Wife and I use Ellie Topps Complete Book of SBP and many others here also have and refer to it often. Just search her name here for many discussions.

Topp has well documented food science training and credentials and her recipes are considered tested and approved. I can't say that about any of the others you list.

You can try searching them here by title to see if anyone has had anything to say about them - pro or con - but keep in mind that there are many so-called "canning books" out there written by authors who have no training or credentials in home food preservation and many contain some very unsafe recipes.

We have a number of discussions about lists of approved books here.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: books discussions

You may want to check out Food in Jars author Marisa McLellan's blog, http://www.foodinjars.com/. She teaches classes so I assume she has safety credentials. She does emphasize safe practices in her posts. She is so active on the blog and other outlets you will likely see many previews of her book before it is released.
Though not specified as small-batch, they effectively are, so I heartily recommend Linda Zeidrich's books, but you'd need 2: one for jams and one for pickles. They are comprehensive.
The Topp book was on my wish list for a long time, but ultimately I realized the recipes did not appeal to me. Did you look through the toc on amazon? You can see previews, too.
(note the 2003 version of Dragan's book has "look inside" feature so you can see the recipe list.)
happy canning!

Oh my goodness, Veeta, I *heart* her! I read her blog every chance I get. I tried the Pear-Vanilla Jam which is just heavenly. I got all excited when I saw she had a book coming out and pre-ordered it, only to realize it doesn't release until May 2012! So now I have to WAIT! I ended up buying "Well Preserved: Small Batch Preserving" by Mary Ann Dragan and "The Complete Book of Small Batch Preserving" by Ellie Topp. I bought Ellie's for the sauces and salsa's and I bought Mary Ann Dragan's because I can never buy just one book....

oh well you're all set then! And tell me about it--in addition to the Ziedrich books, I've got several others, with favorites being Canning for a New Generation, Tart and Sweet, and Put 'em Up. I'm a bit of a cookbook collector, but it is funny how I end up making the same things over and over.

How do you like Tart & Sweet? The cover looks so tantalizing. Canning for a New Generation was the very first canning book I bought when I first wanted to get my feet wet and it got me hooked. I have the 2 Ball books but I use those more for references than anything else. I still haven't gotten brave enough to pressure can anything from the Balls but I may do that this weekend to can tomato soup.

There have been some concerns posted about that particular blog in previous discussions. You may want to review the "Is anyone else concerned?" discussion.

She teaches classes so I assume she has safety credentials.

Many "teach" classes but that doesn't mean they have the credentials to do so.

Still as long as they stick to high acid recipes I suppose they can't get too far off base.

Dave

I would agree that teaching classes is not a guarantee of credentials.

I did look at Marisa McClellan's blog and what I've seen so far is very solid. She's definitely drawing upon Extension, NCHFP and USDA information in her posts and is totally up-to-date in her canned pumpkin, pumpkin butter and disposing of questionable product information.

So on the whole I think she looks pretty good. My only argument is on her list of resources where she includes Pickyourown.org. We have noticed some inaccuracies and questionable (sometimes out-of-date) information. It's about 90% good but the other 10% can bite you.

I am going to take another look at her book when it comes out and have bookmarked her blog.

I am a huge fan of Ellie Topp and really promoted her on this forum. Canadians have regarded her as a foundational source far longer than we in the U.S. have. AFAIK, Ellie Topp only has one canning and preserving book out; titles differ depending upon edition and publication date. Some of her recipes don't suit my taste, but I've gotten a lot of wonderful ones from her too. The nice thing is you can try something out in a small batch without wasting a lot of product.

Carol

I think the most important thing is to educate yourself first so you can evaluate each source.

uaskigyrl, Tart and Sweet is good for the suggestions it provides for using the recipes. I have only made two basic things from the book, but I have several pickle and citrus recipes bookmarked for the winter. If you like Canning for a New Generation, you'll like Tart and Sweet.

If I were you I'd give nano canning a try. It's easy to try because you make such a small amount and it's a very small time investment.

Here is a link that might be useful: Nano Canning

Does this nano canning book come in anything but kindle? I don't have one and don't want one, but this book looks great.

I love the Ellie Top book I have. I bought it from Amazon last year and have made a lot of the recipes.