Art of Preserving

Rating:
Summary: Exotic and Eye Appealing Yet Sketchy on Specifics
Review: The Art of Preserving is filled with exotic jams,jellies,chutneys, and relishes which are artfully packaged and beautifully photographed. The book is a treat for the eyes! Unfortunately, the author does not provide sufficient detail in her recipes to accurately and safely produce these items. Although an overview of the canning process is provided at the beginning of the book, specific information on how long to process jars is not included with each recipe. If you are a novice canner, I would recommend the Ball Blue Book as good start to your preserving library. Once you are familiar with canning and the necessary steps, you can use the The Art of Preserving for inspiration to jazz up your recipes.

Rating:
Summary: Love the gourmet touch to the recipies
Review: The pictures and the recipies are just wonderful, but I have a problem with "Blueberry Jam", page 42. She says to use 1/2 the blueberries initially, but never says when to add the other half to the jam. Anyone out there have any input. My thought would be to do so when adding the sugar, but I'm not so sure...Feedback please...Thanks

Rating:
Summary: Art of Preserving-Is it safe?
Review: The recipes are well balanced and interesting. My problem with this book is the method of sealing. Jars are often sealed after the ingredients have cooled, so no true seal occurs. Covers such as parchment and cellophane are used. I would certainly want to use USDA approved sealing methods with these recipes. This includes sealing the jars with rubber rings or Ball/Kerr type jar covers and screw lids and processing the jars in a hot water bath from 10-30 minutes depending on the recipe ingredients. (Check web site canning sites maintained by university home economists) I would not feed these recipes to my family without using standard (USDA) food safety precautions for preserving.

Rating:
Summary: Art of Preserving-Is it safe?
Review: The recipes are well balanced and interesting. My problem with this book is the method of sealing. Jars are often sealed after the ingredients have cooled, so no true seal occurs. Covers such as parchment and cellophane are used. I would certainly want to use USDA approved sealing methods with these recipes. This includes sealing the jars with rubber rings or Ball/Kerr type jar covers and screw lids and processing the jars in a hot water bath from 10-30 minutes depending on the recipe ingredients. (Check web site canning sites maintained by university home economists) I would not feed these recipes to my family without using standard (USDA) food safety precautions for preserving.

Rating:
Summary: Art of Preserving
Review: This a beautiful and inspiring book as you gaze at the pages, but the recipes are not concise. I am an avid canner especially in the art of jams, and find these recipes hard to understand. As far as the canning process goes, I ladel into sterilized jars and process in hot water bath. I do not allow it to cool. This will never provide a good seal. I had great success with the Whiskey Tangelo Marmalade pg32. but the Grapefruit Jam pg. 21 was a disaster. I read and reread the ingredients and instructions and followed them to a T. How can you add 8 c. water to a recipe and cook down for 15 minutes, add sugar, cook down for 30 and get 4 c. of product. I ended up with 8. It never thickened. I, with my knowledge of canning, even cooked it down longer and added pectin and still never set. I would love the author to check out this recipe and see what went wrong. With the citrus recipes, the author needs to specify peeled or unpeeled. In most cases she gives an approximate amount of fruit in numbers, in the grapefruit she says 2 lbs. of grapefruit. That came out to 2 grapefruits for me. Would probably be more successful if she gave an amount in cups after it is prepared. Certo gives you an approximate amount of fruit but also indicates how many cups once prepared. My hats off to Rodney Weidland for his photography, that is encouraged me to purchase this book.

Rating:
Summary: Art of Preserving
Review: This a beautiful and inspiring book as you gaze at the pages, but the recipes are not concise. I am an avid canner especially in the art of jams, and find these recipes hard to understand. As far as the canning process goes, I ladel into sterilized jars and process in hot water bath. I do not allow it to cool. This will never provide a good seal. I had great success with the Whiskey Tangelo Marmalade pg32. but the Grapefruit Jam pg. 21 was a disaster. I read and reread the ingredients and instructions and followed them to a T. How can you add 8 c. water to a recipe and cook down for 15 minutes, add sugar, cook down for 30 and get 4 c. of product. I ended up with 8. It never thickened. I, with my knowledge of canning, even cooked it down longer and added pectin and still never set. I would love the author to check out this recipe and see what went wrong. With the citrus recipes, the author needs to specify peeled or unpeeled. In most cases she gives an approximate amount of fruit in numbers, in the grapefruit she says 2 lbs. of grapefruit. That came out to 2 grapefruits for me. Would probably be more successful if she gave an amount in cups after it is prepared. Certo gives you an approximate amount of fruit but also indicates how many cups once prepared. My hats off to Rodney Weidland for his photography, that is encouraged me to purchase this book.