Canning books

[gargoyal3]

NOTE (please read). These are the CANNING books, not the pickling, not the fermenting, not the cheese making or cellering or brewing or meat preservation books. Yes, some of these books have sections on that, but in this entry, I am just talking about their worth as a CANNING book

Comments

[fjorlief]

Not a book but this website is the National Center for Home Food Preservation, and is the place I check online for current food safety information:
http://nchfp.uga.edu/

I would like to get their book, "So Easy To Preserve" as I found it to be quite thorough and up to date, a good resource for technique and times.
http://setp.uga.edu/

[sigivald]

So, just wondering - what's changed about times and temperatures?

Presumably longer/hotter, but are we talking edge case potential risk here, or were some of the old recipes Horribly Dangerous In General Use?

(I'd assume the former, but...)

[gargoyal3]

Old books say that you can water bath can things that we now know need to be pressured canned. They also give extensive advice on things like sealing jam with wax, turning cans upside down to seal them, and yes, heating things for either too little time or too low of a temperature, failing to kill resident bacteria. BAD BAD IDEAS.

[elfreda]

No Ball Blue Book? When I worked at the Extension office, that was the one we were told to refer people to. (Current editions only.)

[elfreda]

(I would edit to add, if I could,) Although I can see it would be totally redundant with your list of books!

[corvideye]

I was just going to ask that... It's the only one I've ever used!

[gargoyal3]

Ball is FINE! It just isn't one that I personally use :) These are MY top canning books, your milage may vary :)

I think recent editions of the Ball canning books would be reasonable and safe, but I got these first, and now I don't need it :)

Also, this post was partially spurred by a comment on fb that said that "Ball was THE ONE AND ONLY", which I don't really agree with :)