Customer Reviews

The Complete Book of Year-Round Small-Batch Preserving: Over 300 Delicious Recipes

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is an outstanding source of recipes for people who want to experiment with preserving and making their own condiments. I disagree that it's not a true "preserving" cookbook, but I will say this: if you are looking for a book with 500+ "canning" recipes this may not be your book. Also, I would caution those without a lot of preserving (or canning, for that matter) experience; the recipes work, but the cook needs to be comfortable with processing, etc. becasue the authors don't provide a lot of detailled instruction on it. It's very intimidating to work with hot jam, glass, boiling water, etc. if you've never done it before. This book provides the user with a good overview on how to process, but nothing too detailed. Also, they don't stress enough that users shouldn't alter recipes. If a recipe calls, for example, for whole strawberries, and the user slices them in half, the user will end up with more liquid than what the amount of pectin specified in the recipe will gel. So, you end up with a really good ice cream topping instead of jam! Oh well, try again!

I was disappointed to find that many recipes in this book are not for preserving at all -- one whole chapter was for items that must be stored in the refrigerator and used within a few weeks (some a lot less, such as 1 day! How is that preserving??). They might be good recipes, but that's not what I was looking for in purchasing the book. The recipes that really are for canning (or other means of preservation) look fine, but not much different than you find in other books. This would probably make more sense as a regular cookbook with a few chapters devoted to preserving. If you're looking for a lot of recipes for preserving, buy something else.

I have made several recipes from this book, and so far, all of them have turned out very nicely (the brandied cranberry conserve is excellent). I do agree with the above reviewer that many of the recipes in the book are meant to be kept in the refrigerator, and are not really "preserving". When I preserve something, it's so I can get it OUT of my fridge or freezer. I love the unusual combinations and the variety of recipes, though some of them could be written a bit more clearly. For example, one recipe says to use one orange, while another calls for one orange, peeled and seeded, and another call for an orange, unpeeled. So, is the orange in the first recipe meant to be used with the peel or not? I also wish that the recipes all made at least two jarfuls (so I can have one jar to eat and one to save or give away), and that the instructions for processing matched up with the amount made (the roasted vegetable pasta sauce makes 3 1/2 cups and has instructions for processing quart jars).

The title to this book is "blah blah blah SMALL-BATCH Preserving" not small container preserving. There isn't anything misleading about this book in the least. As someone who has canned huge and small quantities of fruits, vegetables, meats, sauces, chutneys, vinegars etc etc for more than 40 years, I know my way around the canner and the cookbook. This is a great book if you have just a bit of this and that or want to make your own chutneys for example. The chutneys in the store aren't fresh and are full of preservatives. You can gather up the ingredients fresh and in one short afternoon, have yourself some wonderful jars of condiments etc to share with your family and friends. This is a good book-you won't be disappointed if you are looking for recipes that will provide you with 2-3-4-5 half pints etc of whatever it is you are putting up. If you are a large scale canner like me but aren't interested in small quantities, this isn't the book for you. It's also great for just experimenting with new recipes you can develop into larger quantities later if you decide you like them

I am not a "canner" -- putting up 40 quarts of plain green beans just doesn't do it for me -- but I am intrigued by unusual recipes that make good use of my harvest and this book delivers in that regard. Sure, it's not the canning bible that details the process ad naseam, but you can find that info in many other (even free) places, and true, some recipes call for refrigeration or consumption within the week, but those recipes (some salsas, oils and vinegars) are the exception in this book.

Where this book really shines is in the condiment area and honestly wouldn't you rather have a recipe for Indonesian Satay Sauce or Summer Sizzle BBQ Sauce than yet another (yawn!) dill pickle recipe?? For the record, yes, there are MANY pickle recipes in this book too, but you probably already have a favorite one of those, so branch out a little!

I don't have an enormous garden so the small batch sizes eat up just enough produce to keep up with my harvest yet not leave me 2 or 3 pounds short of something vital. I also like the small size of the finished batch because it makes it fun to experiment without the fear of wasting my entire tomato harvest on something I don't like. I have enough to taste, keep for winter, and still have a jar or two to give away. In fact this year I'm basing my entire gift giving season around my produce and this book.

If you have no sense of adventure in food, are canning for your family of 12, or feel the need to process anything within a 5 mile radius just because you "can", then this book is probably not for you. If, on the other hand, you want to do more with tomatoes than pasta sauce or more with plums than jam, then I highly recommend this book.

There's a reason these recipes are for small batches, they're not your ordinary fare. I misunderstood that when purchasing this book. I was looking for a smaller batch translation of what people usually fill up the cellar house with - peaches, pickles, corn. What a delightful surprise. This is the book you pick up when you're tired of the every day fare. This easy to read digest of 4-6 jar type batches is chock full of things you'd only make a few of and impress everyone with. Fancy mustards, vinegars, chutneys, relishes, and syrups. In short, the spice of life in a book.

This little book is an invaluable resource for those who have small gardens or just a few fruit trees in a yards, or who buy small quantities of stuff to be preserved. I have used it quite a bit since I bought it a couple of years ago.

There are recipes for jams, jellies, preserves, sauces and salsas. Fruit butters and spreads; piquant sauces, unusual pickles and flavored oils and vinegars. All done in small batches that are easy to handle when you don't have a lot of time to dedicate to big canning projects.

There are a few beautiful color photographs throughout and at the bottom of some pages they also give many helpful hints and tips to make the job even easier.

If you like the feeling of putting some fresh stuff by but don't want to feel completely overwhelmed with big canning projects, this is the book for you!

This book is written by 2 Canadians (which may explain the many cranberry recipes). Being a home economist myself, I cant fathom the sloppy directions and inconsistencies in it. The "4 ways of preserving food", for example, doesnt mention curing. I would never recommend this to a beginner. My personal opinion, that you can never be too careful, would prompt me to start the pickle recipes,for instance, with "thoroughly scrub the cucumbers" because there are some who get their veggies from a garden, not the supermarket. The garlic-infused oil recipe would have a Huge Warning about botulism and oven temps (if I included it at all.)
Many of the recipes look familiar (including Perla Meyers' famous cranberry- pear- apple mixture, printed without credit).Anyway, I cant recommend this book. The botton line question is, "If you had it to do again, would you buy this book?" My answer is a resounding "No"! Begginers would do better with something else, and for those who want more, I suggest buying Witte' s book.

If you are into canning and have a small household, this is the book for you. I do LOTS of canning of jams and jellies and was tired of having 7 to 10 jars of the same thing. Wonderful, different receipes - many using unusual ingredients (fresh pineapple jalapeno salsa or kiwi-cranberry conserve anyone?)- done in small batches that usually yield an average of 4 jars. Wonderfu,l tasty and most importantly, DIFFERENT! From a food safety standpoint, the receipes seem safe and she tells you when tyo can them or when to put them in the fridge of freezer. Some of the items can be tricky to get, but any good produce dealer or greengrocer that has a good distributor should be able to get you what you need! Yummy!!!

This is one of my favorite cookbooks. The recipes are very easy and it contains more useful recipes than any other cookbook I have except Betty Crocker. From salsas to conserves to chutneys to marmalades, this book is just excellent. I've loved every recipe I've tried!