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

Rating:
Summary: Good, but could use a little work.
Review: 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).

Rating:
Summary: Good, but could use a little work.
Review: 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).

Rating:
Summary: Exceeded my expectations!
Review: I purchased the book because I wanted to make hot pepper jelly for myself and as gifts. I made the jelly and what a hit. I have since made many other recipes. My favorite is Caponata (and of course the cranberry pepper jelly). They have all ben great! I think I put too much basil in the Bruschetta and will cut back on it next time I make the recipe. I also recommend serving the bruschetta with a drizzle of olive oil. Hope you enjoy the recipes as much as my friends and I have.

Rating:
Summary: Not 300 recipes for "preserving"!
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent little book for the small household canner!
Review: 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!!!

Rating:
Summary: No Southerners
Review: This book is not for anyone living in the Southern US. The authors are from Canada and many of the fruit listed for the recipes is not readily available in the South. And maybe the fruit is different in the North but I tried 3 of the jam recipes in the book and none of them 'jelled'. Would not buy this book again.

Rating:
Summary: Yummy recipes
Review: 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!

Rating:
Summary: Excellent, but maybe not for a beginner
Review: 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!

Rating:
Summary: Excellent, but maybe not for a beginner
Review: 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!

Rating:
Summary: Well worth purchasing
Review: Very diversified book with wonderful recipes. Readily available ingredients, complete processing and mixing procedures for every recipe. Perfect for people like me that don't want 6 or 8 jars of the same thing at the same time.