i just received an amazon notice in my inbox telling me that this:
homemade living: canning & preserving with ashley english
is on it's way to me! this is our very own can jammer ashley from small measure's first book in her homemade living series and i am very excited to receive it!
and then, while trekking around the mighty amazon i noticed a bevy of 'available for pre-order' canning & preserving books. now i know that is not out of the ordinary for this time of year but...
preserve it! from dk publishing
seasonal preserves by joannna farrow
put 'em up! a comprehensive home preserving guide for the creative cook by sherri brooks vinton
250 home preserving favorites: from jams & jellies to marmalades & chutneys by yvonne tremblay
williams-sonoma: the art of preserving by rick field & rebecca courchesne
you can can! a visual step-by-step guide to canning, preserving, & pickling from better homes & gardens
...really?
i can better preserve me some cash.
This is BAD: I have no more space for cook books - I have too many canning books: and some of these look SO GOOD!!
ReplyDeleteYes more canning books is cool but how many if them are safe? I tend to check them out from the library first after I bought one that had very iffy recipes and canning processing times. That and she felt that wax on the top of jams was ok.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I just bought Mes Confitures and I have to say, I'm disappointed. Not that there aren't some cool flavor combos in there, and I'm sure I'll turn to it for inspiration, but.... there is a serious lack of info. I was hoping for more than just a page or two on technique and more than the standard weight:weight fruit-to-sugar recipes. And, considering that this was translated for an American audience, and they went to the trouble of converting metric measures to 'american', it seems like they could have made a statement about safety. I know the USDA can go overboard, but no processing at all, and recipes with pumpkin, chocolate and lots of nuts make me wonder; are we just completely nuts when it comes to safety, or are these recipes not safe? Sigh.
ReplyDeleteI should have saved my money for Ashley's book. I had completely forgotten about it! :(
michelle - good idea if you can check them out first. the more we learn about canning, the more we can judge for ourselves what is a good source.
ReplyDeletelocalkitchen - i absolutely love mes confitures. yes it's true, it was translated pretty directly from her cooking diary so there's a bit of deciphering that needs to be done.
with fruit jams it is pretty much the norm that you can process for 10 minutes without sterilizing jars first or sterilize jars and then process for 5 minutes. most fruit is high acid and can be safely water-bath canned, the addition of nuts in fruit is fine as they are dried and would not contain spores. pumkin is NOT deemed safe to water-bath by the FDA, and i don't know about chocolate! :)
yes, the USDA is very strict about canning, more so than around the world.
local kitchen, that one has been on my list. Maybe I can buy Ashley's book and we can swap. Is that crazy by the time we get done paying shipping? I could have the book sent directly to you. Not that I don't want to buy Ashley's book but I have no need for more sugary water bath things in my life.
ReplyDeleteNot more books! Mind you I do love them and it means you can research and watch a bit of TV at the same time. As regards Mes Confiture, I find it interesting, localkitchen, that you feel that a French book should be tailored to the US audience rather than you dipping into a French way of life. You all seem to have such skill and canning knowledge that surely you can adapt recipes as you feel is necessary without it all being done for you. That book has such charm, you can almost smell the jam pan boiling the fruits and sugar syrup.
ReplyDeleteDon't get me wrong, I'm not saying that the French recipes should be adapted to our style of cooking; it just struck me as odd that they would go to the trouble of translating all the measures into cups, etc. (I'm so glad they left all the weights) but not include some notes about the differences in generally accepted canning techniques between the US and Europe. I guess it's just that I'm a scientist and I like the data; if she finds it perfectly safe to can pumpkins, then why does the USDA tell me I can't? It is just that they have not bothered to 'qualify' any pumpkin recipes according to their standards, or is Europe's standard for acceptable pH higher than ours? Or do they even bother measuring pH and just stick with time-tested recipes? I'm assuming that no one is dying of botulism from eating Christine Ferber's recipes - but I would feel more comfortable diving right in if there were more details.
ReplyDeleteMy husband is a trained pastry chef and he has this little box of index cards from back when he used to work in the business. This book reminds me of his index file; great ideas, and the flavors and ingredients are all there, but nothing else. I was hoping for tips on technique, perhaps notes on some combinations she's tried and hasn't liked; a more personal slant I guess, as many cookbooks are including these days. I can adapt recipes, and nearly always do (and probably will with these recipes as well), and am not looking for the author to adpat her recipes for me; just looking to understand the rationale behind recipes that I, had I run across randomly on the internet, would have considered 'unsafe.'
Aside from the lack of detailed info, I was disappointed in the fact that all of the recipes are pretty much the standard 1:1 ratio of fruit:sugar (or a little less). This is just a personal preference, but I most enjoy preserves that capture perfectly the flavor of the ripe fruit, without added sweetness, and I find the vast majority of jam recipes far too sweet.
I realize that it is heresy to critize La Ferber. :) Maybe once I actually try out one of the recipes, I'll be a convert. But my initial reaction was... disappointment. For those of you who have tried her recipes - I'm a little confused as to whether they are true jams, texture-wise, or more like fruit-in-syrup. The recipes all say to cook to the gel point, which would indicate a jammy-set texture, but the pictures mostly look like fruit suspended in a thickened sugar syrup. Which of course, as a preserve, has it's own joys, but I'm just wondering about the texture of most of the recipes... anyone know?
Sustainable Eats, thanks for the offer, but I will probably hang onto it; like I said, many of the flavor combinations are inspiring and I would like to try a couple of the recipes before I decide that I don't like it! Also - it *is* all sugary water-bath things (although she does not appear to water-bath process her jams), so I'm not sure it's what you would want?
