Great and very informative book! I have been wanting to learn to can and learned so much from this book!
Highly recommended!

A beautifully designed and highly approachable guide to canning, this cookbook makes the science, safety, and techniques easy to understand. Packed with delicious, accessible recipes and gorgeous photography, it’s both informative and inspiring—a must-have for any canner’s kitchen.

The Essential Canning Cookbook by Molly Bravo is exactly what the title promises: a fantastic resource for anyone interested in preserving food, whether you're just starting out or already have some experience.
I really appreciated the layout of the book. It’s clean, easy to navigate, and includes a super helpful seasonal chart that lets you plan your canning projects based on what’s fresh. The recipes are straightforward and easy to follow, and the tips and tricks scattered throughout are genuinely useful. One of the highlights for me was the photography. Beautiful images that make you want to dive right in and start filling jars. The book covers everything you need to know, and even includes those little extra tips and tricks of info you didn’t know you needed.

Sadly the majority of these recipes are for pressure canning, which I don't have the setup for, but there's a few water bath recipes that I want to try. I like that there was a lot of forward material about the history and risks of canning, including little tips and tricks, and what to look out for. Each recipe included a nice color picture. Overall this is a beautiful cookbook and would be great for someone at the beginning of their canning journey!

I sometimes get a little turned off by things that start out as this one did by acting like modern society is all bad and then wanting to go back to “the old ways” as if everything in history was better. It wasn’t. Not everyone gardens or cans because they want to reject modern society. Some of us just enjoy the satisfaction that we grew/made/canned ourselves instead I just purchasing at the store.

I did appreciate the brief history of canning. That was not something I’ve seen in the other books I’ve read. I also liked that the seasonal guide also included suggestions for freezing and other storage methods.

The recipes seemed interesting and easy to follow.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC!

I’ve always been nervous about the idea of canning, but this cookbook is so comprehensive and puts such an emphasis on safety that for the first time in my life I actually feel like canning food is something I could confidently do! I love that every recipe header includes the season in which the produce will be at its peak, as well as which canning technique you should use for that recipe. The recipes all look great, and I love the range - everything from simple, seasonal jams, all the way to complete meals. The title does not exaggerate - I would absolutely consider this an essential cookbook for anyone the least bit interested in canning.

I absolutely enjoyed this book! As a newby canned, the simplicity of these recipes and how each chapter is broken down is perfect. Zero, fancy ingredients and information that is easy to follow and easy to make. I would recommend a beginner or long time canner to have this book in their stash. Great recipes that were successful when I tried them out.

I actually think I’m going to buy a hard copy of this book! Thanks NetGalley for the digital preview. I learned to can as a kid from my grandparents so the task of canning is a happy and nostalgic one for me. I’ve mostly done stone fruits, tomatoes, pickles and jellies/jams, but there are a significant number of things in this book I want to try out. I can definitely see this being a well-loved book in my kitchen!!

Now that we have a garden in the backyard and our summer harvest is lush and overflowing 🌽🍅🌿, I’ve been on the hunt for a way to preserve all the goodness we’ve grown—and The Essential Canning Cookbook is exactly what I needed!

This book doesn’t just focus on flavor (though the recipes definitely sound delicious 😋), it also emphasizes safety, realistic steps, and no-fuss methods (which I really appreciate as someone still learning the ropes). Whether you’re making jams, pickles, or meal-in-a-jar ideas, this guide has your back with clear instructions and helpful tips for both water bath and pressure canning 🔥🫧.

I love that it gives you the tools to stretch your garden’s bounty well into winter ❄️, reduce food waste, and gain a little more self-sufficiency along the way. A great book for beginners, seasoned preservers, or anyone looking to turn their garden into a year-round pantry!

Book Review: The Essential Canning Cookbook by Molly Bravo

Rating: 4.5 Stars

I just finished The Essential Canning Cookbook by Molly Bravo, and honestly, I’m so impressed! If you’ve ever wanted to learn how to preserve all those fresh fruits and veggies from your garden or farmer’s market, this book is a fantastic place to start — whether you’re a total newbie or have some experience under your belt.

Molly’s approach really brings canning back to basics but in the best way possible. The book walks you through everything you need to know about safe canning methods like water bath and pressure canning, plus pickling, with clear, step-by-step instructions. I love how she emphasizes preserving the true flavor of each season’s bounty — so you’re not just storing food, but capturing that peak freshness and nutrition to enjoy all year long.

One thing I really appreciated is that the recipes are preservative-free, so you have full control over what goes into your jars. It’s a great way to eat healthier and avoid unnecessary additives. Plus, the book shows how canning can actually save you money by turning your garden’s overflow into delicious pantry staples that rival anything you’d buy in the store.

The month-by-month canning guide is such a smart feature — it helps you plan ahead and make the most of what’s in season. Honestly, the whole book is packed with useful info and easy recipes (101 of them!). I do wish there were a few more photos sprinkled throughout, but the layout is clean and really easy to follow.

Also, gotta say, the cover is super inviting! I can totally see this being an ideal gift for anyone curious about canning but not sure where to start. Overall, The Essential Canning Cookbook makes preserving food approachable, fun, and rewarding. Definitely 4.5 stars from me!

