With the rising costs of goods due to inflation, our family has been focusing on food preservation more and more. These books on food preservation have helped us learn new skills and methods quickly and easily!
While we do live on a homestead and raise our own meat, veggies, fruit, and eggs, food preservation can be done by anyone anywhere!
You don’t have to live on a large plot of land and grow your own food to start preserving it. You can begin with one simple method, such as freezing, and then you can increase to canning or root cellaring.
One of our favorite ways to preserve food for the future is with our freeze dryer! They are a wonderful investment that I believe every household should have.
There is no right or wrong method, as each form of preservation has its own pros and cons. The key is to just get started! And to get started, pick up these books on food preservation.
Let’s dive in…
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1. Putting Food By by Ruth Hertzberg, Janet Greene, and Beatrice Vaughan
This book is extremely comprehensive. When I was initially flipping through this book I couldn’t believe how big it was. It covers everything from canning to salting to root cellaring.
If you are worried about the safety behind preserving food (which everyone should be at least a little bit) then this book is a great place to start. It is one of the books on food preservation that goes into detail on health and safety issues in great depth.
After talking with and seeing several other people that are preserving food use this book regularly I knew I had to get my hands on it!
Check it out on Amazon here!
2. Preserving Everything: Can, Culture, Pickle, Freeze, Ferment, Dehydrate, Salt, Smoke, and Store Fruits, Vegetables, Meat, Milk, and More by Leda Meredith
What I loved about this book was seeing the versatility behind preserving different items. For example, a cucumber can be frozen, canned into pickles, and even dehydrated! There’s no one right way to preserve the harvest.
But, I especially love that this book comes with recipes and easy ideas to help you get started. It can be extremely intimidating trying to preserve food for the first time. This book makes the learning curve quick and easy.
It’s also great to have on hand before you have all the preservation tools. Maybe you only have a freezer but one day you want a dehydrator. Pick up this book now and it will be useful for the rest of your life!
Check it out on Amazon here!
Related Post: The Top 10 Cookbooks Every Homesteader Needs In Their Kitchen
3. The Farm Girl’s Guide to Preserving the Harvest: How to Can, Freeze, Dehydrate, and Ferment Your Garden’s Goodness by Ann Accetta-Scott
This is another one of the books on food preservation that is great for beginners. I actually like this book a bit more than Putting Food By for the beginning stage of preserving because it is much more beautiful to look at and simple to follow.
However, this book is also great for those that have preserved food before and are looking for more advanced techniques. It comes with a wide range of topics and ideas.
Check it out on Amazon here!
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4. Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving by Ball Newell Brands
If you want easy, safe, and approved canning recipes then this is one of the best books on food preservation to keep on your bookshelf.
The first time I started water-bath canning I was so intimidated. It’s scary at first knowing that you need to do things safely to can properly. Thankfully this book helps you overcome the first step of the learning curve and teaches you how to start.
Jams and jellies are a great place to start to learn how to can properly. This book gives you simple recipes to follow so you can make all of your favorites!
Check it out on Amazon here!
5. Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving by Judi Kingry
This book was the very first book I used to start water bath canning. There are five recipes at the beginning of the book which is more or less your educational training. Once you complete those first five recipes, you can pretty much can anything appropriate for water bath canning.
I followed this five recipe process starting with strawberry jam, then mint jelly, salsa, corn relish, and finally dill pickles. Now that I have completed these five recipes, I feel very confident in preserving food with my water bath canner.
I highly suggest this book as a great place to start out of all the books on food preservation!
Check it out on Amazon here!
Related Post: The Top 10 Most Enlightening Books On How To Homestead
6. Root Cellaring: Natural Cold Storage of Fruits & Vegetables by Mike Bubel and Nancy Bubel
We are in great need of a root cellar on our homestead, so naturally, I picked up this book from our local library. I have enjoyed reading it and all its informative information.
It has given us ideas on unconventional root cellars that may work for us on our property. And, it has taught me what the proper conditions are for a root cellar and which foods preserve best under those conditions!
If you are thinking of preserving your food in a root cellar then this book is a must-read!
Check it out on Amazon here!
There you have it – the best books on food preservation for anyone, anywhere, any lifestyle! You can preserve food. It doesn’t have to be hard.
Which book will you be reading first to start your food preservation journey? Let me know in the comments below!
Kelsey at GoodPointGrandma
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