I think it depends on what you like to eat!
I have made just a couple of recipes (posted here) and was unimpressed, but that's me. The recipes were pretty far outside our "norm", so that might explain it too.

You might see if your library has it and give it a look before buying.

Deanna

I can't imagine paying $70 for Mes Confitures.

I very much enjoy the book but like Deanna agree that not all recipes suit my taste. A great intermediary book I'd recommend is Gourmet Preserves Chez Madelaine. The recipes are delicious and the author is much more instructive than Christine Ferber. You'll get lots of useful tips you can apply to any preserve.

Carol

Here is a link that might be useful: Gourmet Preserves Chez Madelaine

Agree with Deanna - check it out at the library. We did as wife was convinced she had to have it. Returned it 2 days later and moved on without it. We just aren't into its type of things.

Dave

I've got it from the library right now. I really like her technique - of simmering the fruit and then let it sit overnight, then process into jam the next day. She also does a lot of cooking the liquid in to jam, and then adding her fruit back in. And she makes her own apple pectin for use in low pectin fruits. I also find a lot of her flavor combinations inspirational.

That being said, I will not be buying the book. And I won't even be copying any of her recipes for future reference. I've really enjoyed perusing the book, and I feel inspired to try some new flavor combinations (even though I just made plain old strawberry preserves today!) If I want to be inspired again, I'll just go borrow the book again!

It changed mine. I was always interested in cooking jam with less sugar and more taste. I also liked jam with big chunks of fruit left in it. This book showed me how to do that. I ended up making so much jam that I had to start a business. Which is going very nicely and from which I get a lot of joy. People love the unusual flavour combinations.

I would caution you to start small. Do one batch and see how you like it. If you hate it, you are only out the ingredients for 6 jars at most. I would also say that these jams have much different textures than you might be used to if you've used Certo exclusively to now.

Good luck

Don't get me wrong. Christine Ferber is a master of preserves, but her methods are typical of European preserving and can be found in many resources. Her flavor combinations and imaginative recipes are what make her preserves unique.

The old Time-Life Good Cook: Preserving has perhaps the best application of "Ferber's" technique (cooking the fruit then straining out and cooking down the syrup) for strawberry preserves you will ever encounter. It's the French Plunge method to the 10th power.

I do think since the OP referred to himself as a Ball Blue Book kind of guy that getting the book from the library and/or checking out Madelaine Bullwinkel's book are the best options. Then he can decide.

Carol

I wouldn't say Mes Confitures changed my life but I own the book and love to cook from it. She's an inspirational and creative chef with a passion for fruits. Her book is always close at hand and I make many of her creations. Favorites are Apricot with Vanilla, My Father's Jam, Green Apple Jelly as a pectin base, and all of the quince recipes. It's a small investment in a reference work that will delight the eyes and imagination; and a gift of her jam is an elegant and beautiful thing that will make the recipient wondering if you 'REALLY' made it yourself. Because of Ferber, I have made an effort to search out and learn about many kinds of fruits that I'd never have considered and have developed sources that wouldn't have occurred to me but are now essential to my preserving efforts, not to mention the bounty they add to our garden.

I have the book on order. Some of the flavor combos sound so good that I can't wait to try them. Like the apricot and vanilla. Rhubarbs with rosemary.
I just got Linda Zeibrich's "The Joy of Jams and Preserves". I don't like it as much as her pickling book but I do like the idea of making things without commercial pectin and less sugar.
My question is, where the heck do you get quince if you don't happen to have a quince tree in your yard? She has a lot of recipes with quince as well. I don't think I've ever tasted quince that I know of, but I'd love to get some.

Before I bought my quince tree last year, I had the same question. The answer was to go to my favorite specialty greengrocer and ask him in September if he'd look out for some for me. His first question was, "How many do you want?" He had to order it by the case and I was able to buy two cases over the course of October and November. Though I worried that they'd go to waste, they were a boon for jellies, preserves AND fall decorating. Their fragrance is incredible, something like a light rose scent and I was able to stack them in large bowls throughout the house for a last sniff of summer. They're really delicious in Paradise Jelly and were yummy stewed and flavored with vanilla. You can see why I bought a tree. Turns out everybody used to have a quince tree because they're high in pectin, keep well, and are delicious when cooked (impossible when raw!). Then people stopped preserving and the trees were all cut down because people forgot what they were and only found inedible fruit. Ferber says it's her favorite fruit because of the scent and the fact that it's the last fruit of autumn. I love its versatility.

Tracy: If you can get the tiny Tilton apricots. That way you can just cut them in half when you make the apricot vanilla jam, and you will get a tiny half apricot with almost every spoonful.

I love the rhubarb rosemary the best of all the jams I've made from Ferber's book. It's particularly delicious stirred into balkan yogurt.

And Suze - I didn't know quinces either except from reading novels set in the UK. Now I could be on the marketing board. People also want to know what quinces are at the Farmer's Market, and once they taste the pure quince jelly, or the paradise jelly, they purchase it from me (about 50% of the time). It's so beautiful as it cooks and has that beautiful colour.

Irene

My Mama taught me of the value of crabapples and quince. A friend gave me three young quince trees she started herself and now I have a bounty of fruit each season. If you are lucky, you will find quince fruit at our farmer's market, but you pay through the nose for them.

Irene, I'm going hunting for Tilton apricots and I'm going to make the rhubarb rosemary jam following your recommendations. Which other recipes of Ferber's do you like particularly and which are the best sellers at your market?

