone who wants to enjoy delicious, do-it-yourself treats year-round—or even give them as gifts! You get all the juicy details on:

• Water-bath canning
• Pressure canning
• Freezing
• Drying
• Finding the right supplies and equipment

Canning and Preserving For Dummies also features yummy, eas y-to-do recipes that include preparation times, cooking times, processing times, and the yield you should expect from your efforts. You’ll see how to make everything from apple butter, pear-raspberry jam, and bread and butter pickles to chicken stock, tomatillo salsa, and white chili. You’ll also discover how to:

• Know the acidity level of your food
• Pick and prepare fresh fruit
• Line your jars with liquid
• Create jams, jellies, and marmalades
• Preserve chutneys, relishes, and sauces
• Pickle vegetables
• Combine foods for convenience
• Select food for freezing
• Protect the life of your dried food

Providing troubleshooting tips for home-canned creations, sources for locating equipment suppliers, a metric conversion guide, and definitions of preserving terms, Canning and Preserving For Dummies has just what you need to fill your pantry with savory homemade fare.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Juicy details on making your own jams and jellies, canned veggies, and dried snacks

Enjoy delicious, do-it-yourself treats year-round – and they make great gifts!

Putting up fruits and vegetables in your home is as easy as pie with this step-by-step guide to canning and preserving. With easy-to-follow recipes, up-to-date safety guidelines, and simple, fun techniques, you’ll find everything you need to fill your pantry with savory, homemade fare.

The Dummies Way

• Explanations in plain English
• "Get in, get out" information
• Icons and other navigational aids
• Tear-out cheat sheet
• Top ten lists
• A dash of humor and fun

About the Author

Karen Ward is a member of the International Association of Culinary Professionals, a home economist, and an instructor in the art of canning.

Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: For Dummies; 1 edition (April 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764524712
• ISBN-13: 978-0764524714
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #337,404 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

92 of 94 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Makes Canning and Preserving a breeze! Tasty recipes, too!, April 9, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Canning & Preserving for Dummies (Paperback)

I've read this cookbook cover to cover, sampled some recipes, and I'm impressed! Karen Ward took all the guess work and concerns I had out of both canning and preserving. The balance of taste in her recipes is extraordinary. Her Pear Chutney's the best I've ever had (and I've had plenty). My husband adores her bread and Butter Pickles! A great cookbook to have on hand to make holiday food gifts, too.

55 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Anyone can learn how to can., September 29, 2005

By 

Seedy Arthur (Tampa, FL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Canning & Preserving for Dummies (Paperback)

I have NEVER canned anything before in my entire life, and I decided to try it. I was extremely apprehensive but bought all the ingredients/equipment necessary. I read this book one time, and followed the directions. VIOLA!!! I had perfectly canned jam. I must add though, if you order any kind of water bath canner set, you will probably get a free Ball Canning Book which states the same information.

38 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Youth Is Wasted On The Young".....Great Book, September 6, 2009

By 

Ambergris "John Thomas" (New England.....USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Canning & Preserving for Dummies (Paperback)

When I was a kid I spent summers at my grandmothers house where she put me, as well as all my other cousins under her care, to work in her big garden. We spent about half the summer cultivating the likes of corn, tomatos, broccoli, and cauliflower, as well as fruits like blueberries, grapes, and strawberries to name just a few. Everything had to be cut, cleaned, spiced, and preserved in a large room in the basement. The work involved didn't mean much to me back then but a lot of time taken away from more important things like going to the movies and playing baseball. That is until the cold winter months came along when we ate supper at my grandmothers and were treated to the most delicious meals from the freshest produce I was to ever enjoy. We even got to enjoy our salad with genuine home made vinegar with garlic that my grandmother made herself as well. Home spun meals of that delicious caliber were to never really come around again in my life. Unfortunately when I got older and was no longer required to be under my grandmothers care I drifted away from her and never had the opportunity to either learn, or remember much of anything from those wonderful days of my youth. Now all grown up and working from home finds me wishing I had paid more attention to all the knowledge and lore my grandmother was so free with that was all but ignored or forgotten over the years. The "dummy" series of books are a collection of which I own quite a few of. Everything from weather to bird feeding. I have always found them to be plainly written, very well researched, and even humorous in many cases. They all seem to have the same home spun quality to them regardless of what the subject matter happens to be. "Canning and Preserving" is certainly not one to be an exception. Anyone that is planning to grow and preserve their own veggies and fruit should read this book. It is wonderfully written, very thorough, and above all is presented in such a way that it begins with the assumption that you barely know what canning and preserving is. It offers a wealth of tips, procedure, growing and spicing suggestions, the hardware you will both need and can manage without, and even recipes that one would tend to never encounter anywhere else. It is quite simply the most comprehensive book I have encountered as to canning and preserving. If you're like me and not only want to make the best preserves possible, or are just interested in not making a mistake and poisoning yourself, by all means buy this book. It is a wealth of instruction, tips, lore, and wit and wisdom for those of us that spent more of our time chasing butterflies in the summers of our youth, than paying attention to what would later become invaluable in life...