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Jam and Jelly Making Book Recommendation

Printed From: Foods of the World Forum
Category: Other Food-Related Topics
Forum Name: Canning, Freezing, Dehydrating and Other Food Preservation
Forum Discription: A place to discuss the best ways to prolong the enjoyment of your food.
URL: http://foodsoftheworld.ActiveBoards.net/forum_posts.asp?TID=5148
Printed Date: 26 March 2026 at 21:11


Topic: Jam and Jelly Making Book Recommendation
Posted By: Percebes
Subject: Jam and Jelly Making Book Recommendation
Date Posted: 14 November 2018 at 19:49
Looking to gift a Canning Starter Set and Cookbook to a young adult family member for Xmas.

Can someone recommend a good reliable Jam and Jelly making book?


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I am a wine enthusiast. The more wine I drink, the more enthusiastic I become.


Replies:
Posted By: Hoser
Date Posted: 15 November 2018 at 02:28
In my opinion you couldn't do better than the Ball's Blue Book to preserving  for someone who is just starting out. They will treasure it forever. Lots of good info on the basic techniques.

http://www.freshpreserving.com/ball-blue-book--guide-to-preserving-%2837th-edition%29-1034026VM.html - https://www.freshpreserving.com/ball-blue-book--guide-to-preserving-%2837th-edition%29-1034026VM.html


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Go ahead...play with your food!

Posted By: HistoricFoodie
Date Posted: 15 November 2018 at 08:23
+1 on the Ball Blue Book.  Ball, btw, also offers a starter kit containing all the basic tools. Only thing you'd need, in addition, is the actual canning kettle.

Another great resource is the National Center For Home Food Preservation: https://nchfp.uga.edu/

Between the two of them, there's pretty much everything a beginner has to know.


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But we hae meat and we can eat
And sae the Lord be thanket

Posted By: pitrow
Date Posted: 15 November 2018 at 08:55
+2 on the Blue Book. Great way to get started learning canning techniques and it's from a trusted source.

Make sure you caution them that half the canning recipes they will find on the internet are untested and possibly unsafe. Now for the most part jams and jellies will be safe, but it's still good only use recipes from a trusted source that only uses tested recipes.

For example there are lots of recipes for "banana jam" floating around that are not safe for shelf storage because bananas are not acidic enough to keep the botulism spores in check. But the recipes (usually) do not state this, so someone who doesn't know better could make this and not store it correctly and get people sick, or worse.


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Mike
http://lifeinpitrow.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow - Life in PitRow - My often neglected, somewhat eccentric, occasionally outstanding blog

Posted By: TasunkaWitko
Date Posted: 15 November 2018 at 09:01
Another vote for the Ball Blue Book.

I personally prefer the old ones, along with the Kerr books; the photography is much awesomer (if that's a word!) and the recipes aren't as modern-trendy. Having said that, the methods outlined in them are probably not in keeping with modern food safety practices, so they might be problematic for people who are new to the craft.


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Posted By: HistoricFoodie
Date Posted: 16 November 2018 at 19:15
so they might be problematic for people who are new to the craft

That's probably the key phrase.  Newbies, because they do not understand the science of food preservation, should stick to tested recipes from recognized authorities. 

If we're talking jams and jellies, however, it's actually a bit simpler.  The spoilage mechanism of soft spreads is mold, and you can see it if there's a problem, and discard any that's bad. 


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But we hae meat and we can eat
And sae the Lord be thanket


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