3 Essential Home Canning Books for Beginners
Looking for great canning cookbooks with step-by-step instructions? Whether you're a first-time canner or just want to have some great resources on hand, here are my favorite books on home canning.
When I first started preserving food, I didn't have money to buy my own canning cookbooks. We were saving for a move to the countryside and every penny counted.
So instead of spending money we didn't have, I would walk to our local library and take out a few of the best canning books they had. After reading step-by-step recipes, I would then try them out in my kitchen.
Let me tell you? The sounds and smells took me right back to my childhood, when I would can food with mum and siblings in the farmhouse kitchen! Only this time, I wasn't just helping out. I was the one who had to keep everything moving along like clockwork.
When I first began preserving food as a new homemaker, I was only water bath canning. But I happily preserved jams and jellies, tomatoes, salsa, dilly beans and cucumber pickles.
As the rows of home-canned goods built up on the painted wood shelf in our basement food storage room, my sense of accomplishment as a wife and homemaker also grew. I loved trotting down the creaky old stairs to grab a jar of applesauce or dill pickles for a tasty addition to our meal.
Canning was a new way I contributed our home. And it didn't take me long to discover that if I dove into pressure canning, I could put up even more kitchen staples.
So I began to learn all about it. But this time, I couldn't find a really good pressure canning cookbook at our local library. It was too bad, because I really wanted to learn how to put up meat, broth, dry beans, green beans and fish.
I still didn't have money to buy canning books, but I did discover some free online sources. And I want to share those with you right now, before I list out canning cookbooks I later discovered and own.
Free Resources for Home Canners
If you don't have money to spend on canning cookbooks, don't worry. You can find lots of free resources online! Just make sure the information is up-to-date with current food preserving guidelines.
Like old canning books, simple recipes you find online aren't always current. And if you're going to all the work of canning food, you want to be able to feed it to your family without worrying about whether or not the canned goods are safe.
Here are two of my favorite, free resources that current and updated, sites I personally trust and use every year.
National Center for Home Food Preservation
The National Center for Home Food Preservation is a free site that has a step-by-step guide for everything under the sun related to canning, including necessary equipment, safety tips and more.
It's an essential guide, so whether you're interested in using a water bath canner, pressure canner, want to preserve high-acid foods or low-acid foods or even make up your own recipes, you'll find everything you need for safe food preservation at this free site.
Click here for the NCHFP website
Simply Canning
Simply canning is owned by a wonderful lady who follows the fundamental rules of safe canning. She is a wealth of information, for both water bath canning and pressure canning.
Whenever I have a question, I'll pop over to her site and see what she has to say about canning wild game or preserving kitchen staples I love to have on hand.
Click here for Simply Canning website.
And now? Here are some of my favorite canning books to have in the kitchen.
Best Canning Books for Home Food Preservation
Ball Books
When I finally as able to buy my own, I purchased the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. It has step-by-step guidance for the beginner, 400+ recipes and also has a few pressure canning recipes tucked away at the back.
Wondering why my book in the image below says BERNARDIN Complete Book of Home Preserving? If you buy the canning book in Canada, this is their version of the American BALL book.
Dunno why they change the name for us Canadians. But it is the same book! 🙂
To date, I think this is the best ball canning book out there.
I can say that, because I do also own the All New Ball Book of Canning and Preserving. But I have to say? It focuses more on specialty canning recipes, and I rarely use it.
I don't know about you, but I'm a down-home kind of home canner. I want to preserve loads of food to feed my family and fussy recipes aren't high on my to-do list!
Simply Canning Book
This excellent canning book is a great resource that does delve deep into both water bath canning and pressure canning as well. Created by Sharon of Simply Canning, you can buy a digital or physical copy of this 220+ page canning book.
It's another one of those start-to-finish complete canning guides that new and experienced canners will use every season in their kitchen.
Seriously? It's loaded with classic recipes that have sustained families since canning came into the kitchen!
Pressure Canning for Beginners and Beyond
I've known about this book for a while now, and finally purchased it myself a few months ago. I'm eager to use it this summer, because it's an excellent guide and I haven't really found many good, pressure canning books on the market.
Whether you need a beginner's guide, easy recipes or want to branch out and make your own homemade recipes, Pressure Canning for Beginners and Beyond will meet your needs. It's a keeper and has a home with the other canning books on my kitchen shelf!
You also might like:
How to Organize Your Canning Supplies
How to Reuse Canning Lids (in a pinch)
Why You'll Love Having Canning Cookbooks in Your Kitchen
- For first-time canners: canning books will walk you through a step-by-step process for everything, which will leave you feeling confident and ready to start.
- Recipes in these canning books are up-to-date, so you don't need to worry about the safety of your food.
- Books give you a quick answer to questions you may have while canning, and it's nice to have everything in one place.
- It's assuring to know that if your internet goes down (are we the only ones who have this problem?), you can still preserve food as planned!
Now that I'm an established home canner and have the funds to occasionally splurge on a canning cookbook, I hope to keep building my collection over the years. And hopefully, I'll be able to pass them on to my daughter/s.
Because goodness knows they will be taught home canning living in this house, whether it's intentional or accidental. It just can't be missed.
