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Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving
Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving contains over 400 delicious and creative recipes. Home canning puts the pleasures of eating natural, delicious produce at your fingertips year round. Preserving food is as modern and practical as the latest food trend, and its really quite simple. Easy-to-understand detailed instructions provide all the information you need before you begin a project. Enjoy the rewards of numerous homemade meals and snacks, created from just one preserving session.
448 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 165 reviews
July 11, 2017
To see a few of my favorite canning recipes, please visit my blog readrantrockandroll.
This is my go to canning book that has many of my favorite canning recipes that I use yearly including jams, jellies, relish, pickles, soups, sauces and more. It's nearly the only canning book I need to can whatever recipes I want to have throughout the year. The directions are simple. This complete book of home preserving contains recipes for water bath canning and pressure canning with safety information for both methods.
5*****
This is my go to canning book that has many of my favorite canning recipes that I use yearly including jams, jellies, relish, pickles, soups, sauces and more. It's nearly the only canning book I need to can whatever recipes I want to have throughout the year. The directions are simple. This complete book of home preserving contains recipes for water bath canning and pressure canning with safety information for both methods.
5*****
November 3, 2020
This is my “go to” book for jams and jellies, preserves and conserves. I’ve tried many of the wine and herb jellies, a few of the jams and marmalades. Lots of tomato recipes which works for me as I had loads of tomatoes this year. Sometimes I change up the fruit or vegetable if I can’t find exactly what I’m looking for.
The best part of this book is that it is mostly small batches like six or eight jars, which works perfectly for me. I like to make the jellies in smaller jars for giveaways at Christmas or when visiting friends for cocktails (remember when we used to do that... before COVID-19! Lol).
Something for every flavour and every meal plan. Great fun to experiment and try something beyond your standard chili sauce!
Try the inferno wine jelly, or bruschetta-in-a-jar, or the gingered zucchini marmalade! Yum!!
The best part of this book is that it is mostly small batches like six or eight jars, which works perfectly for me. I like to make the jellies in smaller jars for giveaways at Christmas or when visiting friends for cocktails (remember when we used to do that... before COVID-19! Lol).
Something for every flavour and every meal plan. Great fun to experiment and try something beyond your standard chili sauce!
Try the inferno wine jelly, or bruschetta-in-a-jar, or the gingered zucchini marmalade! Yum!!
Read
September 1, 2022I haven’t read every last page of this book, but have already used recipes within to preserve strawberry jam, blueberry jam, and tomatoes. Later this week I will try the recipe for preserving peaches! I’m on a canning kick with all this talk lately of rising food prices and shortages etc., but the truth is that I first discovered this hobby back in my twenties when free time was plentiful, and now that my boys are in their teens and old enough to help (when they’re around, that is) I find my interest in it has resurfaced. 🫙
January 21, 2019
Creating Geological Food Formations for Future Excavation & Delectation
Pale wine-colored jelly suffused with bits of red jalapeño pepper and white garlic. Pale yellow-green jelly with bits of basil and banana pepper rings. Dark purple preserves replete with plump Texas blueberries. Vertical and diagonal formations of green, red and purple pickled jalapeño. Horizontally and vertically-arranged carrot slabs separated by a layer of pearl onion spheres, the interstices filled with tiny and tinier sand-grains of black pepper kernels, allspice berries, mustard seeds, coriander seeds ... While layering all these goodies in jars I also happened to be reading John McPhee's amazing tome on geology, Annals of the Former World https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7... and couldn't help but imagine that I was creating, in these little jars, tiny geological formations of a sort ... just as animals, vegetables and minerals pile up to form our world -- only quicker and more delicious.
I am a newby to home preserving and so far, almost everything I've made from this very well-written, well-tested, safety-oriented book has been delicious, and all but one recipe has worked out well, and when I look back at my notes I see that I altered that recipe slightly, so it's quite possible it's my own blessed fault that it didn't work out. (Actually I altered several recipes, very carefully so not to upset the chemistry.) But I've barely scratched the surface of the range of recipes and even different types of food preservation offered in this book. In my next adventure I plan to try a fermented food, sauerkraut. (Right after I make beer from the kit my husband bought me. And oh, did I mention he also purchased this book??
It all started two years ago when I planted a few tiny jalapeño and banana pepper plants in a flower garden in my front yard and ended up with bumper crops from July through October. Lo and behold, the book which had never yet been cracked open suddenly became very useful. I'm by no means an expert gardener or chef but I really enjoy both the artistic and the scientific sides of gardening and creative cooking, as well as the physical processes themselves -- and of course, the general superiority of the final products to anything you can get from a store.
Plus, everyone seems to love receiving a jar of homemade pepper jelly or fruit preserves or pickles as a present.
