Book recommendation needed, please

[SandraMort]

I've noticed that a lot of the cookbooks for canning use huge amounts of sugar. I'm not anti sugar, I just don't like stuff so sweet, which leaves me ruling out most of the low sugar recipes, too, since they're often full of artificial sweeteners.

I also am aware that you don't just change the ratios of acid or sugar or such things because it will potentially lose the ability to stay safely edible.

SOOOO. Does anybody have a good recommendation for a sugar free or minimal sugar canning book? I want both water bath and pressure canner recipes and while I'm dreaming, whole food type ingredients would better. I.E. dark maple syrup to sweeten pumpkin butter instead of white sugar. That kinda thing.

Web sites would be appreciated too! Thank you!!!

 

[roosmom]

I noticed that this wasnt answered yet so I have a suggestion.
Your best bet is looking online. If you have a printer then you can just print the recipes. If not then you will have to save them to your computer and copy them at your leisure.
But you know- brown sugar is close to cane sugar. The more refined something is, the worse it is for you so......brown sugar is always better. Coarse brown sugar is even better. Maybe something that tells you equivelants would be appropriate also?

 

[patandchickens]

I know this is not a book recommendation, but:

Make your jellies/jams with no-sugar fruit pectin and just sweeten to your personal taste (tho this kind will not last as long in the fridge once opened, so you might want to can it in smaller jars than you normally would, unless you go thru jellies/jams at a pretty regular clip).

Canned fruits are generally fine, food safety wise, even canned in plain water w/no sugar at all (many don't taste so good that way - there are flavor and texture issues involved w/the sugar - but you could try using a 'lighter' i.e. lower sugar syrup and see how you like it).

Fruit butters I would not personally fret about reducing sugar - as they are already so sweet - but if you are really worried I guess you could pressure-can instead of waterbath 'em, or just freeze 'em. (I know apple butter freezes fine, others should too).

Anything else, you'd be pressure canning anyhow, so the sugar is not an issue beyond any effects on flavor and perhaps texture.

So I think to a very large extent you can just experiment. Which you'd be doing anyhow even if you had books, b/c it just comes down to personal taste, right?

Good luck and have fun,

Pat

 

[roosmom]

I was on the net last night and looked at some good canning tips and recipes on the Minnesota Canning website. I was on yahoo and typed in Plum canning recipes.

 

[Homesteadmom]

Have you tried agave? I use it in place of sugar in my baking, it has a lower glycimic index than sugar does. We get ours from the Madhava co. I believe the website is www.madhava.com It is organic & you use it measure for measure with sugar. You could also use honey as a sweetner too. Then there is succanat as a subsitute for brown sugar & in darker foods too.

 

[TanksHill]

I use the low to no sugar pectin. Appricot, peach etc are usually made with just sweet fruit.

Not to change the subject, I tried switching to Agave. It made me itch. Is that weird or what? G

 

[Homesteadmom]

Not to change the subject, I tried switching to Agave. It made me itch. Is that weird or what? G

I hadn't heard of that before but I guess just like any other food product there can be allergies to it. It may also have been an inferior type too. Don't know what brand you used.