The 2017 Class of Canning, Preserving, and Culinary DIY Books

It is time for my annual round-up of all the canning, pickling, and preserving (or preserving-adjacent) books that came out last year (I typically try to get this post up before the holidays, but I could not make it happen this time). Not all of these are traditional canning books, but all have a high enough number of jams, pickles, infusions, decoctions, and condiments that they deserve placement on the list.

Please forgive me if I missed a book! I do my best to keep track of the category, but occasionally a preserving book or two slips by me. If you feel like something was overlooked, please do let me know!

Artisanal Preserves – This is a beautifully packaged reissue of a classic preserving book by storied cooking teacher Madelaine Bullwinkel. It features traditional jams, jams without added sugar, jellies, marmalades, preserves, breads and muffins, and desserts. Amazon | Powell’s

Can It & Ferment It – Written by long-time canner Stephanie Thurow, this book is organized by season and offers recipes for both canned and fermented items. It focuses primarily on pickles, salsa, and relishes, so it’s a good one for folks who prefer the salty and tangy side of things. Amazon | Powell’s

Fermentation on Wheels – Part cookbook and part travelogue, this is the story of Tara Whitsitt’s years spent traveling in a school bus, sharing her love and knowledge of fermentation. It’s a delightful tale and the recipes can’t be beat.   Amazon | Powell’s

The Wildcrafted Cocktail – Written by foraging expert Ellen Zachos, this book offers up a wide array of garnishes, syrups, infusions, juices, and bitters made from ingredients you can often find in your own backyard. There’s a whole lot of inspiration here for anyone looking to take their home bar program from good to great. Amazon | Powell’s

Composing the Cheese Plate – The thing I always love about cheese plate books is that they’re often preserving books in disguise. This one, written by cheese evangelist Brian Keyser and pastry chef and condiment maker Leigh Friend, is bursting with an array of bright, creative, and unusual things to spread, smear, and dollop. Amazon | Powell’s

Preservation – For canners who like a goodly dose of science with their jams and pickles, there is no better book than Christina Ward’s comprehensive volume. She is a master food preserver who digs into the hows and whys of water activity, pectin, and the boiling water bath process. Amazon | Powell’s

Traditionally Fermented Foods – By Shannon Stonger, this book focuses on a wide spectrum of classic fermented foods. Shannon writes the blog Nourishing Days from her family’s small Texas farm and her book feels very much like an extension of her site. It’s friendly, helpful, and comes from a place of deep experience and expertise. Amazon | Powell’s

Fiery Ferments – The second book from seasoned pickle makers Kristen and Christopher Shockey, this one focuses on building pickles, sauces, and condiments that walk on the spicy side. You’ll find an in-depth sections on the ingredients that bring the heat like ginger, galangal, turmeric, peppercorns, and chiles. It’s so good for anyone longing to bring some serious zip to their fermentation. Amazon | Powell’s

Artisan Sourdough Made Simple – I’ve been an on and off sourdough baker for years now and this book by Emilie Raffa (she blogs at The Clever Carrot) is one of the best introductory books on the subject that I’ve seen. It also features a short but mighty section of dips, spreads, and jams towards the back that are good whether you’ve baked your own loaf or you’re picking one up at the market. Amazon | Powell’s

Ball Canning Back to Basics – This book was written by the Ball Canning test kitchen team and offers all the reliability of Ball recipes, with gorgeous step-by-step photography. If someone asked me to recommend an introductory canning book for a visual learner, this would be the very first volume I would suggest. Amazon | Powell’s

Modern Cider – With this book, Emma Christensen claims her crown as undisputed queen of small batch home brewing. It’s the perfect guide for anyone who has been intrigued by boozy fermentation but doesn’t drink beer. Amazon | Powell’s

Toast & Jam – Looking for a book that will get you stirring up tasty preserves AND help you discover a world of naturally leavened breads on which to spread them? Look no further than this gorgeous book by Sarah Owens (she also posts really amazing Instagram stories about her various ferments, preserves, and bakes). Amazon | Powell’s

Savory Sweet – This book, by Beth Dooley and Mette Nielsen, focuses on simple, approachable preserving with a northern sensibility. Organized by ingredient, all the recipes are small batch preserves that are low in sugar, are bright and zippy on the tongue, and can be stashed in the fridge or freezer rather than needing to be processed in a water bath canner. Amazon | Powell’s

The Essential Book of Homesteading – This hefty book gathers up all four of the books that Ashley English wrote for her Homemade Living series and tucks them into a single volume. It contains detailed info on canning, home dairy, keeping chickens, and raising bees. Amazon | Powell’s

The Joys of Jewish Preserving – Written by Food Swap! author Emily Paster, this lovely book celebrates the many aspects of traditional Jewish jams, pickles, fruit butters, and spreads. From your classic fermented deli pickle to lemon curd designed to use up extra egg yolks (common around Passover!), there’s a wealth of goodness here. Amazon | Powell’s

Preservation Pantry – Written by Sarah Marshall, the kitchen genius behind Marshall’s Haute Sauces, this is like an encyclopedia for canners. Organized by ingredient (much like Savory Sweet), this book goes well beyond the sauces that Sarah makes and sells. She digs into 24 different fruits and vegetables, and shows you how to preserve all that goodness without a smidgen of waste. Amazon | Powell’s

Kombucha, Kefir, and Beyond -This book, written by Alex Lewin and Raquel Guajardo, offers an array of approaches to fermented drinks. In 13 wide-ranging chapters, they hit on everything from kombucha to fermented cocktails. There are sodas, vegetable drinks, and even traditional Mexican fermented drinks that date back to the pre-Hispanic era. The recipes are relatively simple, intriguing, and entirely approachable. Amazon | Powell’s

Ferment – Written by Australian chef Holly Davis, this book offers up some serious fermentation knowledge (Sandor Katz wrote the introduction). For those who are looking to deepen their fermentation practice, I highly recommend it. Amazon

Homegrown Pantry -So often, people ask me if I grow what I can and if I could give them gardening advice. I always disappoint them when I confess that I’m not a gardener. Happily, this book by Barbara Pleasant, is designed to help you choose the best varieties to plant, determine how much you’ll need to grow, and the best ways to preserve the fruits, vegetables, and herbs that are the result of your hard work. Amazon | Powell’s

The Preservatory -This gorgeous, hard cover book by Lee Murphy contains 80 sophisticated, unusual, and intriguing recipes. They’re broken down so half are preserves and the balance is a collection of dishes, drinks, and baked goods that you can make with the contents of those glowing jars. Amazon | Powell’s

That wraps up this year’s class of preserving books. You can find previous years here: 2016 | 2015 | 2014

Disclosure: Some of the books pictured here were received as review copies. Others I bought. The Amazon links are affiliate (so I make a few pennies if you click over and buy). The Powell’s links are not. 

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