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Get Started

Get Started: Preserving

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More than any other series on the market, DK's Get Started series simulates carefully structured classroom lessons, an approach that allows readers to custom-build courses with practical lessons and themed projects. Each book answers fundamental questions, identifies the subject's basics, explains how to tailor a course, and provides step-by-step explanations, graded projects, and assessments, so readers can fulfill their own unique learning potential.

Many people want to master new skills, stimulate their creativity, and explore additional fields of interest. With DK's Get Started series, readers can create their own learning opportunities—on a schedule and budget that works for them.

192 pages, Hardcover

First published December 17, 2012

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About the author

Susannah Steel

16 books1 follower

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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
Profile Image for Darren.
1,193 reviews64 followers
December 14, 2012
Another book in this great little winning format, this time looking at the preservation of food.

Preservation is one of those subjects that many people just don't thoroughly get. They might roughly understand freezing and possibly use preserves, but on the whole it can remain a bit of a closed subject. This book will change those perceptions. As with other books in this fine series, the book is split into three main sections - start simple, build on it and take it further and within each section are several chapters, so at no time should you feel lost and out of your depth and the book seems to go out of its way in dispensing advice and quality information throughout.

At the start an overview of the various bits and pieces (the tools) that may be needed are explained, along with a good primer on hygiene and food safety. When preserving food it is critical to get things right, else you might just be storing a bacterial timebomb, and this is explained well in layman's language, as is the science behind preservation.

Then it is time to get preserving. Starting with the basics of freezing fresh fruit, you see very quickly that preserving need not be complex! You are even told how long a food might last and, of course, food can last a long, long time even if a slight degradation occurs after an optimal period.

When reading through this book it is amazing to see the variety of foods that can be preserved and, of course, the multitude of preserving methods. They all look so easy as well when you look at this book. Whilst it is true that more and more pre-preserved items are available from food stores, there is a certain satisfaction involved in preserving your own foods, particularly if you have been active in your own garden. By doing it yourself you can be 100% sure about just exactly what has been done to your food from start to finish. As you reach the latter stages of the book you can even start to preserve your own fish and meat (including making your own bacon). For this reviewer many of the foods being preserved will remain a theoretical process but, at the same time, it was an intense, interesting read nonetheless.

When you consider the tremendous quality of the book's content, the design and the very low price, this is a true "no brainer" and deserves a place on your bookshelf with the other "Get Started" books in this series. They will form a great little reference source for you and your family and, it is suspected, you will find even more determination and reasons to "Get Started" in the kitchen!

Get Started: Preserving, written by Susannah Steel and published by DK. ISBN 9781465401946, 192 pages. Typical price: USD15. YYYYY.


// This review appeared in YUM.fi and is reproduced here in full with permission of YUM.fi. YUM.fi celebrates the worldwide diversity of food and drink, as presented through the humble book. Whether you call it a cookery book, cook book, recipe book or something else (in the language of your choice) YUM will provide you with news and reviews of the latest books on the marketplace. //
Profile Image for Tracy.
281 reviews1 follower
May 14, 2013
------ I received this book from Edelweiss and the publisher for my honest review------

The first thing that I liked about this book is that the recipes are broken down into three categories, Start Simple, Build On It and Take It Further. I really like this and think that it's a great way to learn something new. The Start It Simple was also not filled with a few recipes that really are all common sense and doesn't teach you anything new. I also must say I am brand new to preserving so this format and the information about what tools are needed along with the tips and tricks that are scattered throughout the book I found very informative and helpful. Showing you step by step what to do, and going into the science of why you should do something also was a very nice touch. There are plenty of pictures, and while in my electronic version they are not of the best quality they work just fine. The recipes are laid out in a way that makes it very easy to follow along, and with lots of pictures so that you can see what you should be doing along with reading the directions. I look forward to working my way through this book and trying the recipes, I am planning on starting with one of the freezer jam ones. Then working my up to more of the complex ones like curing meat.
Profile Image for Renee.
74 reviews4 followers
May 28, 2013
Preserving foods is more than keeping them in storage in a way that prevents spoilage; it is an art form, too. Putting the two together can be a rewarding experience in more than ways than one. Get Started: Preserving is an excellent guide to learn the basics of preserving foods and provides different recipes encouraging the reader to experiment with something new.

Get Started: Preserving is separated into three sections: Start Simple; Build On It; and Take It Further. You'll find everything under the sun as far as recipes go, as they range from simple to complex. Examples of topics and recipes include freezing fresh fruits and vegetables, salt preserving, conserves, cordials, soft cheese, cured fish, and potted meats. Each recipe topic includes an overview of the procedure and possible variations that can be done.

Important topics are covered, too, including a section on Hygiene and Food Safety and The Science of How Food Spoils. The pictures are colorful and clean.

I found it very helpful how this book was laid out, and how each recipe was approached easy to follow. Hands down, Get Started: Preserving will make a valued preserving reference book with gourmet recipes and instructional procedures.

This was published on my cookbook review blog.
Profile Image for Sonja Isaacson.
433 reviews20 followers
May 16, 2014
This one will go on my to-purchase list. I just love colorful photos to show me how to do things. And there are lists giving timing and preserving options for various produce. I would end up having to make my own chart of noting what is on each page. While the format of Here's an Easy Example, followed by more graduate steps or processes is good for teaching, if I have a pepper in my hand I really just want to know what to do with that pepper at this moment.

It is also missing suggestions of what to do with your item once it has gone into a jar. Jam I can eat on bread! But peppers in oil is a foreign item to my culinary skills.
Profile Image for Rachel.
2,839 reviews63 followers
April 1, 2013
I'm also on the lookout for new preserving/pickling cookbooks and this had some fun variations. Recipes such as Blueberry/Raspberry freezer jam, Cilantro/Walnut pesto, Membrillo (a Spanish quince paste traditionally served with Manchego), Plum Jam with Spiced Port, and Figs in Honey Syrup caught my eye. 3 stars.
Profile Image for Tara.
Author 5 books34 followers
July 7, 2014
Recipes are a little more imaginative and the layout is good, but info is harder to find.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews

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