Can anyone recommend a book about preserving for the novices among us. I'm looking for general preserving instructions e.g. pickling beetroot etc. rather than fancy jam recipes of which I have a plenty.
Thanks.
Catherine ;D
Sonia Allison's Book of Preserving is my bible. Amazon only have second hand copies now. It has beetroot in it. First half of the book is general detailed descriptions of how to make jam, chutney, pickles, cheeses, curds etc and the second half has recipes for a huge number of preserves. Her apple chutney is to die for and friends are already nagging me to make more!
If you buy s jars of the Sarson's Pickling vinegar you can send off the labels and get a free booklet. It's got some good recipes in that can be adapted to suit what you have. I find it's a good place to start.
HMSO's 'Home Preservation...' is a bible.
Try the following site for online info
http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/
Regards
MikeB
Quote from: Looby Loo on September 05, 2005, 10:00:17
If you buy s jars of the Sarson's Pickling vinegar you can send off the labels and get a free booklet. It's got some good recipes in that can be adapted to suit what you have. I find it's a good place to start.
we use this too - the OH pickled some of his beetroot following the recipe last night, so must be easy! :)
you could also have a look on amazon.co.uk
On the Books Tab, then Food & Drink (on the left hand side), and under more categories choose Preserving Food ... and you get a big list
The HMSO book is amazing but hard to come by.
Try this:-
"The Complete Book of Preserving"
Marye Cameron-Smith : Marshall Cavendish Books
gives lots of valuable information, which can be adapted to suit your every glut of veggies!! ;D
I'll echo the HMSO nominations... got mine recently through amazon.
Home Preservation of Fruit and Vegetables by Bridget Jones
This edition, prepared by the Agricultural and Food Research Council (AFRC), takes account of changing lifestyles, including an increase in the number of working women with families and a shift towards more experimentation with food. It covers bottling, salting, freezing and pickling.
HMSO, 1989 216pp illus
ISBN 0112428649 £4.95
according to the DEFRA website.
I think I shall have to acquire it myself... even if the author does have a rather unfortunate name!!!
(can one see the fictional BJ pickling? ;D ;D)
moonbells
I just got my order from amazon yesterday which was for
'How to store your garden produce, the key to self-sufficiency' by Piers Warren
This give basic instructions on how to store veg and the different methods and the reason why. It then has a list of Veg and the possible way to store them.
I also got 'How to freeze everything you need to know about freezing & freezer management' by Carolyn Humphries
I have not had chance to look at this yet.
I have also just ordered the one recommended by moonbells
Sorry to be thick, but what does HMSO stand for? ???
I picked one up today in Lidl for £2.99 and it seems quite good.
CyrilSquirrel,
Her Majesty's Stationery Office, I believe
RosieM ;)
Yup... full details over here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0112428649/202-2038890-6023841
Quote from: ChrisH on September 07, 2005, 17:36:17
<snip>
I have also just ordered the one recommended by moonbells
Not really recommended by me at the time - I just went looking for the publication info of the book as I was interested in getting it, since others here were recommending it.
I have now got it and briefly glanced at the contents. Pity they have to photocopy it and send you a bound photocopy... but it does look informative. The jelly and jam sections I know some parts of, and some of the pickling, but other bits are new so I shall have a good read once I can get shot of the mountain of work work I am under...
moonbells
I just got a brilliant American book from Amazon on root cellaring, very enjoyable - I'll read it whilst defrosting the casserole in the microwave. ;D
Thanks everyone, will look into acquiring said books! better go pickle...
Review of the HMSO book:
Pretty good! Tells you why and how and what, so now I know why you need more sugar for blackcurrant jam than for blackberry (less pectin means you can set less sugar!) and the acid-sugar-balance... actually if I'd read this lot before I ever started making jam I think I'd have run off and hid. I worked on the original principle that you boil it until it sets and not before - never realised you can overboil and then it never sets! :o
Have made the green tomato chutney and an apple jelly so far. Jelly a resounding success and I think you could use it as a trampoline it's set that well... ;D
Gives four methods for making marmalade from both fresh and frozen Seville oranges, plus jelly marmalades and lemon and lime and ...
Heaps of recipes!
The weird bit was someone messed up the photocopying so I have 50 pages in the middle of the book in which the first and last pages are copied twice on both sides of the paper, so all the pages between have the page number by the binding not at the corners... ::)
Would recommend that if you get this, you also get some sticky clear plastic and use it so at least the cover's waterproof!!! ;)
Though I'm tempted to unbind it and put it in a ringbinder so I can prop it open while working. (And turn round the silly pages while I'm at it, though would have to recopy them).
We likes this book. Expensive for a photocopy but definitely full of info rather than glossy photos.
moonbells
So glad you like the HMSO book, I've had mine for years.
I particularly like the fault and cause section in the back.
I've learnt so much from it. You should try the fruit cheeses and butters, good stuff.
I made the Plum Chutney this year, think I might try the Marrow and Apple next.
It easy to get carried away with this book, not sure when I will get round to eating all I make. Maybe they will be pressies instead ;)
My trusty favourite is: May Byron's Jam Book.
Alas, probably out of print and first published by Hodder and Stoughton, probably between the wars. Straightforward recipes, in plain English, covering every fruit you can think of. Worth its weight in gold.
As said, the HMSO one is the one I lean upon. Because it's a Government thing which I rely upon for method rather than recipe. BUT - my copy is 1989, & one must be careful about changing ideas on preserving. Like we used to bottle vegetables. Like corn & beans. They look so good in jars.
If anyone can't read their photocopies, I'll happily mail you any doubtful pages.
Quote from: tim on September 21, 2005, 11:26:36
As said, the HMSO one is the one I lean upon. Because it's a Government thing which I rely upon for method rather than recipe. BUT - my copy is 1989, & one must be careful about changing ideas on preserving. Like we used to bottle vegetables. Like corn & beans. They look so good in jars.
If anyone can't read their photocopies, I'll happily mail you any doubtful pages.
To be honest, I don't know why those things aren't still in there.
Yes, freezing is better and quicker and less likely to go wrong and everyone has one, but I'm nearly out of freezer space and I have finally educated all the folk I know to give me bottles which I choose the best of; I would dearly love to bottle my beans! (That and I'd go SPARE if we had a power cut!*)
I think orange tomato passata will be made any day now. And I'm definitely bottling that!
moonbells
*actually if we had a serious power cut I'd be bottling the stuff out of the freezer as fast as I could!
;DThanks for all the ideas, just ordered the hmso one from amazon....