Putting Food By (Plume) [Paperback]

Janet Greene (Author), Ruth Hertzberg (Author), Beatrice Vaughan (Author)

Book Description

Series: Plume | Publication Date: February 1, 1992

The fourth edition of this classic guide to freezing, canning, and preserving food includes new information on freezing for the microwave, making Christmas presents, canning convenience food, and kitchen equipment. Reprint.

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Plume; 4 Revised edition (February 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0452268990
• ISBN-13: 978-0452268999
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (53 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #217,947 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

212 of 213 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Food preservation bible--not just canning--for modern times!, November 13, 2003

By 

Heather Degeorge "book-ie monster" (North Plainfield, NJ United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Putting Food By (Plume) (Paperback)

This book takes you from knowing nothing to truly UNDERSTANDING not just how to preserve foods, but how each method works and the pros/cons of each method.

Most of the information is on canning and freezing (including different packaging and wrapping techniques), but they also go into salting, smoking, drying, and root cellaring. They don't expect you to live as if it were the 1800's either. They incorporate the use of vacuum sealers and microwaves--and trying to preserve food in the confines of the modern home. Likewise, they will also explain how to create the old types of environments or something that will work just as well.

To be honest, there is more educational information than there are recipes. And even the recipes they give are educational--covering jellies, jams, butters and pickling. These are prime opportunities for failure without appropriate instruction--and that's what they provide. Explaining how it all works--which is not common sense! It takes some learning!

They also explain the best preservation method for the food (often right down to a variety of fruit or veggie, or cut of meat) and how the preservation method used will alter the food. They also tell you what the food will be best used for after preserving. For instance, if freezing cabbage means it will never be crisp again they warn you about this and tell you not to expect it to be used for salads. Things like that make a difference--especially if you didn't grow up in a household where these were items of common knowledge!

143 of 144 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Invaluable resource for those that want to learn to preserve food safely at home, June 8, 2006

By 

Amalfi Coast Girl (Mid-Atlantic, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Putting Food By (Plume) (Paperback)

A passionate home cook that has been honing her cooking skills for the last 25 years writes this review. My favorite cookbooks are "The Professional Chef" by the Culinary Institute and "Culinary Artistry". This book is exactly what I expected it to be, a vast collection of information regarding canning, and freezing, curing, and drying food.

I purchased this book last year after I decided to eliminate all preservative, chemicals and dyes from our food and had difficulty locating reasonably priced products that were prepared naturally. I remembered that my parents had gone through a hippy phase when I was young and found an old version of this book at their house. Since they wouldn't give up the book I bought my own copy and have learned a lot on preserving food from this book.

The book is subdivided as follows:
1. What is It?
2. Why Foods Spoil
3. Altitude and Metrics
4. Fair Warning
5. Common Ingredients and How to Use Them
6. The Canning Methods
7. Canning Fruits
8. Canning Tomatoes
9. Canning Vegetables
10. Canning Meats
11. Canning Seafood
12. Canning Convenience Foods
13. Getting and Using a Freezer
14. Freezing Fruits
15. Freezing Vegetables
16. Freezing Meats and Seafood
17. Freezing Convenience Foods
18. Jellies, Jams, and Other Sweet Things
19. Pickles, Relishes, and Other Spicy Things
20. Curing with Salt and Smoke
21. Drying
22. Root-Cellaring
23. Putting By Presents for Christmas

This book has been able to answer any question that I have had about canning and freezing food. If you are looking for specific meat preparations I would suggest that you purchase "Charcuterie" by Michael Ruhlman instead as it is much more thorough.

This book contains many recipes for jams and jellies, and includes a section on reduced sugar and no sugar fruit preserves. They have also included recipes and directions for fruit spreads with and without added pectin that is very helpful.

In the section on smoking they address both hot and cold smoking and give you directions for making your own smoker that reminded me a lot of the Alton Brown episode on smoking. I have not tried this, but it seems very straightforward and this might be on my agenda this summer if I can get my husband interested in the process.

Whether you are looking for how to make pickles, can tomatoes, or make jams and jellies this book has a little something for everyone. I would recommend this book to anyone that wants to give home canning or freezing a try.

66 of 66 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Required classic for the kitchen, December 29, 2003

By 

Joanna Daneman (Middletown, DE USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Putting Food By (Plume) (Paperback)

Home preserving is best done with a guide such as this; if you don't understand how acids, heat, cleanliness are involved in preserving food healthfully, you can get into some deep trouble.

If you garden, this is a good book to have to process your excess produce. Have you ever made ketchup? It's wonderful to season your own. Homemade relishes and pickles are great gifts if you are good at making them. Home-canned tomatoes taste great. This is a classic and a must-have for the home canner.