Putting Food By (Plume)
by Beatrice Vaughan, Janet Greene, Ruth Hertzberg
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Book Reviews of Putting Food By (Plume)
Book Review: A Food Preservation Must Have in Every Kitchen
Summary: 5 Stars
I got the first version of this book many years ago when I wanted to learn to can veggies and fruit from my garden. I didn't have the luxury of learning at Mom's or Grandma's knee, since they didn't can, so I had to teach myself. This book was my first purchase in the "teach myself" arsenal.
I bought the second edition only after the first one had practically fallen apart.
It's pretty basic, with in-depth explanations of canning methods and food spoilage. Not sure if a certain food is better off canned or frozen? This book helps with that. Also, if you're considering which equipment to buy, be it canning or freezing, this book gives excellent advice. Even though it's a little dated by now, the equipment has remained the same--pressure canners and freezers haven't changed much over the years and jars are still jars!
There are instructions for each type of produce and instructions about raw-packing or hot-packing. What I found most useful is the meat preserving sections. It's so detailed that you could butcher your own animal, and preserve it using this book. (I am a city girl--I just wanted to can my own chicken soup, so canning game was not my goal, but it may be yours!)
This book is chock full of recipes. Not just how to put food up, but what to do with a jar of food after you've preserved it. My book opens automatically to the Classic Orange Marmalade recipe, which I have used for years. The following page has the guidance on making fruit butters, which I have found invaluable. I also appreciate the chapter on making your own convenience foods--like canning dried beans.
Want to make your own ketchup? The recipe in here is excellent!
Putting Food By regained its place front and center on my kitchen bookshelf when we moved to the Rocky Mountains and I had to learn about high altitude canning.
All in all, if I had to choose just one book on canning/preserving and throw the rest away, this would be my first choice! It's been a keeper in my kitchen since the '80's!
Book Review: A comprehensive reference guide
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this book on the recommendation of an author who had published articles about food preservation. I was not disappointed.
I have been accumulating the material necessary to start canning fruits and tomatoes and I had been reading on line sources and magazine articles about preserving foods. I have also been interested in other ways of preserving foods as well. This book gives exhaustive, in depth instructions about different methods of preserving foods. While most of the book is devoted to canning foods, there is much about freezing, drying, salting and smoking foods to preserve them. The author thoroughly discusses every method of food preservation, including old fashioned ways of food preservation which are no longer considered safe.
The author carefully emphasizes the need for specific procedures that are followed precisely in order to safely preserve foods. For instance, she shows how to determine if your pot is going to be tall enough to use to can quart jars, since boiling water must cover the jars by at least two inches in order to assure a proper, sterile seal. Many canners cannot accommodate quart jars with a full two inches of boiling water above the jars, so that is an important bit of information to know before you buy a canner.
Many recipes are given, but the basic proportions of necessary ingredients are also given which allow for some limited creativity in recipes for canned goods. The author does not just tell what must be done, but goes into detail to explain why things are done the way they are done.
At the end of the book there is a comprehensive list by chapter of additional sources of information if one has questions after reading the material in the book.
I expect to get a lot of use from this book and it seems to have everything I need in order to accomplish my objective of safely saving food.
Book Review: Astonishing amount of information
Summary: 5 Stars
As home gardening and using local produce become more popular again, preserving it correctly is critical and here's all the info your mother may not have taught you. This book has so much valuable information, I'll be reading and rereading for a long time. With a mantra of safety first, various processes are described in detail, which methods are appropriate for which foods, the pros and cons of different equipment, how you can safely alter a recipe and where to find unusual ingredients among other topics. Components are described and why they are used. While I won't be using some of the techniques, e.g. canning in metal cans, I am very interested in freezing, drying and pickling, and would like to try other processes.
I have a FoodSaver which I use for freezer packaging where possible and with this book's table of freezer time limits for retaining quality, I am writing on my packages, not the date I froze it, but the use-by date, and storing the packages with similar dates together in baskets so things don't get buried and forgotten. I've even found bags for sealing veggies that go from the freezer directly to the microwave for steaming. They work great. This book is giving me the information to ensure the best quality product after preservation.
We've become so accustomed to buying our food pre-processed, most of us don't know how to process it ourselves as our ancestors commonly did. For those of us who are interested in returning to natural, whole foods, growing what we can and buying extra produce to preserve in season when it is best and cheapest, we have a huge learning curve, but I think it's well worth the effort and this book supplies all I could possibly want to know (and more).
Book Review: Food preservation bible--not just canning--for modern times!
Summary: 5 Stars
This book takes you from knowing nothing to truly UNDERSTANDING not just how to preserve foods, but how each method works and the pros/cons of each method.Most of the information is on canning and freezing (including different packaging and wrapping techniques), but they also go into salting, smoking, drying, and root cellaring. They don't expect you to live as if it were the 1800's either. They incorporate the use of vacuum sealers and microwaves--and trying to preserve food in the confines of the modern home. Likewise, they will also explain how to create the old types of environments or something that will work just as well.
To be honest, there is more educational information than there are recipes. And even the recipes they give are educational--covering jellies, jams, butters and pickling. These are prime opportunities for failure without appropriate instruction--and that's what they provide. Explaining how it all works--which is not common sense! It takes some learning!
They also explain the best preservation method for the food (often right down to a variety of fruit or veggie, or cut of meat) and how the preservation method used will alter the food. They also tell you what the food will be best used for after preserving. For instance, if freezing cabbage means it will never be crisp again they warn you about this and tell you not to expect it to be used for salads. Things like that make a difference--especially if you didn't grow up in a household where these were items of common knowledge!
Book Review: Be careful
Summary: 1 Stars
First I do not hate this book, but I needed to get your attention. It was a great book in 1988. I actually like the book very much except...
The book being sold is the fourth edition and was actually published in 1988, and proper food storing procedures have changed. The book is dated.
Most, if not all the authors are now dead, but if alive they would be the first to tell you NOT TO FOLLOW the procedures without updated info.
Second, I always thought their discussion on making pickles the long way (fermentation) was insufficient. My educated guess is the USDA back in the 70's and 80's was discouraging the old fashion ways of pickling and these authors followed about 1988 USDA procedures. Their discussion on using strong wet brine to preserve is also poor, probably for the sane reason and because of the effort to reduce salt in the diet. But the salt can be removed, or the produce can be used as a seasoning. It's a choice people should make on their own. I make pickles the long way and also preserve in strong brine.
Third, they could have been more precise with facts and figures about botulism prevention. For example, a 10% brine, that is maintained at 10% will stop Botulism. A 50% sugar solution that is maintained at 50% will do so also etc: etc: This info is available in Microbiology texts.