Originally Posted by Peckish
I've never canned anything more complicated than jam, but my understanding is with meat you HAVE to use a pressure canner.
Sorry I don't have any recommendations for books - I always used the chart that came with the pectin.
Also a lot of veggies too. Tomatoes and pickels have a lot of acid so your can can them with a water bath. When I decided to learn to can I bought a canning kit came with everything you needed to water bath can and the book "Ball Blue Book of Preserving" Really good book. Tells you everything you need to know, has some good recipes and is not too complicated.