Preserving food 'bible'

[dominic10]

Thanks everyone - I now have Jams, Preserves and Chutneys - Marguerite Patten and a 1p book - Good Housekeeping Complete book of Preserving. I find the internet very informative but I love books though possibly thinking of a Kindle for holiday times also I think I can make the print bigger...

[mrswadders]

hmm, not sure about that one veggiechicken, price is a bit steep. 1p!!! Just ordered it Thanks so much

me too, although i had to explain to hubby how i dare spend 1p on another book!!!!!!!

[Lisamcflisa]

I've just tried to get the GH book as thought I would join the throng and VC should definitely be getting proceeds from amazon, the cheapest is now over £10 :O, I should of been on my toes and joined this forum sooner, I can see a good trawl round the charity shops is in order lol

[veggiechicken]

Can you run to 62p + p&p? Good Housekeeping Complete Book of Home Preserving by Good Housekeeping Institute: 9780852231982 Paperback - WorldofBooks

[Lisamcflisa]

Oh thank you, you're a star, I can just about stretch to that amount, but only just!! Thanks again VC

[boundtothesoil]

The 'bible' of bibles

Have you tried: 'Home Preservation of Fruit and Vegetables' produced by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Bulletin No. 21). This has been my bible for jam, jelly and marmalade making for decades. Although only around 130 pages long, it has chapters on all forms of fruit and vegetable preservation including canning, freezing, sugaring etc covering all the principles aswell. The recipes have been bang on and produced many 'show winners' for me .

This publication ran to 14 editions between 1929 and 1989. Up until the 11th edition in 1968 it was called 'Domestic Preservation of Fruit and Vegetables'. My working, jam spattered, copy is the 13th edition (1971). All editions use imperial units for the recipes except for the 14th edition (1989), which has both imperial and metric units. The revisions between editions are small but significant in some cases.

Whilst this wasn't published after the 14th (1989) edition, you can find used copies of various editions on Amazon and e-bay quite regularly, but don't pay more than £5 including post. I would go for one of the 12th, 13th or 14th eds, but the second world war editions make very interesting reading.

Don't whatever you do buy one of the 'large A4 size' reprint on demand copies of the 1989 edition offered by many sellers. They are little more than a photocopy . The genuine volumes are softbacks 9.5 inches ht, 6 inches width, except for the 14th ed which os slightly smaller.

Once you've tried this book you'll be a convert. What's more I'm pretty sure that most other books on home preservation have drawn heavily on this source through the years.