Calliope, if only I had the room for an orchard, I'd be following in your footsteps.

Here's a photo of the Paradise Jelly:

Oh......how.....BEAUTIFUL! That's what I love about my jelly pantry. When the jars are lined up on the shelves, they look like jewels.

As for the quince trees.....yes, I have a little orchard, but quince are very lovely trees with flowers much prettier than most ornamentals. They are also not huge trees. It would be a suitable choice even in a small garden as an ornamental.

I am able to freeze marmalades that I won't use all at once, so what jams or jellies can also be frozen? Only those that produce natural pectin? Or just marmalades?

And that paradise jelly IS gorgeous!

Wonder if you can grow quince in the heat of AZ? It looks like it requires chill time but how much and how low? Another fruit tree to add to my growing list:apple, peach, apricot, plum, fig and pomegranate. Mango if I can find room!

You can always try. I was curious, so I googled it. They recommend pineapple quince or orange quince for your area.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://ag.arizona.edu/pubs/garden/az1269/

That apricot vanilla jam sounds amazing!

Just got my beautiful book today. Very inspirational!I think I like the new Small Batch even better, though.

I made the vanilla apricot with white wine this week-- It WAS amazing. Best jam I have ever had. When I give a jar to my mom I'm just going to call it 'apricot', though. If I told her what all was in it she'd think it was too fancy and weird and would never eat it. Bet she' ll scarf it down when it's just labeled plain 'apricot'! The power of labels....

Wonder which is better, the apricot and white wine or vanilla. Now, just need some days off to get started. I bought about 100 lbs of produce yesterday. Tomatoes and fruit made up most of it. Blackberries, apricots, strawberries, mangoes and papaya were cheap!

Well, the one with white wine also has vanilla in it. Best of both worlds! :)

Suze: I love the balsamic pear which also sells well. It's one of the best jams on baked brie. Ferber has a recipe for a vanilla pear jam with walnuts and pine nuts - I think it's called My Grandmother's Jam. The first time I made it, I didn't peel the walnuts properly (I don't really understand how to do it). The jam turned black in about 4 months. Did you know that you can use walnuts to produce dark brown/black dyes? Well, I proved it.

In any case, the next time I made the jam, I just left out the walnuts. It is an exquisitely gorgeous jam - so buttery and rich. It sells well too.

I have made several chocolate jams and can't give them away. Not sure why.

However, the sour cherries in Kirsch is absolutely wonderful and also sells well. It is way softer than a normal jam but no one has ever complained that it's too runny once they taste it.

Good luck.

Irene

P.S. I didn't sell the black jam.. lol. I tossed it.

I've decided to start the strawberry mint bock pepper and the apricots in white wine tomorrow. Sure wish I didn't work Sunday. Two and three day recipes are tricky,. Have the same problem with breads, finding enough days in a row to make it.

Regarding the Ferber conserve with pears and walnuts - she specifies fresh walnuts, which are almost impossible to find unless you have a tree. Those are somewhat easier to peel, but regardless, peeling walnuts is just a royal pain.

The skin on walnuts has the tannin and unless neutralized by roasting or by skinning, it would make a preserve bitter.

To peel walnuts you first blanch. To blanch you can place walnuts in a bowl and cover with boiling water or drop into a pot of boiling water for two minutes. Shock in cold water or just lay out on toweling. Then pull off peel. For bits in the crevices I keep a needle-nosed tweezers specifically for kitchen use. If you don't get every bit, that's OK.

The peeled walnuts then need to dry (or be dried in the oven on low temp).

Another option would be to toast the walnuts then rub in a tea towel until the majority of peel separates. Pick out the nuts, place in a fine mesh sieve and sift out remaining bits of peel. Some bits of peel will remain but will do no harm.

Although Ferber specifies fresh walnuts, for long-term storage of BWB preserves toasted nuts perform better. You don't have as many issues with softening or rancidity and you have a lovely contrast of texture and flavor in your conserve.

Carol

Making vanilla ice cream to have with the unfinished sauce now. It can't even go through it's first night before processing without us scavenging it. Boy, is it ever good!

Carol: Thank you for that. I had looked on the internet for direction but did not find anything as detailed as yours. I know the jam would be wonderful with the walnuts but don't think I'll ever have the patience to peel the walnuts. I have saved the instructions though in case I change my mind.

Did you ever read Like Water for Chocolate? In one of the chapters, Tita has to help peel pounds and pounds of walnuts for a dish called Chiles en Nogada (Chilies in Walnut Sauce which is to be served at a wedding or other celebration. I remember quite distinctly that she was told that she could not miss one single piece of peel or she would ruin the entire dish.

I could not help thinking about that while I made my poor attempt at peeling those walnuts.

Irene

Yes, I remember that. No surprise it's only for weddings. Ferber's preserve would be nothing compared to making that walnut filling.

Ferber has an advantage in France, where you can sometimes find fresh walnuts already blanched and peeled. Otherwise it's slow cooking for sure. Maybe not as bad as Bar le Duc, though, picking out hundreds of currant seeds with a needle!

Carol

Hey Carol,
I found the Time-Life Good Cook: Preserving at amazon, cheap. I'll definitely try that strawberry method next year. Just to compare, you know. I like that it doesn't use a whole lot of sugar. I also got the Zeidrich Joy of Jams... book the same way. I like that is in alphabetical order.
Melly