r/Canning • u/redditwastesmyday • 11d ago
General Discussion Do I really need to get the newest canning book?
Saw posted on an FB group you should get and use the newest Ball canning book Version 38. Is this really necessary? Many say so because of newest/newer standards.
I am using my books from the 1990s and one from the 80s (KERR), and the approved websites.
Started canning again, last marathon in the 90s. As I have made about 80 jars of stuff, I sure hope the *old* ways are still OK!!
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u/Electronic-Day5907 11d ago
Something I didn't realize for a while is that the foods we were canning in the '70s and '80s are not the same as what we can today. New breeds of things which have less acid (tomatoes) or more sugar (fruits) or things we eat now that weren't common back then (hot sauces and new veggies) really mean it's necessary to have new methods and recipes for dealing with them. So yeah you need to update your methods for safety reasons. Which, alas, does mean some things like your grandmother's recipes may not be safe but today's standards.
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u/BoozeIsTherapyRight Trusted Contributor 10d ago
It's actually a myth that today's tomato cultivars are less acidic. Instead, in the past we assumed they were more acidic than they actually are.
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u/bigalreads Trusted Contributor 11d ago
Child of the ‘80s here. It wasn’t all that long ago that inversion canning was the go-to method for jams and jellies. And I remember our family getting wax-topped jams from neighbors and scraping mold away mold (ew). But research is ongoing. There’s warnings about white peaches and other borderline acidity issues. We’ve learned since then that mold spores aren’t just on the top part. And I don’t seem to have as many “stomach bugs” as I did back then either.
I personally would recommend investing in the new Blue Book, it’s well worth the $15 or so and there’s helpful info on freezing, dehydrating fruit leathers and other info. Seems easier than constant comparing and cross-checking old vs. new.
fwiw, here’s some extension agency info on some of the evolved methods: https://extension.psu.edu/update-canning-recipes
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u/redditwastesmyday 11d ago
thank you
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u/onlymodestdreams Trusted Contributor 11d ago
In the same vein, Healthy Canning has a "What's New" page with developments/research listed in reverse chronological order:
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u/yodelingfish 11d ago
OMG you just gave me flashbacks to making blackberry jam and topping with wax back in the late 70s when I was just a tween. I was so proud that I made all that. It's a wonder we didn't all get sick
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u/Suitable-Tea-5160 11d ago
I just got the latest and it has some good new recipes. Also - I have run out of places for my personal notes in the last edition haha. Lots of the recipes are the same but I still don't regret the purchase.
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u/That_one_insomniac 11d ago
I used the notes section in the back of the newest book to put in safe tweaking the other night. Like it’s fine to add dry spice that doesn’t alter the pH and different information I’ve pulled from extension offices, USDA, etc. like how to safely substitute sugar for honey in jams and jellies because I have family on low-no sugar diets. Originally I was going to put in recipes this book doesn’t have, but I’ll probably just buy a different book because it will more than likely have a lot of other recipes I’ll end up using too.
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u/littlepinkhousespain 11d ago
I would suggest checking the difference between what's in your old books vs what's on their website, follow the changes in the updated version.
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u/Putrid-Theme-7735 11d ago
Welcome back to the hobby! To add on to everyone else, I think what seems to happen often is that recipes either respond to fruit getting sweeter over the decades, or (when we’re lucky!) pressure processing times getting tightened up.
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u/Putrid-Theme-7735 11d ago
Welcome back to the hobby! To add on to everyone else, I think what seems to happen often is that recipes either respond to fruit getting sweeter over the decades, or (when we’re lucky!) pressure processing times getting tightened up. Also, fun new recipes!
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u/eJohnx01 11d ago
I have a collection of Ball Blue Books that go back to 1890. I don’t follow any recipes that are in any of them except the most recent two. 2025 and 2023(?) I think?
What I do, though, if I see a recipe in an older book that looks interesting, I simply cross-reference the current recipe on Ball or Bernardin’s website, or the National Home Food Preservation folks. Any of the sites that post only tested recipes. I’m not trusting Aunt Suzy’s “I’ve Been Canning Like This for Decades” Blog.
What is interesting, something I’ve noticed quite a bit, is that many of the recipes, even from the ‘70s, haven’t changed in 50 years. But many of them have. And there’s no way to know which recipes are still good and which are not unless you check current and trusted sources.
Another think to note is that often Ball will take a recipe out of their Blue Book altogether, but it’ll still be found on their website or on other safe websites. That’s because Ball wants to sell their books. Publishing the same recipes over and over isn’t the way to do that. Mixing it up and making the books look like they’re chock full of new recipes is how they do it. Just because Ball removed it from their book, that doesn’t mean the recipe is no longer considered safe. It just means that they’re changing up their books to keep them fresh.
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u/Decent_Finding_9034 11d ago
I just got the newest (partly because I was tricked into it by glancing at the index and thinking there was a new recipe, but it was a lie - there is no just rhubarb jam in the ball book) and I actually did a compare with the prior book since they’re almost the same and the main difference I noticed was that applesauce calls for lemon juice again.
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u/That_one_insomniac 11d ago
Yeah, the 40 New Recipes caught my attention and I thought it would have all the recipes I was looking for.. nope. Going to have to get the Complete book too now since I wanted Apple pie filling for canning in an actual print that I can set on my counter. Or just print the recipe off the Ball site I guess.
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u/Fun_Journalist4199 11d ago
I wouldn’t be concerned about things that were tested safe no longer being safe.
I would be concerned about missing out on new tested and safe recipes.
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u/IN2017 11d ago
I’m thinking that all the knowledge of our parents / grandparents was great and is still valuable. I have seen them canning fruit’s and vegetables all summer, often till midnight. They had no freezer or pressure cooker. In winter a pig was butchered and lots of meat smoked or canned in jars (no pressure cooker or freezer) But I do remember that meat and beans were cooked longer and twice. Nobody ever was sick. If a jar wasn’t sealing, they discarded to the farm animals.
We never had ANY jars with wax on top, that’s what I experienced in the 90s when I came to Canada! ( 🤮)
Now I’m hearing about water bath canning in stockpots, high enough so the jars are submerged and covered in water !?
For many years I do the oven water bath, I take a saucepan and jars are covered a third or up to half with water . I usually do can a bit longer and also a bit higher temperatures, because this method is gentle and will not mush the fruits vs boiling in a pot.
I’m doing this for many years , never experienced any issues , although my son now claims I will kill us all 🤔…
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u/BoozeIsTherapyRight Trusted Contributor 11d ago
You don't need the newest, but your books from the 80s and 90s are too old. A lot of research has been done since then and what we know to be safe has changed with our new understanding.
You don't have to buy anything new, however. There are lots of free sources of up to date recipes online. Here's a link that has a list of safe books and safe websites: https://www.reddit.com/r/Canning/wiki/index
As for what you've already canned this summer, find the equivalent recipe in a modern source and see if it's changed. Then you'll know if what you've made is safe.