(Haven't really "finished" it, just added today as arbitrary finished date.)
Pale wine-colored jelly suffused with bits of red jalapeño pepper and white garlic. Pale yellow-green jelly with bits of basil and banana pepper rings. Dark purple preserves replete with plump Texas blueberries. Vertical and diagonal formations of green, red and purple pickled jalapeño. Horizontally and vertically-arranged carrot slabs separated by a layer of pearl onion spheres, the interstices filled with tiny and tinier sand-grains of black pepper kernels, allspice berries, mustard seeds, coriander seeds ... While layering all these goodies in jars I also happened to be reading John McPhee's amazing tome on geology, Annals of the Former World https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7... and couldn't help but imagine that I was creating, in these little jars, tiny geological formations of a sort ... just as animals, vegetables and minerals pile up to form our world -- only quicker and more delicious.
I am a newby to home preserving and so far, almost everything I've made from this very well-written, well-tested, safety-oriented book has been delicious, and all but one recipe has worked out well, and when I look back at my notes I see that I altered that recipe slightly, so it's quite possible it's my own blessed fault that it didn't work out. (Actually I altered several recipes, very carefully so not to upset the chemistry.) But I've barely scratched the surface of the range of recipes and even different types of food preservation offered in this book. In my next adventure I plan to try a fermented food, sauerkraut. (Right after I make beer from the kit my husband bought me. And oh, did I mention he also purchased this book??
It all started two years ago when I planted a few tiny jalapeño and banana pepper plants in a flower garden in my front yard and ended up with bumper crops from July through October. Lo and behold, the book which had never yet been cracked open suddenly became very useful. I'm by no means an expert gardener or chef but I really enjoy both the artistic and the scientific sides of gardening and creative cooking, as well as the physical processes themselves -- and of course, the general superiority of the final products to anything you can get from a store.
Plus, everyone seems to love receiving a jar of homemade pepper jelly or fruit preserves or pickles as a present.
(Haven't really "finished" it, just added today as arbitrary finished date.)
February 11, 2014
I checked this book out through the library, but it's one that I definitely need to own a copy of. This book is a lot like Ball's classic Blue Book, but with a LOT more information and additional recipes. It also features a one or two sentence blurb with each recipe, indicating how you might use it (which can be helpful for some of the more obscure chutneys, relishes, etc). The book also contains some helpful reference sections at the end, including a produce buying guide (to help you figure out how many pounds of strawberries you should buy if you want to can 7 quarts, for example). I'd recommend this book to anyone who has some experience with canning and is looking to expand their repertoire of recipes.
September 8, 2008
This weekend a group of friends and I tried canning together and used a salsa recipe from this book. We had a crapload of stuff and altogether it was really successful. This book definitely has more recipes I'd like to try.
My one complaint is that it sometimes skips past more common recipes and leans toward unexpected ones. I'm sure I'll appreciate that eventually but for now I'm a beginner and would like to learn some basics.
My one complaint is that it sometimes skips past more common recipes and leans toward unexpected ones. I'm sure I'll appreciate that eventually but for now I'm a beginner and would like to learn some basics.
October 9, 2012
Canning from a reputable book or from instructions from a county or state extension is much safer than canning from instructions on the internet. :)
July 8, 2021
If you can only afford one book about how to can The bounty of your garden or farm, this is it. This book has something for almost everyone from newbies to those who have been canning for decades, from simple tastes to things that are pretty classy. I have used various additions of this book since high school in the 80s. It only occurred to me to put it on my bookshelves here today when I was looking up a recipe.
March 31, 2022
I mean, sure it's weird to put a recipe book as a book you read, but I literally spent the entire day devouring this bad boy, so...I'mma claim it.
Let's be honest, all this talk about food shortages is kind of freaking me out. And even if they weren't, it's always a good idea to be able to preserve stuff and skills are always good to learn so here's me and this book.
We used to can stuff (jams, really) when I was a kid but we never processed--we would use paraffin as a seal instead and, I mean, we never got sick and I've eaten jam at my parents' house that we made when I was in elementary school and didn't get sick so...there's something to that, but I couldn't find paraffin, so here's me learning how to do it 'right', which I was always told was scary and hard (which is why we did the paraffin thing instead) but this book says...it's really not. You just need to do a little preparation. They have four basic recipes to start where they have long step by steps--more info than you'd need if you knew what you were doing, but just what a newbie needs. Once you figure those out, you can move on to any of the recipes--they give tips to check for sheeting and the consistency of a good fruit butter, as well.
