Canning books

I found a list of books on canning on the Canning Across America website. I try to read every book on food preservation I can lay my hands on. Here are my thoughts on these books:

Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving, Judi Kingry and Lauren Devine

I own this book - it's the book I recommend to anyone interested in canning. It is a compendium of Ball Blue Books. The popular Ball Blue Book is issued yearly and is essentially a canning yearbook.

The Complete Book of Small-Batch Preserving: Over 300 Recipes to Use Year-Round, Ellie Topp and Margaret Howard


This book has some canning recipes, nothing remarkable. It features lots of refrigerated recipes, and freezer recipes, and it includes over 300 recipes but most of them are recipes to use with stuff that you already have made. Not a book I need on my already groaning canning bookshelf.

Complete Guide to Home Canning and Preserving, US Dept. of Agriculture

Anything you need that's in this book, you can find at the National Center for Home Food Preservation.


The Joy of Pickling, Revised Edition: 250 Flavor-Packed Recipes for Vegetables and More from Garden or Market, Linda Ziedrich


An excellent book for anyone that loves pickles as much as I do. I can't wait to try more of these recipes - I already made some fresh dill pickles that were excellent.

Mes Confitures: The Jams and Jellies of Christine Ferber, Christine Ferber

An interesting read, but the recipes have many ingredients I couldn't find locally.

Preserving Summer’s Bounty: A Quick and Easy Guide to Freezing, Canning, and Preserving, and Drying What You Grow, Rodale Food Center and Susan McClure

I didn't find anything much of interest in this book, which is a recurring theme with me and anything published by Rodale. Why is that?

Putting Food By, Janet Greene, Ruth Hertzberg, Beatrice Vaughan

It's a classic - I've got it, but haven't looked at in years. I need to check it out again.

Stocking Up, Carol Hupping

I like the older versions of this book, before Rodale started publishing it. I own a couple older versions.


Well-Preserved: Recipes and Techniques for Putting Up Small Batches of Seasonal Foods, Eugenia Bone.

I checked this one out of the library there's nothing in it that you can't find elsewhere. Don't bother buying it. Nice photography!

More canning books reviewed here....