The Beginner's Guide to Preserving Food at Home: Easy Instructions for Canning, Freezing, Drying, Brining, and Root Cellaring Your Favorite Fruits, Herbs and Vegetables

In the last few years I have become passionate about eating as much local and organic food as possible. I have been lucky enough to find several farmers in my area that are quite skilled at growing veggies, raising cattle, and milking goats. I have only been gardening myself for a few years now and am slowly learning (mostly by trial and error!) what works and what doesn't. It is a good thing I have skilled farmers to rely on because my garden doesn't provide anywhere near enough food to feed my family. Every year I put in another bed of plants and pray they grow! As I become more successful (I hope!) I will need to know what to do with all the fresh foods I produce and this book will be an invaluable resource! The chapter on choosing equipment was quite informative and I must admit, I already own a Cuisinart food processor, dehydrator, and Kitchen aid mixer. Some of the best inventions I have every invested in. The author provides a very detailed list of supplies you will need, even down to the ladles and spatulas. She really DOES want the beginner preserver to succeed! The chapter on tips, hints, and shortcuts was very informative. Staggered planting is one thing I am trying this year...put in your seeds/plants every few weeks throughout the season so they don't all ripen at the same time. If you have a kitchen full of 40 pounds of green beans you are going to be very grumpy by the time you are finished processing and, as the author stresses, this is supposed to be ENJOYABLE! The author discusses each of the basic methods of preserving food and has lists of fruits/veggies that will work best for each one. Drying, freezing, canning, and root cellaring (cold storage) are all covered in detail. There are separate chapters for vegetables, fruits, and herbs and each one is filled with information on everything from A (asparagus) to Z (zucchini) and everything in between. If you want to know how to dry cherries or make pickled beets, that information is in there! At the end of the book you will find numerous recipes for making or using preserved produce and several handy reference charts. The only part of the book that I was NOT a big fan of was the recommendation to use the vacuum packing of plastic sealer bags for storing veggies. It may very well be an excellent preservation technique, however I am not a big fan of plastic. I can honestly say that I loved everything else about this book and when my garden starts producing this spring/summer (keeping fingers crossed!) I will have a great resource for preserving my harvest! Disclaimer: Storey Publishing provided me with one free copy of this book in order to write my review. I was provided no monetary compensation and all opinions expressed here are mine and mine alone!

I'm new to gardening and was innundated with produce. I used this step by step reference to supplement my food preparation equipment rather cheaply, and was up and running freezing and canning my excess. Chadwick tells readers the easiest way to preserve various foods, as well as the best way to perserve foods. Your choice. Chadwick includes several easy recipes. Especially tasty is the "Sweet Chunk Pickle" recipe. I must have canned 20 quarts of green beans, following Chadwick's instructions. I freezed broccoli, and green beans in boilable bags, and chopped green peppers for soups and omlettes. This is the only food preservation book I own, and I feel like I've had a first class education in food preservation.

In today's economy, one of family budget items that is getting more and more expensive are the expenditures for food. Therefore, one of the best ways to economize for a family's food budget is something our grandparents and great-grandparents knew well -- the home canning of fruits and vegetables in season for later consumption. For all too many modern homemakers, home canning is a lost art. That's what makes this newly updated, revised, and expanded third edition of Janet Chadwick's classic instructional manual, "The Beginner's Guide To Preserving Food At Home" is such a critically important and highly recommended addition to both family and community library collections. Here are 231-pages packed with solid and 'user friendly' instructions for canning, freezing, drying, brining, root cellaring vegetables, fruits and herbs for home consumption. Comprehensive, up-to-date, informed and informative, "The Beginner's Guide To Preserving Food At Home" will prove to be one of the most valuable additions any homemaker can acquire and one of the most popular acquisitions any librarian can add as a community resource.