Ball Canning Back to Basics: A Foolproof Guide to Canning Jams, Jellies, Pickles, and More

This book is the only one you will need for canning... it has tons of pictures and step by step instructions... so good!!!!

The title says it all. No drama canning. If you like to work smart, not hard, this book is yours. Lots of visuals. Some of the tried and true recipes, some different ones. I made the recipe using fresh cranberries in syrup. It's best not to overcrowd the jar with solids, lots of pectin in cranberries, so you want it to be loose, not tight. ( I found out by doing it twice). I have canned up whole cherries, peaches, strawberries, blueberries, etc...but never saw one for whole fresh cranberries. Perfect for fall/winter gift giving that won't break the bank, great to pour on top of ice cream, pound cake, yogurt. There's a simple BBQ sauce using ketchup, not tomatoes as most BBQ canning recipes need, making it very "basic" and easy and fast. I had at least three very large containers of ketchup from the big box store, so I was glad to have a way to use some of it up! I made it and used it w/o canning it to decide if I wanted to can up more of it, and i will next time now that I've sampled it. In fact, you can also use the cranberry recipe right away too w/o canning it, so it's very flexible for now or for storage to eat later on. You can take the BBQ sauce and use "as is" like we did by coating chicken wings and ribs in the smoker. Next time I will gussy it up by adding to it other flavors before using it from the jar, maybe adding some chipotle in adobo. I like lemon anything, there's a lemon jelly in here, easy peasy too. Like I said, back to basics.

I'm learning canning, too, so this is a great book for me. I trust Ball and I'm sure their recipes and methods are good. I'm waiting to dive in until after my Agrilife extension class, but I can't wait!

As a first time water bath canner with some hesitation but excitement about canning my great harvest of tomatoes and pears. I found this book to be filled with great recipes. But as a beginner, I also bought the “USDA, The complete guide to Home Canning”. I found that this book was more user friendly, it walked me step by step and very clearly explained if I were to water bath can or pressure can. While the “Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving” book I feel is a little more advanced but has 400 recipes that I will want. I feel that it will be a great adder book to your collection once you feel comfortable with beginning canning. I also bought a third book. Ball Canning Back to Basics” All 3 books will be appreciated in my learning process and for going back to reference. I highly suggest to cover all basis, to buy all three.

Makes canning easy! I love all the clear, easy to follow directions. This is the perfect book for someone starting. I also enjoy that every recipe is for water bath canning. Made the peach rosemary jam from the book. It is delicious.

I absolutely love this book! It's my go to! I love how it has info on how to actually can step by step. So many great recipes!!! If your looking for a great way to start canning or your a long time canner this is what your looking for.

This book is great for beginners because it has easy to follow recipe instructions, and it also goes over all the processes and explains things like water bathing how it should be done the correct way, and when to use powdered pectin versus liquid pectin. I’ve made a couple of recipes out of this book so far really easy to follow along with the recipes and they also will list when you can add your own substitutions. Definitely a great book that everyone that cans their own foods.

I haven't made jam in years and really needed a refresher and this books covered all the basics I needed with easy to understand explanations and details. The tool lists and guides were great and the recipes were easy to follow. And I love the fact that there are pictures for some recipes! When I go to buy a recipe book pictures are the first thing I look at. If the food looks appetizing then I want to make it. And this books did all of that for me! Highly recommend!

Nice recepies. Only recepies for waterbath canning.

Me gusto mucho, fue a un muy buen precio y está perfecto para su quien no sabe nada pero también sirve por si tienes conocimiento y algunas dudas. Me gustaría que también vendieran los productos que están mencionados en el libro

Well written and laid out. Easy to follow and lots of good advice. I like the book and enjoyed reading it. Good value

Parfait pour les débutants, les recettes sont super simples, bien expliquées et délicieuses pour celles que j'ai testées. Les trucs et astuces garantissent un succès à chaque fois.

Very nice book for beginners.