There was a recent negative discussion about one of the recipes in it but I don't recall which thread it is in. She is apparently a chef but has no food preserving credentials. The Look Inside says "based on USDA recommendations" and warns against "playing around with recipes" so that is a good start.

But there is oil used in several of the recipes I looked at which isn't USDA approved.

The book itself is so new that how much testing on the recipes is unknown - likely very little. It doesn't seem to have the USDA stamp of approval so either it wasn't submitted for review or was publish before the review was done. Either way, not a really good sign.

Basically, your choice. But from what I can see of it I wouldn't recommend it for someone new to canning who may not have the experience to recognize when a recipe is out of line or contains potential problems.

There are many so-called canning cookbooks on the market and while some of the recipes in them are fine, others may be downright dangerous. New canners need to stick with approved recipe sources and books IMO.

Dave

It wasn't a negative discussion. The author had recommended refrigeration of a marinated green bean recipe and the poster was asking if it could be canned. So the author was not at fault.

That's not to say the rest of the book is fine. I haven't seen it myself so can't be sure.

I will say with the renewed interest in canning I'm seeing a lot of recently published books written by people who don't seem particularly aware of food preservation issues. I recently picked up the new Williams-Sonoma Preserving book and noted a couple of recipes which concerned me. I emailed two of the authors but have not received satisfactory answers. Both responded but not with anything that would inspire confidence in the safety of the recipes.

I'm returning Preserving and can't recommend it for now.

If I run across the Vinton book I'll take a closer look.

Carol

Thanks for the correction on the discussion Carol. Appreciate it.

Dave

Thank you both, Dave and Carol, for sharing your thoughts and insight.

I'm always wary of trying new recipes, especially since I lack the experience to discern between safe and dangerous ones.

I've been using Topp & Howard's book as well as Kingry & Devine's as my core references. I also like Ferber's recipes. I make jams, jellys and pickles to give away as gifts to my elderly neighbours, so I don't want to make anyone sick.

I am the author of "Put 'em Up!" and wanted to chime in here on the thread. I appreciate your concern for safety and share it myself. All recipes in the book comply with USDA recommendations for safe home food preservation. Digdirt--you are incorrect in saying that there is oil in the canning recipes, there is not. Oil is only used in recipes that utilize other preserving methods.

sbvinton, welcome to the forum and thanks for the clarification.

Now I'll have to look for your book.

Annie

I was just thinking the same Annie. I'm a sucker for a new book and the preview on Amazon looked really intriguing.

Sherri, thanks so much for stopping by the forum and sharing with us your book's credentials.

Carol

Sherri, I'm glad you stopped in... I just ordered your book.

I guess it would be appropriate to report that this book is selling very well in the homegoods department I work in at the local alternative/conventional market here in town. We ordered it and it has been selling well, although I will admit I have not looked at it in depth. Would be nice to hear any updates just for the record so I know what to tell folks when they ask.

Thanks, Abhaya

My apologies for any incorrect comments I made. As I said I only had the limited access amazon.com offers to the book.

However I would be interested in more details on how oil can be used in recipes that "utilize other preserving methods". Freezing is no problem usually. But there are very few approved recipes that allow oil in recipes that will be canned in a BWB or a PC or even pickled.

Dave

Dave, she said she didn't use oil in "canning recipes", I would think that would cover both BWB and pressure canning, as well as pickling.

I did make that bean salad recipe from NCFHFP, and it had oil in it. I didn't like it, I thought it was too oily, but that's what the recipe called for. Next time I'm leaving it out!

Annie

Freezing is preserving and so is refrigeration. The marinated green bean recipe contains oil and refrigeration is recommended. Obviously that's a short-term preservation, but it is preservation.

I'm not sure why oil in canning is even being brought up after Vinton said there are no recipes of that sort in the book.

I'm with Annie on the oil issue. I've tried a couple of marinated recipes which contain oil and I won't be using it again. From my perspective it's messy, increases the risk of seal failure and reduces the shelf life.

Carol

Geeze! I was just asking her for more info on using oil in recipes. Many of us would like to do it now and then. Some like it. So since she discusses the uses of oil in the book, maybe she has some additional info, maybe she learned some new things about it in the course of writing the book?

Sorry if that seems to be treading on someone's toes but why is it so out of line to politely ask questions of the author when the opportunity presents itself?

Dave

I'm not sure why oil in canning is even being brought up after Vinton said there are no recipes of that sort in the book.

I'm the one who started this whole canning-controversy-that-shouldn't-be-a-canning-controversy regarding this book. I'd like to point back to it so everyone knows what the actual question was.

I came across the green bean recipe on Serious Eats, which was featuring recipes from the cookbook last week. (Maybe it still is -- I haven't checked this week.) Though the recipe specifically states to store the beans in the fridge, the posting drew a lot of comments from people asking if they could can the beans for long-term storage. I told them I didn't think it would be safe for canning because of the sesame oil, even though the vinegar-to-water ratio looked okay.

Doubting myself, I posted the question here just to confirm my hunch. You all responded that no, it wasn't safe for canning, and there were the usual admonitions against attempting to can products without having a tested, proven recipe (even though that's not at all where I was coming from).

I never meant to imply, and I never stated, that it was a canning recipe. The article on Serious Eats never stated that the recipe was meant for canning. However, because it sounds SO INCREDIBLY YUMMY, people there naturally wanted to be able to can it so they could always have some on hand. Afraid some of them would actually do it, I posted there that the recipe should not be canned. Again, to confirm with the experts, I double-checked here.

That's how this all got started. I think some people made assumptions along the way, or didn't read carefully, or something. But I think we (or I) owe it to the author to explain how this all started, and to state emphatically that no one was ever questioning the recipe as it appears in the book.

Hope that clears some things up.

Dave, I don't think it's out of line at all to ask questions, but your first post was pretty negative. You referenced a "negative discussion" that turned out not to be negative at all, you said that likely very little testing was done, you said you wouldn't recommend the book and the recipes could be dangerous.

When the author stated that she didn't use any oil in canning recipes, you asked again about BWB, pressure canning and pickling, all of which are canning IMO.

And that's why I pointed it out to you, I thought perhaps you hadn't read her response carefully or that you had misread it.

Annie