My thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I wish I'd had this excellent resource, <u> Canning Essentials</u>, by Jackie Callahan Parente, when I attempted to make zucchini relish a few weeks ago. It seemed easy to pull a recipe from the internet and start my culinary adventure in my small galley kitchen, but, as I discovered to my dismay, canning and preserving food can be quite a challenge, especially for those of us who look for shortcuts to reduce our kitchen-time sentence!
My zucchini relish was actually edible, but I was at a loss over what to do with that massive amount of relish. In the end, I froze the rest, but there is no way on earth that I will ever be able to eat that much relish in a few short weeks. Canning offers a more long-term solution and this excellent cookbook provides you with clear, concise instructions on how to properly preserve all kinds of fresh fruits, vegetables. There is a section devoted to Amish and Mennonite recipes, and I was intrigued by the use of Pickling Lime (also known as calcium hydroxide) in one of the recipes for pickles. Pickling lime is a powder used to add crispness to the pickles and other vegetables being preserved.
Until I read this book, I never realized how important it was to know the PH level of your fruits and vegetables: higher PH levels in fruits and vegetables render them unsuitable for canning. Who knew?!?!?!
This book is invaluable for those of us who started a COVID garden in our yards or in balcony containers. When faced with the chore of dealing with all the bounty from our gardening efforts, this cookbook will safely guide you to great tasting preserves and canned goods. Excellent pictures and easy to follow instructions! Happy canning and preserving, everyone!

Even though I have been canning for a little bit this book was helpful in a lot of ways so I would recommend it to new canners and seasoned canners as well. You can always learn something.

I thought this was a fairly comprehensive how-to for preserving food. I was disappointed that the author didn't have a separate chapter on pressure canning. She does talk about pressure canning, and provides some recipes for pressure canning different vegetables, but I was hoping there would be more. Overall, though, I thought this was a fairly comprehensive and well-laid out book. The author doesn't assume that if one wants to preserve their own food, they have to live on a farm - she encourages readers to take a trip to their local farm stand. This book contains quite a bit of information on the various ways to preserve food, including freezing it, and is loaded with helpful tips.

Great book for beginners who have not tried preserving or canning their own foods before. Preserving ingredients is on trend but there are a lot of concerns about safe food preservation. This book eliminates those worries and spells out clearly how to can safely. The recipes are gorgeous. For those that like to experiment on their own, this book also helps to troubleshoot and guarantee preservation formulas that can be used on a variety of ingredients.

A decent, but fairly basic, introduction to canning. There are a variety of recipes for both fruit and vegetables and includes both jam and pickling recipes. A lot of the information is repeated, which is dull when reading through, but might be a pro if you only pick it up for a specific recipe when canning.
If you've got some experience canning, I would skip this one, but it is good for beginners.

**I received an e-ARC from NetGalley for an honest review**

While the book is called "Canning Essentials", I think a better name would be "Preserving Essentials", as the first quarter of the book focuses on freezing foods in order to preserve them. My reasoning behind canning and not freezing food is because I live in an area prone to blackouts with anything stronger than a light summer breeze, and freezing is not a great way to preserve for my family.

I appreciate the author's detailed comparison between water bath versus pressure canning. My family has done both for as long as I can remember, and it's nice to have a comparison chart so I can choose between the two for whatever works best for the occasion.

Overall, I would say this a fantastic book for beginners who have never canned before, and a great book for people like myself who haven't canned in so many years that I've forgotten some of the basics!

I’ll admit canning that goes beyond a quick pickle was always intimidating. This book takes the sweat out of that problem. The writing is concise but not textbook rigid. The recipes had me raiding every vegetable yard in sight. I leaned what works every time and why . It answered all the anxious hiccups that had surfaced before. It even held surprises for the seasoned canner. It was a treat.

Canning Essentials by Jackie Callahan Parente

Jackie Callahan Parente has produced an indispensable book on the tools, techniques, and recipes for safely and efficiently preserving fruits, vegetables, jams, and other foods and I highly recommend it. .

Those who need to be convinced of the benefits of home food preservation are told in chapter 1 that home-preserved food are no less convenient than convenience foods, preserved foods are no less wholesome and nutritious than fresh ones, and that food preservation is easy to learn and doable even for very busy people. Home food preservation also enables you to take control of the food you eat. If you are concerned about chemical additives and preservatives and large amounts of sodium and sugar in your food Callahan Parente tells us “There are no mysterious ingredients hiding behind a hand-penned label that reads ‘Tomatoes, July 2020.’ That’s good wholesome food!”

