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Ball Blue Book


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Well Crud. It isn't a "BLUE" book but just a Ball canning book. Sigh.

 

I got it from the library and I'm glad I didn't buy it. I was really disappointed with it. There are some new recipes but they use ingredients I've never used. I'm from the Midwest so that is probably the reason. Tamarind, tomatillo, star anise etc. I know what they are but have never ever seen them in our grocery stores. Also quite a few HOT recipes. I'm thinking they would appeal to our southwest folks. Don't know.

 

The biggest disappointment was there are no veggie or meat recipes in it. Just preserves and sauces. I don't need more calories.

 

There were a lot of recipes that used alcohol too.

 

Another big disappointment was there were recipes in there for cooking and not canning. Things like meatloaf and main dishes. Not for canning but for cooking. Wasted too much space. I wanted canning recipes from Ball, not a cookbook.

 

I noticed there were a couple of recipes that called for tea. Interesting. One even had a recipe using sweet tea.

 

The only thing good I really got from it was they no longer recommend heating your lids. They didn't make a big production of it. I had to look for it specifically. They just said to wash the lids and set them aside. No mention of how things have changed.

 

Granted, I just went through it quickly and will take more time later, but unless you want more jam, jelly, pickles etc. I'd skip this one.

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I just went to Amazon looking at canning books table of contents. It seems like Ball is following suit with the rest of them. Quite a lot of them are using alcohol now. Especially vodka, bourbon. Doesn't bother me. Just making an observation.

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You're welcome. In my opinion it really isn't worth it unless you want new jam, jelly pickle, sauce recipes.

Annie, even in the link I posted it says, "Ball Blue Book." :motz_6:

One book that I have and I like is, "The Amish Canning Cookbook: Plain and Simple Living at Its Homemade Best" I don't know why the word Amish is in there. It has nothing to do with the Amish. Just a selling point I guess. You can click on the table of contents to see if it is something you would be interested in. Kindle has it for $1.99. I'm not sure how compatible it is though. Lot's of recipes and charts get messed up when they are formatted to Kindle. I type the ones out I want anyway so I'm okay with that.

I don't know how your library system is but ours has most of the popular canning books including; You Can Can, The Complete Idiots Guide to Canning and Preserving, The Everything Canning and Preserving Book, Put Em Up, Can It and a bunch of other food preserving books. I didn't really remember all of those. Those are the ones I brought home the other day. Anyhooo, the library has been a great source of free material for me.

 

I'd really recommend thas book along with the REAL Ball Blue Book especially to beginners who may not have very many canning recipes.

https://www.amazon.com/Amish-Canning-Cookbook-Simple-Homemade/dp/0736948996/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1467416347&sr=8-4&keywords=canning+books

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This one looked interesting too. It's $0.99 for Kindle. And it's new. Published 6/24/16. I think I'll try it. It's 240 pages for 99 cents. I always look at the page count, publication date and reviews. And of course price.

My Presto Pressure Canner Cookbook: 120 Contemporary and Fun Recipes
https://www.amazon.com/Presto-Pressure-Canner-Cookbook-Contemporary-ebook/dp/B01HJAL9US/ref=sr_1_96?ie=UTF8&qid=1467421631&sr=8-96&keywords=canning+books

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Almost forgot, any newbies reading this, you don't have to have a Kindle to buy Kindle books or download the free Kindle books. With an Amazon account, you can set up a free 'Kindle For My PC' account and read them from your computer. =)

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Sorry to hear you didn't like the new Ball Book of Canning. I have a copy and have all sorts of stuff marked that I would like to try. There is a Hearty Chicken Stew canning recipe on page 283. And there are several Simple One Jar Meal recipes for canning that have meat and veggies on page 274-275.

 

I like that they give you regular recipes to use the stuff you've canned. Especially for those who are new to canning and wondering "okay, what do I do with this now."

I agree that some of the stuff is kind out there and beyond our personal taste buds but it may appeal to others.

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You are correct Daelith. I already have those chicken recipes canned. I just call them my chicken veggie soup. I don't use any of the wine or butter in mine though. Also none of the spices. I'm afraid they might get strong. Not sure about that though.

 

I love one jar meals! Love em. But to me a one jar meal means ONE jar. If you have to add other stuff to it isn't a one jar meal any more. I got excited when I saw the Chicken and Gravy Dinner in a Jar. But you have to whisk in flour at serving time. No big deal but still... in a SHTF situation I want to be able to just 'pop-a-top'. It also calls for it to be canned with wine and poultry seasoning. The main ingredient in poultry seasoning is sage. Sage will turn bitter in canning. Even the Ball Blue Book says to not can your sausage etc. with sage but to add it when cooking. :shrug:

 

I meant it doesn't have any plain meat or veggie recipes in it. Like how to just can corn or peas or potatoes. Or just hamburger or chicken.

 

There is one recipe that piqued my interest though. The herbed potatoes. I've been searching for a canning recipe for the potatoes like Boston Market sells. I have the copy cat recipe but I'd like to leave the skins on the potatoes. I'll start a new thread for that.

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So Easy to Preserve came out with their 6th edition in 2014. I just checked their site as I was wondering if other canning books were putting out newer versions. I have the 5th edition (2006). This was a book that Violet recommended. And I really like it! The site says that the 6th ed. has 10 new products and 2 revised product recommendations and costs $18. Does anyone have the new one? http://setp.uga.edu/

 

 

We bought the newer Ball book at WM for around $20 to look through; not sure if we'll keep it or return it. With all of my allergies and sensitivities, most recipes aren't for me. It has sections on fermenting and smoking (meat), but I haven't had time to look at it much yet (teething unhappy toddler).

Edited by out_of_the_ordinary
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So Easy to Preserve came out with their 6th edition in 2014. I just checked their site as I was wondering if other canning books were putting out newer versions. I have the 5th edition (2006). This was a book that Violet recommended. And I really like it! The site says that the 6th ed. has 10 new products and 2 revised product recommendations and costs $18. Does anyone have the new one? http://setp.uga.edu/

By the way, if anybody put off ordering it because you had to send a check, they now have an online store that takes credit cards.

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  • 1 month later...

Bought the newest edition of the Ball book and I love the many recipes...whether for just cooking or for canning :-) For some reason I can't find my older edition nor my Putting Foods By...:-( Gotta find the PFB by canning time!

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