I bought it for fruit preserving, and there's every kind you can imagine here: jams, jellies, chutneys, marmalades and preserved fruit! And also things like salsas and chow chow and pickled vegetables of all varieties--the recipes themselves are very simple--some having a handful of ingredients (sugar, fruit, pectin) but at most, I think I saw one with ten ingredients (most of them spices). The actual cooking parts are easy--half the recipe is the canning process, so it's mostly 'cook the stuff' and maybe 'strain the stuff and then add more stuff' and then into the jars it goes to be processed.
I already bookmarked a dozen recipes to try this summer including a spiced peach jam, apple butter, and a tropical jam of canned fruits, that I can't wait to try out! More than that, I have confidence I can do this right: I'd read articles on the internet but nothing quite gives one the security of getting a recipe from the pros, and the people who make the jars you can with??? Probably know what they're talking about!
Let's be honest, all this talk about food shortages is kind of freaking me out. And even if they weren't, it's always a good idea to be able to preserve stuff and skills are always good to learn so here's me and this book.
We used to can stuff (jams, really) when I was a kid but we never processed--we would use paraffin as a seal instead and, I mean, we never got sick and I've eaten jam at my parents' house that we made when I was in elementary school and didn't get sick so...there's something to that, but I couldn't find paraffin, so here's me learning how to do it 'right', which I was always told was scary and hard (which is why we did the paraffin thing instead) but this book says...it's really not. You just need to do a little preparation. They have four basic recipes to start where they have long step by steps--more info than you'd need if you knew what you were doing, but just what a newbie needs. Once you figure those out, you can move on to any of the recipes--they give tips to check for sheeting and the consistency of a good fruit butter, as well.
I bought it for fruit preserving, and there's every kind you can imagine here: jams, jellies, chutneys, marmalades and preserved fruit! And also things like salsas and chow chow and pickled vegetables of all varieties--the recipes themselves are very simple--some having a handful of ingredients (sugar, fruit, pectin) but at most, I think I saw one with ten ingredients (most of them spices). The actual cooking parts are easy--half the recipe is the canning process, so it's mostly 'cook the stuff' and maybe 'strain the stuff and then add more stuff' and then into the jars it goes to be processed.
I already bookmarked a dozen recipes to try this summer including a spiced peach jam, apple butter, and a tropical jam of canned fruits, that I can't wait to try out! More than that, I have confidence I can do this right: I'd read articles on the internet but nothing quite gives one the security of getting a recipe from the pros, and the people who make the jars you can with??? Probably know what they're talking about!
June 8, 2009
This book has it all. Every recipe you might possibly desire from ketchup to chutney to relish to jam, including freezer, sugar, and pectin options. Lots of recipes and pictures and thorough explanations.
What I liked: versatility. plus the recipes sound delicious. If I own a book for canning, this will be the one I purchase. I might check out another from the library for one or two exotic recipes to try, but this will be the staple for canning. I can't wait to try the salsa, pickles, ketchup, etc. Autumn, here we come!!!!
What I didn't like: nothing too exotic. But some of you might actually like that more.
What I liked: versatility. plus the recipes sound delicious. If I own a book for canning, this will be the one I purchase. I might check out another from the library for one or two exotic recipes to try, but this will be the staple for canning. I can't wait to try the salsa, pickles, ketchup, etc. Autumn, here we come!!!!
What I didn't like: nothing too exotic. But some of you might actually like that more.
October 17, 2025
*2025 Update- I bought my own copy years ago and use it every fall. Delicious recipes that are fun to make and have on the shelf to brighten up life.
2014 review- This book is amazing. I check it out from the library every fall and I am amazed at the variety of recipes. As an educated canner, I try to stick to name-brand, tested recipes and products because I'm afraid of producing unsafe food. This book inspires me to try new concoctions. I will probably end up just purchasing the book at some point.
2014 review- This book is amazing. I check it out from the library every fall and I am amazed at the variety of recipes. As an educated canner, I try to stick to name-brand, tested recipes and products because I'm afraid of producing unsafe food. This book inspires me to try new concoctions. I will probably end up just purchasing the book at some point.
December 2, 2019
Picked it up at a rummage sale for $0.75 how could I go wrong?
November 7, 2018
You know that a reference and recipe book is good when you constantly refer to it over the Internet. This is my go-to book for canning. Love it!
May 19, 2009
It's marmalade season, and I have a bag of grapefruit from home in my kitchen. This book has replaced the Ball Blue Book of Preserving as my standard reference. Can't wait to try some of the red wine and herb jellies.
December 28, 2011
Every step is spelled out and easy to follow. They explain the 'why' in why it is done this way or that. And so far any recipe I have tried has been great. Grape Jelly, spicy salsa, applesauce, and tomatoes. But, I can't wait to try some of the others!
