My canning bible

“Recently a reader asked the following question: “Hi Patrice. In regards to your canning ‘bible,’ Putting Food By, do you still recommend it? I’m primarily interested in learning high pressure canning for meats, stews, etc. Some of the most recent reviews on Amazon for this book are very negative, saying there are printing issues, and/or it’s too old (2010 I think is the latest edition) to have current safety information. I don’t plan on buying it through Amazon but was wondering if the book was current enough for a beginner to pressure can safely. A lot of other more recent canning books seem to have mostly recipes and instructions for water bath canning. I’m not interested in that at this point. Thank you!”

I’ve used “Putting Food By” as my canning bible for decades, but there’s nothing “sacred” about it. Guidelines change; and if the book hasn’t been updated since 2010, then it would be better to find a more up-to-date reference guide.

The Ball Blue Book is a popular source. It’s beautifully illustrated and more concentrated, and covers water-bath canning, pressure canning, freezing, and dehydrating.

Beyond these two books, I don’t have any particular recommendation for another canning bible. Online, however, I found the “USDA’s Complete Guide to Home Canning” which says: “The free, 196-page publication can be downloaded from the National Center for Home Food Preservation website. The publication is also available in a spiral, bound book format from Purdue University’s Education Store. Single copies are available for $18 per copy, and bulk discounted prices are available.” (Please note the print version now costs $25.50, not $18. With shipping, it comes to $33.85. Inflation, I guess.)

The USDA is the most authoritative guide available, so my suggestion would be to download or order this book. I just ordered it myself. It’s always a good idea to have the best canning guidance available, and my preference is always to have print version of anything.

Happy canning!