Putting Up More by Stephen Palmer Dowdney is an excellent canning cookbook for those who want to push the boat out and explore a world of preserving projects that are outside the typical array of recipes.
Stephen Palmer Dowdney’s first book, Putting Up
While walking by the Cookbook Stall at Reading Terminal Market about a week ago, I happened to spot Putting Up More
One of the things that makes Dowdney’s books stand out in the pack of canning volumes is the perspective from which he writes. He owned a commercial canning operation for more than 10 years and so isn’t as tethered to the home canning practices to which we all cleave. He sterilizes his jars in a bleach solution instead of a canning pot or dishwasher, utilizes the inversion method for sealing, skips a processing step for hot pack recipes and even gives you the intellectual tools necessary to check the pH levels of your goods.
Though he doesn’t specifically say it, his instructions on how to test acidity and how to adjust to bring your goods into a safe range is the information so many of us have been looking for. As long as you’re willing to follow his directions (to the letter), this technique will finally set you free from the confines of tested recipes. If this sounds appealing to you, I recommend that you get your hands on both Putting Up
He includes a section of canning notes in each recipe, which details whether the recipe is one that will need to have its acid levels tested, what the yield will be, his recommendation for jar size (a hugely helpful bit) and whether the recipe can be safely increased or decreased. Dowdney has also taken a great deal of time to offer up suggestions on how to use and serve each recipe. For those of you who make things and then question what the heck to do with them, this is fantastic.
Other high points of this book include the safe for canning soups (including butternut squash, which I imagine will make some USDA canners devotees freak out), an entire section devoted to products made from hot peppers and an eggplant chutney that sounds incredible. As soon as the eggplant, peppers and summer squash are in season, I’m making it.
Because I think they’re excellent books, I’m giving away the pair of Putting Up
In totally other news, I just started another year of a photo a day over on my other blog, Apartment 2024 (I used my birthday as the start). If you’re curious about what else happens in my life, feel free to take a peek. Recently, I drank a really tasty glass of iced coffee with condensed milk, voted in my local primary election and took a day trip to New Hope courtesy of Chevy.
I’m *REALLY* looking forward to canning wild salmon as well as some pie fillings (using apples from the Mendocino coast). Oh yeah, also looking forward to canning more chili and chicken breasts as well, but not as much as salmon… 😉
I am looking forward to making bread and butter pickles. I missed out on making them last season and want to make a very chunky version!
I am looking forward to canning peaches and apricots, they were soo good in the middle of winter to have a little taste of summer!
I’ve canned alot of meat this winter (chicken, beef, pork) so also looking forward to getting back to putting up veggies & fruits.
I’ll be buying these books as well if I don’t win them!
I seem to be looking forward to canning whatever is growing in abundance in my garden–right now it’s strawberries–jam, syrup, jelly, you name it; if it has strawberries, I’m canning it (and my kids are eating it!)
home grown salsa with tomatoes, jalepenos & garlic from my garden
Blueberry syrup. I would like to make it for Christmas presents but I’m not sure it will keep that long.
I LOVE canning and am looking forward to making herb jellies, triple berry jam, rhubarb conserves and anything that I can
fit into a glass jar. Italian basil tomatoes also might just be the right thing on my pantry shelves! Oh, and the pepper relish, pickles, the list goes on and on….. YUM
The though of being able to go beyond tested recipes- wow! Would love to have the knowledge for that. I am looking forward to my childhood favorite- pickled beets with hard boiled eggs! Also, making cucumber pickles with spicy peppers and whole dill flowers.
These books look awesome! Seriously I have my fingers crossed in a most serious fashion with high hopes of winning this giveaway! But I have to admit to myself that I am not terribly lucky! But I’ll hold out hope anyhow 😉 Well I have only really been canning for two summers now and have been limited to fruit butters and fruit jams but this is the first year that we’ve had a CSA and we might be setting ourselves up for veggie overboard because I also planted a small garden for the first time! So I’m sure there’s much more canning in my future than I had initially anticipated but I’m excited. My goal this year is to make the perfect pickle. Which I’ve never attempted but a southern bbq place we go to make their own pickles and they are phenomenal so I have a high bar set for myself. But I also want to try out salsa, some new jams, chutney and some pickled veggies!
I tried canning for the first time last summer and really enjoyed it. I made a corn relish and tomatillo salsa. Although I was extremely nervous the first time I opened a jar, the end result was delish and I’m looking forward to canning more this year! I hope to do some fruit this year – maybe some jams and butter? I’ve been scouring your site for inspiration.
Peach and plum jams!
Peach-lavender jam, blueberry butter, and something with mangos.
