I previously reviewed Vinton's other canning book, Put 'em Up food preservation, which I loved, and this one was no exception.

This book is exactly what it says it is - it's a question and answer book on common food preservation topics, from freezing, drying/dehydrating, to canning. There's a few recipes and introductory text, but it's mostly a q & a/ quick reference book.

It's definitely aimed at beginner canners - which I definitely am (having canned exactly 2 different recipes last year, albeit multiple batches of both) and beginner preservation techniques (which I am not, having been heavily relying on freezing / dehydrating for years). There were some interesting dehydration tips that were new, though I didn't really learn anything from the freezer sections.

That being said, this is definitely a book I'll buy and add to my canning cookbook library ( )

A good beginners guide to canning and preserving food. This is set up in a question and answer format that goes through the processes and methods, tools and prep work that you will need to learn in order to begin canning.

I did not really like the layout and organization of the questions and answers. It seems like some questions you would want answered first, like the actual process of canning are a quarter of the way into the book, and recipes are mixed in with the questions and answer sections before you are even introduced to how to can things. However, everything you need to know before canning, preserving or drying is in here if you want to sit down and read the whole book before actually making anything.

The drying, fermenting and infusion sections were set up better and are usually things left out of other food preservation methods, so that was nice to see.

This is a good how-to book for someone new to canning and food preservation methods, not a recipe book. There are several recipes interspersed throughout that are easy and go along with the questions and answer section before it.

This book was provided for free in return for an honest review. ( )

I received this ebook as an advance copy through NetGalley. As a self taught canning enthusiast, I found this book very helpful. I appreciated that it included ALL the food preserving methods, canning methods, freezing, drying, fermenting, and infusing. It included sample recipes for each method, which was nice. I really liked the question and answer layout for each section. I learned some new things about some of my past canning mistakes, why it happened, and how to prevent that in the future. Very pleased with this book. I will reference in the future, and I would give as a gift to those new to preserving. ( )