In chapter 2 “Planning for Success” Callahan Parente tells us what we can preserve, the answer being ‘just about everything” fruits and vegetables, meats and seafood, breads, dairy products and entire meals. She also advises about what methods to use for preserving different foods, and what is involved in using each method: freezing, water-bath banning, and pressure canning. The biology and chemistry of spoilage is discussed next which is of critical importance for food safety. This is followed by a very useful section on planning: what and how much to buy, where to get it, which method to use, when the best time is to buy, equipment required, etc. We are also told that inviting a friend to help with your preservation project is a good idea.

The remaining chapters of the book cover each of the principal methods of home preservation and their use. They provide general guidelines, recommendations on equipment and containers, and recipes. There are also chapters on making jams and jellies and on pickles, relishes and salsas. There is also a wonderful final chapter on recipes from Amish and Mennonite kitchens: pickles, relishes, jellies, jams and sauces.

This is a true encyclopedia of home food preservation which is well organized, easy to read and filled with lessons of experience and guidance from a seasoned canner. It also has an excellent appendix on techniques, preparing sugar syrups, and other matters. If you plan to get into canning or are somewhat involved, you will want to have this book by your side.
Mike Potashnik
McLean, VA
July 30, 2020

Great resource! Whether you are a veteran canner or just starting out, this book covers everything! I enjoyed how the book was broken out by method as well as by food type. I tend to be more on the novice side of food preservation and I learned so much about water bath canning and using my (kind of scary) pressure canner. The photos were also beautiful and the recommendations on how to procure food if you don't have your own garden were great. I highly recommend this book for anyone who is interested in food preservation/eating/cooking local.

good information about a method of preserving food - good attention to detail...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Since the beginning of this quarantine, I have been on a pickling crazeeeee! For us, buying fruits and vegetables in bulk has led to a lot of food waste. To combat this, I have started pickling a lot of ripe vegetables to preserve it before it goes bad! This has turned out fantastic and this book has given me a lot of helpful tools and ideas!

Wow, wealth of information here. I am absolute amazed at all the work that went into making this book, and the variety of recipes it has. The only canning I have ever done is of venison stew meat, my mother never cooked any vegetables or jam. I wonder now how much we truly missed out on.

What did I like? The variety of information here was a plus....blanching, canning, or freezing. Any surplus you have there seems to be a way to salvage it, and not waste it. I find this truly remarkable since I think more people are learning that food may become scarce and it’s up to us to become better at preserving. More people are watching what goes into their bodies, and wanting less of what stores offer.

Would I buy or recommend? Yes, to both. I love canning books and this one seems to have all the information. Even gives you information on why something may not turn out and what to watch out for. Not to mention the mouth watering recipes. This book also has a ton of pictures which made me really happy. It also delves into why your grandparents recipes may not be appropriate anymore.

Thoughts for the author? Beautiful book, and a wealth of information! Congratulations!

I received a copy to read and this is just my opinion.

As a complete novice to the world of canning, this book was a treasure trove of useful information for the absolute beginner! There are so many recipes starting off with the easy beginner ones as well as tips on the right tools, methods, and food safety disclaimers! It's great and I can wait to try more of these recipes.

A good book for beginners. This book will help you guide in tools you need to get started and help give you information on essences of water baths, pressure cooking, and basic recipes that will get you on your way to canning jelly and more.

This is a very informative book on canning. This would be great for those learning to can as there's a lot of technical information and instructions to ensure food safety as well as tips and advice.

If you want to get into preserving food or if you have tried it but need a step-by-step guide or practical details of temperatures, measurements and equipment, then this book has it all in one.
Jackie has years of experience canning and preserving food at home and puts it all together in this book.
The recipes have personal twists and stories around them and liven up the learning process.
For those who are not sure they want to get started on canning just yet, the first part of the book is all about freezing, which is much easier to get into since it doesn't require material and you need to learn less about the process.

There are some great charts. This goes far beyond canning, this is heaven on the safety aspect of storing foods.

This book is a powerhouse of information and much needed for anybody that wants to do canning! This book has plenty of pictures and includes chapters in Freezing, Canning, Jams, Jellies, Pickles, relishes, salsas, and even a chapter of Amish and Mennonite recipes. It definitely has something for everyone!

This is a thorough, thoughtful book which would be wonderful for anyone interested in food preservation, especially beginners. I have Ben canning for the past two summers and I found it extremely informative. There are many bright, colorful, and inspiring pictures which make me want to expand the number of items I preserve.
The book opens with tons of information about preserving including the history of preserving, equipment needed, and safety. There is a definite modern approach throughout. The book covers freezing, water-bath canning, and pressure canning. Each section includes tips, specific recommendations for all types of foods, and recipes.
I am glad to have this fantastic volume on hand as I head into the canning season!

Nice canning book. I learned some good tips in this book that I did not know before and I have been canning for years. Good beginner book with useful information to make your canning experience a pleasant and productive one.