Kaela
OO, thanks for the list. A couple of the books managed to jump in to my cart.
ReplyDeletekeala - listen you! get off my blog if you're gonna thrash my jam-idol! ...just kidding! :) actually on the contrary. i am so happy that a discussion is actually going on!
ReplyDeletehere is what i can say about the way the photos look and the texture: a technique that Ms Ferber uses quite often is to macerate the fruit and then separate the fruit from the syrup. then she will boil the syrup first and then add the fruit afterwards.
sometimes she will go through a series of bringing the fruit to the boil/macerate for a number of times to condense the flavor of the fruit and then finish with boiling the syrup close to a jammy consistency and adding the fruit.
i must admit mine never quite look like her photos, and its an on going learning for me. check out my shrunken strawberry and rhubarb jam in the recipe side bar. that is one where the fruit is brought to the boil and then macerated a number of times.
i must warn you that there are some recipes with clear mistakes or omissions and i've found myself cursing at the translators a few times. it really does seem like a direct translation and not a lot of recipe editing going on. but i have grown to overlook that and after working with it so much i think i can usually fill in the blanks.
about that dreaded pumpkin, i think that it has been fairly recently that the USDA deemed pumpkin unsafe for hot water bath canning. please have a look in my recipe side bar at the pumpkin marmalade recipe - i linked to a few USDA links relating to pumpkin. i must admit i do wrestle with that one a bit personally.
I have to say I like the "suspend fruit pieces in syrup" technique, which is what Madelaine Bullwinkel does in Gourmet Preserves. It is more work, but makes for a fabulous preserve, where the fruit is not overly cooked, but the surrounding jam is really concentrated and flavorful. Just that many of Ferber's pictures look more like the peaches in syrup that I make - not quite a jam. I will check out your recipes for comparison.
ReplyDeleteAs for the pumpkin - I remember when you put up the pumpkin marmalade recipe - and my first thought was - Ah Ha! Someone's found a way to safely can pumpkin! And then I kept reading. :) But my thinking is... if you can make a carrot jam, why not a pumpkin jam? It's certainly no more dense than carrot, and as long as you grate or julienne it, why shouldn't it be just as safe? I don't actually know the pH of pumpkin, but I doubt it is much different from carrot. Hence my frustration. I would bet that her recipes are perfectly safe - BUT, the detail in the recipes is so lacking it makes me cautious. I would likely be more cavalier if I ate all of my preserves myself, but I give so much of it away....
I swear I'm going to open my own canning safety testing lab. (Me, my trusty immersion blender and a pH meter). Now where did I leave that lab coat?
localkitchen- i wrestle with that same question regarding pumpkin - and that marmalade recipe? straight out of mary anne dragan's well preserved. i hardly think candians are dropping like flies from botulism. but i feel that i have a responsibility to make clear what the USDA guidelines are - an in the end i kept mine in the fridge. BUT there wasn't a morning that went by that i ate it and didn't think "i know these damn jars could be in my larder!" that said, i'll make it again because it's amazing, and i will most likely fridge it in the end.
ReplyDeleteit's true about the canning lab & meter or, - maybe we should just ferment everything and get on with it. gah! blasphemy! ;)
I'm telling Christine.. ;)
ReplyDeleteawh, garsh. well aren't you just the bestest best! thanks for the love!
ReplyDeleteI've been intrigued with the River Cottage Handbooks from the UK. They look like old fashioned textbooks with photos printed on buckram for the covers and photos on matte paper opposite most recipes. No 2 by Pam Corbin is called Preserves. Another one on Preserves is coming out in June. Beautifully produced and lots of technical information. However, a propos the discussion between Tigress and Local Kitchen, she uses paraffin or allows the heat from hot liquids to seal jam jars. That's what we did eons ago. If its jammy enough with sugar and acidic liquid, I water bath can it anyway. Or just refrigerate.
ReplyDeleteTook me a while to get over here and look at this post, and I'm so glad I did. Not just for the list of books (yikes!) but for the discussion in the comments. I just ordered Mes Confitures and this provides some great context. Also, Tigress, I have been appreciating your careful attention to technique and safety as the can jam progresses.
ReplyDeletekaren - i love the river cottage no 2! i did see that they were releasing another one in june on preserves but i wasn't sure if it was the same as number 2 but renamed or actually a different book.
ReplyDeleteshae - thanks! and please, if you have any questions or comments on mes confitures let's meet back here and discuss! :)
Been nagging my Hun Bun for months to build me some book shelves...told him *a lot* of new canning books are coming out this year. I do have many of the books discussed above and really use the books to spark ideas more than anything--I just ignore the outdated processing methods and do it the way the USDA wants us to.
ReplyDeleteWe just got the new Williams-Sonoma Art of Preserving book. It's pretty, but it's often a little basic. We tried the pickled beets and they were actively gross. We bought the book for the most interesting savory pickled rhubarb recipe I've ever seen. Rice vinegar, sherry vinegar, unsweetened cherry juice, garlic, chile powder... and long sticks of rhubarb! We made it last weekend, so I'll know if it's any good in a couple weeks. I have to give the book a mediocre review at this point.
ReplyDeleteI've read a bit more on the pumpkin thing, and think perhaps the original ukase is against canning straight pumpkin (a low acid vegetable), not canning a highly sweetened product like pumpkin butter. They reference the density of the pumpkin, but p'butter is no more dense than apple butter, and the addition of sugar further thins it.
ReplyDeleteFor that matter, generations including mine and my mother's and grandmothers' all survived using parrafin to seal jars of jam and jelly; it was the sugar and acid preserving those confections, not the lid, any more than the lid or waterbathing preserves them now.