What it is
- A prepper-focused, beginner-friendly canning handbook that covers both water-bath and modern pressure canning, with an emphasis on building a practical, nutritious, shelf-stable pantry—including complete “meals in a jar.”
- Paperback, 181 pages; Ulysses Press, March 14, 2017. Also available on Kindle and spiral-bound.
- Amazon rating: 4.7/5 from ~1,300+ reviews at the time of review.
- Links: Paperback and details on Amazon, eBook, and Kindle
Prepper's Canning Guide for Nutritious, Shelf-Stable Foods
Learn simple techniques to preserve your favorite foods and enjoy healthy meals anytime
Product information
$15.95 $15.14
Product Review Score
4.09 out of 5 stars
39 reviewsProduct links
What it covers
- Safety-first foundation: food safety guidelines, correct method selection (water-bath vs. pressure), and grid-down considerations.
- Protein-rich pressure canning: meats and poultry, with practical tips for safe processing.
- Produce preservation: extending shelf life for fruits and vegetables using tested methods.
- Meals-in-a-jar: assembling complete, ready-to-eat jars with consistent contents from jar to jar.
- Equipment basics: emphasizes reading your specific canner’s manual and adapting to your gear.
- Real-world adaptability: acknowledges variable yields due to produce density, altitude, humidity, etc.; targets canner-load quantities and flexible batch sizes.
What it does well
- Approachability: The tone and structure are beginner-friendly; many readers report gaining confidence to start pressure canning after years of only water-bath canning.
- Practicality for preppers: strong focus on meal planning, “MRE”-style jars, and pantry-building for emergencies, not just standard jams and pickles.
- Safety emphasis: repeated coverage of safe practices, correct method selection, and consistency within jars to ensure even heat penetration.
- High user satisfaction: sustained 4.7/5 rating with praise for clarity, creativity, and taste of recipes.
Limitations and gotchas
- Editing miss on at least one recipe (e.g., an obviously excessive spice quantity noted by multiple reviewers). Most readers treat these as typos and adjust. Always sanity-check seasonings and cross-verify processing guidance before canning a full batch.
- Imprecise yields and flexible quantities by design. This is consistent with the author’s stated philosophy: batch outputs vary; adaptability is key.
- No photos reported by a reviewer—may matter if you prefer visual step-by-step layouts.
- As with any non-government canning book, you should cross-check processing times, jar sizes, headspace, and altitude adjustments against authoritative sources.
How it compares
- As a single, safety-first compendium of tested times and charts, the USDA and Ball books remain the gold standards.
- Daisy Luther’s guide shines as a companion for preparedness use cases—planning balanced, nutritious meals-in-a-jar with realistic pantry strategies and approachable instructions. For exact processing tables, pair it with:
- National Center for Home Food Preservation: nchfp.uga.edu
- USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning (free via NCHFP)
- Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving for modern, tested recipes
Who should buy it
- New or intermediate home canners who want straightforward guidance, confidence to use a pressure canner, and practical “meals in a jar” recipes.
- Preppers and homesteaders prioritizing shelf-stable, nutritious meals and grid-down considerations.
Verdict
- A solid, practical, and affordable prepper-oriented canning guide with strong user satisfaction. Treat it as your approachable how-to and recipe source; use USDA/NCHFP/Ball for the definitive processing times, altitude adjustments, and jar/headspace specifics—especially for low-acid foods and meats. Recommended as a companion volume.
Notable details and specs
- Author: Daisy Luther
- Publisher: Ulysses Press
- Publication: March 14, 2017
- Length: 181 pages
- ISBN-10: 1612436641
- ISBN-13: 978-1612436647
- Formats: Paperback, Kindle, Spiral-bound
- Amazon rating: 4.7/5 (~1,364 reviews)