I can’t wait to make some strawberry butter when I get my hands on a good haul of fresh strawberries!
I would love to get a handle on canning purple hull and black eye peas.We here in the South grow these like weeds.lol
Thanks for doing this.
Cindy from Rick-Rack and Gingham
Pickled garlic! And strawberry vanilla jam! (I couldn’t stick to one).
Spicy Dily Beans! Love your blog!
Pickly pear jelly, but not until the end of the summer when the fruit is ripe!
Green Beans, I know not that sexy but it is what I’m looking forward to canning.
thanks
I can’t wait for this year’s butternut squash! I’ve got 3 vines going for a 2-person household… there’s gonna be a lot to put up.
I’m 62 and just getting into canning. These books sound like they would be a blessing to the confused canner like me. Thanks.
I’m currently obsessed with anything pickled and can’t wait to make cucumber dill pickles, and although they’re kind of scary, I might even give fermeted pickles a try!
I would so love those! I’m pretty much a newbie to canning and haven’t really decided what this year… hopefully some jam of some sort.
I’m so ready to make salsa. The u pick opens today!
I’m looking forward to canning stone fruits. I’ve made batches of pickled plums the past two years, and this year I’m keeping my eye out for cherry recipes.
tomatoes in every form! sauce, chili, salsa…. can’t wait!
My garden is exploding with tomatoes!! I’m going to can: tomato sauce, chili, spaghetti sauce, peeled tomatoes… YES!!!
Really looking forward to canning some figs now that our tree is mature enough. I’ll also be canning some salsas and will be looking for something to do with our zucchini harvest.
I started canning salsa last season. I am going to try again and attempt to improve on a new venture.
It’s nothing exotic, but I love canning my own salsa. (I put in roasted red peppers with the tomatoes — I know! Non-acid veggies! I shouldn’t! — and it makes the whole sauce so much richer and sweeter.)
Tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes!
Last year was our first year canning. We bought tomatoes to make salsa. This year we already have 10 plants in the ground (although the hail may have gotten the best of one) and plan to make crushed tomatoes, sauce, more salsa, and who knows what all else . . .
I’m taking a canning workshop this summer and looking forward to preserving for the first time! At the top of my list: rhubarb pie filling.
looking forward to making italian plum preserves. Didn’t get to make it last year–plums were not great last year.
Hello! We are looking forward to the huge harvest of tomato’s, peppers, onions, and herbs… and then the hard work of canning some more salsa. We only have around 6 jars left from last year. I love to satisfying ‘pop’ of the lids.. I wipe the sweat off my face and grin sooo big! I would love to have your book! 🙂
I’m waiting on a big ol’ glut of tomatoes to ripen so I can try my hand at canning for the first time.
Pickles and tomatoes!
I’m most excited to make more blueberry-lime jam. I love it on pound cake and plain corn bread. The berries will soon be in season here and I can’t wait!
this is my first year canning and Im excited to make pickles!
Pickled beets please… mmmmm….
Pickled carrots straight out of my garden are a favourite, although I also make a roasted vegetable spread that I love on burgers. And I’m up to my ears in rhubarb right now, so I need to get creative with that.
The tomatoes again.
Especially since I’ve now gotten a friend and an eleven-year-old girl interested in canning, and can make them do a lot of the work.
Chow chow and BBQ sauce are the new ones I want to try.
I’ve never canned before but my Southern background, plus summer, plus this blog have made me decide I’m starting this summer. I think my first order of canning will be some strawberry jam.
I LOVE to can!! Because of a family move last year nothing ended up in jars 🙁 BUT this is a new season and I’m looking forward to trying spicy things like curries & chutneys. I figure if I’ve seen it in a jar in the store, I should be able to do the same thing at home. I’ve never thought much of the USDA controlling ways so it would be great to learning some new methods.
I’m hoping to do two of my grandmother’s recipes: strawberry jam and tomato sauce. 🙂
I’ve only been canning a couple of years, but I always enjoy putting up jams and jellies with unique flavor combinations. This year I hope to continue to expand my canning to include more tomatoes and pickles and perhaps vinegars.
I am looking forward to the making of jam – I know it’s pretty quotidian, but I love putting all those jars together, especially knowing many of them are holiday gifts. Christmas in July if you will.
This will be my first year of canning. I’m very excited and most hopeful to can a kitchen staple — tomatoes. I just discovered your site a few days ago and have gathered so much great info. Thank you!
I always look forward to canning tomatoes, but I am especially looking forward to a variety of pickles this year…..I’ve come to believe you could pickle anything and it would taste good!!
I’m so excited to try canning strawberry/thai basil jam! And of course homegrown tomatoes!
I can’t wait for berry season,