July 13, 2014
I have tried many of these recipes and they are were all excellent. This is a standard classic and great reference book for home preservers. Karen Jean Matsko Hood
June 7, 2015
Tons of variations for canning fruits with different sugar levels and without pectin.
April 30, 2024
Comprehensive book of home preserving.
July 14, 2023
Better than the smaller books sold beside the canning equipment. I'd recommend checking this one from your local library before getting started with canning. Canning is both simple and complex. In some cases it's as easy as put fruit in jars, cover in hot water or syrup, cover, boil in water bath for (depends on fruits and pints/quarts) minutes. Sometimes it involves pureeing fruit, pouring through mesh to remove skins and seeds, boiling down, adding sugars/spices, putting in jars and canning. And that's just fruit, not veggies... So, yeah. But this is a much better, more comprehensive guide, with many interesting and yummy recipes, as well as how to can everything- and I mean everything - you could pull out of the garden or off the grocery shelves.
August 24, 2023
This is a good all-round recipe book for canning soft spreads (jams, jellies, marmalade, butters, preserves), fruits (whole, minced, syrup, sauce,), salsa, relish, chutney, condiments (ketchup, mustards, sauces), pickles, and preserved tomatoes. It has a lot of recipes, and they are organized by method. A back section also includes methods and recipes for those fortunate enough to have access to a pressure canner.
Includes illustrared canning How-to guide; Problem Solver Charts; charts for determining high -low acid foods; and Altitude Adjustment Charts for Canada and USA.
Includes illustrared canning How-to guide; Problem Solver Charts; charts for determining high -low acid foods; and Altitude Adjustment Charts for Canada and USA.
January 5, 2026
Je parle généralement ici de fiction et non des livres pratiques qui font pourtant partie de mon quotidien. Cette année, j’aimerais leur faire une place dans ce carnet de lecture.
Un des objectifs de notre année sur l’homestead est de mieux préserver la nourriture que nous produisons, et pour cela, il est plus que temps que je me mette sérieusement au canning ! D’où ce livre de référence – un de mes cadeaux de Noël – qui est une super base : il est vraiment très accessible et clair. Je pense que ce sera un très bon outil pour ces premiers temps d’apprentissage.
Il y a suffisamment de recettes pour que ce soit varié et divertissant un bon moment, et leur classement est assez logique pour que je puisse les retrouver facilement. En somme, un chouette ajout à ma bibliothèque de cuisine !
Un des objectifs de notre année sur l’homestead est de mieux préserver la nourriture que nous produisons, et pour cela, il est plus que temps que je me mette sérieusement au canning ! D’où ce livre de référence – un de mes cadeaux de Noël – qui est une super base : il est vraiment très accessible et clair. Je pense que ce sera un très bon outil pour ces premiers temps d’apprentissage.
Il y a suffisamment de recettes pour que ce soit varié et divertissant un bon moment, et leur classement est assez logique pour que je puisse les retrouver facilement. En somme, un chouette ajout à ma bibliothèque de cuisine !
December 9, 2022
While I wish this book had more photos of the finished projects, I understand why that just isn't feasible with a collection of this size.
I found a few recipes I would like to try- particularly the strawberry sauce, the cranberry juice, and the barbecue sauce. However, I don't think I need to buy my own copy- a library copy would suffice.
I found a few recipes I would like to try- particularly the strawberry sauce, the cranberry juice, and the barbecue sauce. However, I don't think I need to buy my own copy- a library copy would suffice.
January 12, 2024
About half the book is jams, spreads, fruits, etc. Not many vegetables or meal recipes, which is what I wanted. I do like that there is a section for jam recipes using no pectin, as well as multiple methods for testing the doneness of the jam. There are many creative and interesting recipes, as well as basic info all canners should do.
Overall a good book but not what I was looking for.
Overall a good book but not what I was looking for.
May 12, 2019
A favourite reference of mine for 10 years. Although I am using Pomona’s pectin for most of my jams now, I still use this book constantly. It has a great section on canning tomatoes, with many variations.
July 31, 2021
This book is my reference for preserving and canning food. Techniques a really well explained and the recipes are delicious! Highly recommend the peach and tomato ketchup and the rhubarb and apple chutney!
February 9, 2025
This is the best canning book on the market in my opinion. If you are a canner or you like to do food prep this is the book for you especially if you water can or even if you electric water can your food.
July 8, 2017
An encyclopedia of preserving all kinds of food. Very useful
September 18, 2017
Such a great comprehensive look at both water bath canning and pressure canning. Good mix of basics plus complex recipes
May 2, 2018
Can't wait to make the Thai Hot and Sweet Dipping Sauce!
February 12, 2019
I love this book, it's my go to guide when I'm canning my garden goodies. Most definitely recommend!!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 165 reviews