Chapter 36 Further Reading — Food Preservation

Beginner

National Center for Home Food Preservation (NCHFP), University of Georgia. https://nchfp.uga.edu/. The free, authoritative source for tested home-canning recipes in the United States. Searchable by food type, includes detailed BWB and pressure canning instructions with altitude adjustments. The starting point for any home canner. Funded by USDA. For: every home cook, especially first-time canners.

USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning. Free PDF download from NCHFP. The canonical reference, updated periodically. Includes thermal-processing science, recipe sections by food category, and detailed pressure-canning charts. Read the introductory chapters once before your first canning project. For: home canners who want the official, evidence-based protocols.

Karen Solomon, Asian Pickles (2014). A friendly introduction to lacto-fermented and vinegar pickles from across Asia, with attention to the science as well as the technique. The recipes are tested and the cultural context is respectful. For: home cooks looking to expand from American-style pickles into Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Indian, and Southeast Asian pickling traditions.

Intermediate

Sandor Katz, The Art of Fermentation (2012). The modern bible of home fermentation. Less rigorous on canning safety than NCHFP, but unmatched on the breadth of fermented foods (fermented vegetables, beverages, meats, breads). Pair with NCHFP for a complete reference. For: serious fermentation enthusiasts; cooks ready to take on multi-week projects.

Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn, Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing (2013, 2nd edition). The standard English-language reference for home charcuterie. Detailed chapters on salt curing, fresh sausage, dry-cured sausage, pâtés, terrines, and confit. Calls out safety considerations (nitrite use, water activity, temperature control). Recipes are scaled for home production. For: home cooks ready to take on Danny's level of project — pancetta, guanciale, salami.

Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving (Bernardin Complete Book in Canada). Comprehensive, recipe-rich, well-tested. Photographic step-by-step for each technique. The book most Costco shoppers find at the front of the canning aisle. For: home cooks who prefer photo-rich cookbook format over USDA's drier presentation.

Adam Danforth, Butchering Beef and Butchering Poultry, Rabbit, Lamb, Goat, and Pork. For preservers who want to start further upstream — selecting and breaking down whole animals. Detailed butchery + preservation context. For: rural homesteaders, hunters, restaurant-supply-chain-curious cooks.

Advanced

Harold McGee, On Food and Cooking (2004), Chapters 4 (Meat) pp. 155–180 (cured meats), Chapter 7 (Fermentation), Chapter 11 (Sweet Foods) pp. 681–697 (preserves). The encyclopedic reference, with the chemistry and the history. Specific sections on the science of curing, the chemistry of nitrite, the biochemistry of fermentation, and the equilibrium chemistry of jams. For: students and serious preservers who want the underlying science explained.

Belitz, Grosch, Schieberle, Food Chemistry (5th ed., 2018), Chapter 9 (Meat and Meat Products) and Chapter 16 (Cereals and Cereal Products) for storage stability. Graduate-level food chemistry textbook. Detailed treatment of D-values, Z-values, F-values, water-activity isotherms, and preservation thermodynamics. For: food-science students; teachers preparing curriculum on preservation chemistry.

Modernist Cuisine, by Nathan Myhrvold and Maxime Bilet (2011), Volume 5: Plated-Dish Recipes, Chapter 17 (Preservation). Lavishly illustrated reference covering historical preservation technologies, modern techniques (vacuum sealing, sous vide as preservation, MAP, HPP), and futurist methods. Industry-grade with prosumer applicability. For: technically-curious cooks with budget; restaurant kitchens; food-science library reference.

Michael Pollan, Cooked (2013), "Earth" section. A literary and historical exploration of fermentation and curing as cultural practices, with attention to the science. Reads as memoir and food essay rather than reference, but the research is solid. For: readers who want the cultural-historical context as much as the technique.

Online and Video

The Hot Cure, by Ed Currie (Carolina Reaper inventor) — YouTube channel. Mostly about chiles and hot-sauce fermentation, but the principles are excellent for food preservers. The fermentation videos are particularly clear. For: hot-sauce makers and chile-pepper preservers.

Brad Leone, "It's Alive" series (Bon Appétit YouTube). Approachable, casual videos on home fermentation and preservation. Brad's enthusiasm is contagious; the food-safety care is generally good. For: skeptical home cooks who think preservation is intimidating.

Pat Hammond's Kitchen Lab notes (open educational resource, Ohio State Extension). Pat has, over 28 years, developed a full curriculum of food-preservation labs designed for high school chemistry classes. Contains lesson plans, lab protocols, safety briefings, and discussion questions. Available through Ohio State Extension's open-resources portal. For: science teachers building food-science curriculum; community education programs.

Primary Sources and Research

FDA Bad Bug Book (Foodborne Pathogenic Microorganisms and Natural Toxins Handbook), 2nd ed. Free download from FDA. Each pathogen and toxin gets a detailed monograph: organism, illness, infection dose, foods of concern, prevention. Clostridium botulinum gets particular attention. For: serious food-safety students; instructors developing food-safety modules.

National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods, "Parameters for Determining Inoculated Pack/Challenge Study Protocols" (current edition). Technical document on how recipes get tested for thermal processing safety. Insight into why "tested recipes" are non-trivial to develop and why home cooks should not improvise. For: graduate students; food-industry product developers.

FSIS (USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service) Compliance Guidelines for Meat and Poultry Jerky. The technical document underlying the home-jerky safety recommendations. Explains the Salmonella and E. coli O157:H7 lethality calculations for dehydrated meat products. For: serious jerky makers; food-science students working on dried-meat projects.