Food Preservation Resources

The UCCE Master Food Preservers extend research-based information to the public for home food preservation based on USDA guidelines established through scientific testing. The techniques and recipes described in the following four resources result in quality, safe food when directions are followed as written.

1. The National Center for Home Food Preservation (NCHFP) http://nchfp.uga.edu/ is your source for current research-based recommendations for most methods of home food preservation: Canning, Jams & Jellies, Pickling, Fermenting, Freezing, Drying, Curing & Smoking, Storing. The Center was established with funding from the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture (CSREES-USDA) to address food safety concerns for those who practice and teach home food preservation and processing methods.

2. USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning, 2015 revision is the basis for all research-based home canning recipes recommended by the Cooperative Extension. It presents the principles of home canning and contains hundreds of tested canning recipes.
Digital download is free at https://nchfp.uga.edu/resources/category/usda-guide
Printed form can be purchased from The Education Store (Purdue Cooperative Extension) at https://mdc.itap.purdue.edu/item.asp?item_number=AIG-539

3. So Easy to Preserve, 6th edition, 2020,University of Georgia Cooperative Extension book has chapters on Preserving Food, Canning, Pickled Products, Sweet Spreads and Syrups, Freezing and Drying. https://www.fcs.uga.edu/extension/so-easy-to-preserve to read more, to get 2020 corrections for 6th edition books printed prior to 2020, or to order the 2020 printing of the 6th edition of So Easy to Preserve

4. State University Cooperative Extension Services who specialize in home food preservation offer online facts sheets and guides with research-based information and scientifically tested recipes. The University of California, one of these land-grant universities, lists some of their Food-Specific Resources on Home Food Preservation at https://ucfoodsafety.ucdavis.edu/consumers/food-specific-resources-home-food-preservation. You can find others by including ‘.edu’ in your internet searches on home food preservation. The UC Master Food Preservers have also searched the internet for current publication and videos, and organized their findings into collections for easier access. You will find a Document Library at https://mfp.ucanr.edu/Resources_/Extension_Document_Library/ and a Video Library at https://mfp.ucanr.edu/Resources_/Video_Library/.

For more canning recipes, the UC Master Food Preservers of Orange County also use the following. You may choose to use others.

* Canning recipes included with pectin packaged by commercial pectin manufacturers.

* Canning recipes from these Ball^® books. Note: Not all Ball books are approved, but these have been approved.

• Ball^®CompleteBook ofHomePreserving, editions 2012, 2020, Judi Kingry, Lauren Devine, eds. Toronto: R. Rose
• Ball® Blue Book: Guide to Preserving, 2014 Edition 37 / ISBN 0-9727537-4-5

Storing Foods:  

Harvesting & Storing Fresh Garden Vegetables (University of Idaho College of Agriculture Bulletin 617)

Storing Fresh Fruits & Vegetables for Better Taste (UC Davis 21590)

Miscellaneous: 

pH of Some Common Foods

 

There is an abundance of information available on food safety and preservation. The UC Master Food Preservers have assembled collections of resources to facilitate your search for research-based recipes and preservation information including publications or videos from University Extension programs nationwide and more.

For example, if you wanted to learn more about Drying/Dehydrating fruits and vegetables, among the documents you would find listed in the publications library, under dehydrate are
Drying Fruits and Vegetables (University of Georgia Extension)
Drying Fruits and Vegetables (Pacific Northwest Extension Publication PNW397).