⚠️This review was written based on personal opinions and experiences with the book. Individual preferences may vary⚠️

This is a fantastic canning cookbook! I learned so much from it and am now genuinely excited for the canning season.

The book’s greatest strength is its brilliant design. The layout is both beautiful and incredibly intuitive, taking what is often presented as dense information—the science, safety procedures, troubleshooting—and making it clear and easily digestible. It is thorough without ever feeling overwhelming.

With a wonderful range of great recipes for all skill levels and gorgeous photography to inspire you, this is a great canning cookbook for every canner's shelf.

This was such a fun introduction to canning. It gave all in depth info you need without sounding like a textbook. I love the way it was divided into sections and the photos where all beautiful. I just wish the were links to a website or videos somewhere when you can watch her do some of the canning herself. This is a process that needs that visual medium. Otherwise it was excellent and I can't wait to try this out as a hobby.

Home canning has gained popularity in the last few years, after a hiatus of a decade or two. Whether it’s because of the pandemic and empty grocery store shelves, price of food, or the trend to preserve food and be self-reliant is unknown, but canning in popular and fun. Many new books have been published, and it’s important to pick up a good one so that home canning is safe and productive. The Essential Canning Cookbook: Water Bath and Pressure Canning Recipes for Every Season, by canning expert, Molly Bravo. This excellent book includes introductory notes on the basics of canning, which fruits and vegetables can be done with a water bath, and other foods that require a pressure canner. The cookbook is divided into seasons, and includes foods throughout the year to keep up canning skills and keep jars of wonderful foods on the shelf.

The recipes are for everything to be canned: pickles, jams, jellies, conserves, vegetables, fruits, sauces and chutneys, soups, stews, meats, full meals (like chili and pork and beans), as well as desserts. The recipes are written in the traditional manner with the ingredients listed first, followed by step-by-step instructions that make it easy for both beginners and veteran canners to achieve success. The author has also added excellent notes at the beginning of each recipe. The author’s notes at the beginning of each recipe are helpful. Actually, the entire book is very well-written and understandable.

The book also includes beautiful colored photographs of many of the recipes, which is a must for any good cookbook. Anyone who wants to build their canning skills will want to immediately pick up and read this book before setting aside food in their pantry.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

Perfect for a beginning canner like me! I feel prepared and ready to give canning a try.

Laid out well, and clearly thought out for a beginning canner.

Thanks to NetGalley and Cider Mill Press for the digital copy of this book; I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Once upon a time, I used to be a consumer advocate. I still consider myself one, although not professionally anymore. One of the many things I encouraged people to do was to can and preserve their own food if possible. Not only can you save money, you can also control the ingredients that go into your belly. Nowadays, I have to have a low-fat, low sodium diet, and if I relied on a lot of store-bought processed foods, I’d probably be dead.

The Essential Canning Cookbook is a very North American kind of canning book. It closely follows the National Center For Home Food Preservation., which covers everything from canning, freezing, dehydrating, and other food preservation techniques. And that is fine. I, however, am sort of a rebel canner in that I prefer to follow European times for processing foods. If you want to rigidly follow the rules, this book is a great starting point.

Even a novice canner will appreciate the clear and concise information, which includes water bath canning and pressure canning. The instructions are clear for both processing procedures, and a description of the bare minimum tools you’ll need are included. Since I’ve been canning in essence since I was six years old, helping my mom cut up green beans and Colorado peaches, picking pickling cucumbers in the garden, plus 27 years of canning on my own, the only reason I check out new canning books are for the recipes. This book delivers, including some basic recipes all the way up to meals in jars, which is where I’m at on my canning journey.

I really appreciated the beautiful photography throughout the book. And while this book only uses Imperial measurements, there is a Metric conversion chart at the back of the book for those outside of the U.S.A. This is a pretty great addition to my canning and preserving library.

I found this book to be extremely helpful and thorough when it comes to canning. It discusses all supplies as well as the different methods. It helps you determine which method to use based on what you have. Super helpful!

I wish I’d had this book when I started canning a few years ago! The first section of the book deals with explaining the basics of canning & safety and it was laid out in a clear, concise, and helpful way. Absolutely perfect for a beginner, or if you are looking for a refresh after a little time away like me.

I tried the peach preserves recipe and found it easy to follow and turned out great. Already cracked open a jar and it was delicious - my kids and husband devoured it. Looking forward to trying the garden vegetable sauce recipe as well.

Thanks to Netgalley and Cider Mill Press for providing me with a digital copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

This was an excellent book. It was well-written. I would highly recommend this book. It's very easy to read.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC.

This was an informative and well laid out manual. I have only done waterbath canning, so I mainly focused on these recipes, however it was amazing to think of all the different types of foods that could be canned..Imagine your own soup rather than the shelf stable store kind?
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

I learned how to make jams and use a water bath canner over a decade ago from a family friend so my understanding of how it all works is very basic. As I am getting older I want to start to expand on what I can make and do with my canner and this book is perfect for that goal. I love that this part understanding how canning works and different methods and part recipes. What I especially appreciated about the recipes is that you do not have to be a master cook/chef in order to do them. So often the recipes for these types of foods involve ingredients that are impossible to find or techniques that require training/experience. These recipes all sound delicious and I think I could actually make them. Two big thumbs up for this cookbook!