Customer Reviews

Preserving

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The book makes it so easy and every recipe has a photograph of the finished product to help you decide which to make first. Each recipe also has a degree of difficulty rating. After reading this book, you can preserve anything!

I got this from the library and loved it so much I had to buy it for myself. That was hard, since it was out of print at the time, but I found a used copy. It's chock full of pictures and could even be considered a coffee table book, but this volume is long on information as well. I'm no expert on canning, drying, preserving, pickling, etc., but it seems to me that Schwartz covers all the bases here. I haven't delved as fully into the whole preserving world yet as much as I would like to, but my earliest efforts at pickling and preservng has been made much easier by this handy volume. My problem is that my garden isn't big enough to produce goodies and faster than I can eat them, but I'm hoping that this will change in the future. Seriously, this is a great book.

This has some of the most beautiful and artful photographs I've seen. Could be an addition to any coffee table. Recipes are easy to follow, with directions for any beginner.

This is a wonderful book on all aspects of preserving. It offers a very wide overview on how to preserve nearly all food products, from fruits and vegetables to meat and fish. It does not give tons of recipes on each category, but this is because this is not a book specifically designed to talk about jams and jellies, or jerkies and sausages. The photos are awesome. I strongly believe all cookbooks should be illustrated! I like to see how the food is going to look in the end. Also, this book provides you with very good suggestions as to how to present your products, what containers to use, how to finish them (for example, it shows you how to dip the neck of your vinegar bottles in wax, to create a fancy wax seal). It also has tons of valuable information on all steps of preserving, such as sterilizing, equipment needed, traditional and historical recipes, etc. If you enjoy cooking and are intrigued by preserving, or if you just want to learn more about the subject, this book is an excellent choice.

This book is full of good information, but it is very fancy. It is not real practical for someone who just wants to preserve food. I was looking for more canning recipes, and it doesn't have many for meat and fish.

Like the previous reviewer, I first met this book in the library and searched all over for my own copy. I've rarely encountered a food book so beautiful and yet so useful. Every step in every conceivable process of preserving food is illustrated in sumptuous color. The color detail helps when you take on a complicated project like curing your own ham or smoking your own fish. I suppose you don't need such detail when you make pate, but the photography here is nearly as good as the real thing. Filled with nuts and bolts, the book at the same time qualifies as a mainstream coffee table book. I use it both ways.

Food writer Elliot Essman's other reviews and food articles are available at www.stylegourmet.com

I got this from the library and loved it so much I had to buy it for myself. That was hard, since it was out of print at the time, but I found a used copy. It's chock full of pictures and could even be considered a coffee table book, but this volume is long on information as well. I'm no expert on canning, drying, preserving, pickling, etc., but it seems to me that Schwartz covers all the bases here. I haven't delved as fully into the whole preserving world yet as much as I would like to, but my earliest efforts at pickling and preservng has been made much easier by this handy volume. My problem is that my garden isn't big enough to produce goodies and faster than I can eat them, but I'm hoping that this will change in the future. Seriously, this is a great book.

I agree with the reviewer who said this book is too "fancy". I want preserved food that is as much like the original food as possible. However, a lot of the recipes are bizarre, with odd combinations of foods: carrot almond chutney with chilies; plum chutney with chilies; kumquat-pineapple-baby corn chutney with chilies. A lot of the recipes include liqueur, which I don't even own. And many of the jam/jellies contain as much sugar as fruit. I am a fairly adventurous eater, but a lot of these recipes just sound like something I would never eat. On the plus side, the photos are gorgeous. The book gives some great information, like the shelf life of each preserved item. I like the Ball Blue Book better.

The illustrations help those who neither paid attention nor saw their mother or grandmother can or preserve. The tips are very helpful. The recipes [so far] are very gourmet.

Beautiful book with lovely recipes and stunning photos - as satisfying to read as it is to make the recipes.