Canning
JELLIES.
To make jelly from any kind of berries or fruit put fruit on to cook with water enough to nearly cover. When tender enough to mash well, put in cheese cloth or flannel bag and strain. Dip bag in hot water before straining. To every cup of juice use same amount of sugar. Put juice on stove; heat sugar; when juice boils about twenty min- utes add sugar. When this boils again skim and try some in saucer. If cooked in smaller quantities it jellies quicker and is a better color. Put jelly in glasses, cover with melted paraffine or paper dipped in whiskey or alcohol.
CANNING.
Always select perfect fresh fruit and vegetables for this purpose. To keep the color and flavor of the fruit is es- pecially necessary. Always use utensils that will not dis- color the fruit. Also wooden spoon for stirring or handling fruit when in hot water or sirup. All canned fruits should be put up boiling hot in jars, wrapped in paper. Put in a cool, dark place. It is well to have your jars filled with hot water, rubbers in place, tops in perfect condition, sealing wax and all other neces- sary things ready for work.
HOW TO CAN TOMATOES IN GLASS.
Select fresh, ripe, firm tomatoes. Grade for ripeness, size and quality. Blanch Place tomatoes in wire basket or cheese cloth bag, dip them into boiling water for one minute or until skin breaks. Cold Dip-Plunge them into cold water as soon as they are taken from the hot water. The cold dip makes them easier to handle, separates the skin from the pulp and coag- ulates the coloring matter so it stays near the surface, giv- ing them a rich red color. Cut out the core before removing the skin, as there is less danger of breaking the skin. Sterilize jars, tops and rubbers. Pack tomatoes whole. In quart jars add two level teaspoons of two-thirds sugar 157 and one-third salt. Strain soft tomatoes, add one cup of juice. Place on rubbers; see that they fit up close. If using Mason jars, place top screw on lightly, that the air may escape when heated. If using Economy jars, put the cover in place and place the clamp on. If E. Z. Seal jars, put the cover in place and leave up the spring clamp. Processing-If you have no canning outfit place a false bottom in a lard stand or deep kettle. This may be made of poultry netting or laths, fill canner with cold water place in jars, do not let water come above the neck of jars, bring to boiling point or 212 degrees, then boil hard for thirty minutes. A wire basket or bucket that will fit in boiler will add much to the convenience, large holes should be cut in the bucket, the jars can be lifted out more easily. Throw a bath towel over jars when lifting them from boil- ing water. Screw top on tight at once, press down clamp of E. Z. Seal. Place away in a cool, dark place. Do not place them close together or in a warm room, as they will hold the heat and continue cooking. A steam cooker may be used instead of hot water; both if preferred. - Virginia P. Moore, State Agent in charge of Girls' Canning Club, from U. S. Department of Agriculture.
TO CAN CORN.
One cup water, eight cups corn, one teaspoon salt, two teaspoons sugar to every quart corn. Mix thoroughly salt, sugar, water and corn. Place tops on loosely. Do not screw tight. Steam as tomatoes, allowing four hours in all. Steam three hours and then screw on top firmly and let steam an hour longer, adding more hot water if necessary. Always can corn very soon after it is pulled; within an hour is advisable. Select the firm, full grains before they begin to harden, as this is the period of greatest sugar con- tained. Husk and brush silks off with a stiff brush. Cut grains with sharp knife, scrape lightly, put in jar until full. Corn, peas and lima beans are very hard to keep. For this reason it is better to cook an hour each day for four successive days. Loosen tops before each cooking. After each steaming screw top tight again. 158
STRING BEANS.
String beans and soak in cold salt water in proportion of one teaspoon salt to one quart water. Let stand fifteen minutes, restringing if necessary. Beans may be broken or kept whole. Then tie in cheese cloth bag, scald in boiling water for five minutes, plunge into cold water so as to handle. Pack jars tight, fill with clear cold water, put on rubbers, seal well and cook as tomatoes for fifty-five min- utes. Lima beans, peas, succotash and okra can be canned by the same process.
PEARS, PEACHES AND APPLES.
Cut firm peaches in half, also pears and apples. Make a sirup, fill jars and steam as tomatoes, using one pound sugar and one pint water; make sirup and pour over fruit while warm. Steam fifteen minutes. For all small berries and fruit use same process. They require less time in steaming.
TUTTI FRUTTI.
One pint French brandy put in two-gallon stone jar. Use any small fruit, such as strawberries, cherries, rasp- berries, pineapple and oranges cut in small pieces. To every pound of fruit use one pound sugar. Stir this into brandy, add fruit as it comes in season. You can add any leftover fruit, always using equal measures of sugar and fruit. This keeps beautifully and makes a delightful dessert. May be used for first course where fruit is used, or over any fresh fruit.
LEFTOVERS.
Many dainty dishes can be prepared with cold meats, vegetables and other things if we would only make a study of these little things. It is astonishing also how much we save in making all of the good things we have serve a double purpose. If we have steak, the bones and trimmings make delicious soup. Put on with water, the stock can be made, and if we do not need it today, it may help out to- 159
STRING BEANS.
String beans and soak in cold salt water in proportion of one teaspoon salt to one quart water. Let stand fifteen minutes, restringing if necessary. Beans may be broken or kept whole. Then tie in cheese cloth bag, scald in boiling water for five minutes, plunge into cold water so as to handle. Pack jars tight, fill with clear cold water, put on rubbers, seal well and cook as tomatoes for fifty-five min- utes. Lima beans, peas, succotash and okra can be canned by the same process.
PEARS, PEACHES AND APPLES.
Cut firm peaches in half, also pears and apples. Make a sirup, fill jars and steam as tomatoes, using one pound sugar and one pint water; make sirup and pour over fruit while warm. Steam fifteen minutes. For all small berries and fruit use same process. They require less time in steaming.
TUTTI FRUTTI.
One pint French brandy put in two-gallon stone jar. Use any small fruit, such as strawberries, cherries, rasp- berries, pineapple and oranges cut in small pieces. To every pound of fruit use one pound sugar. Stir this into brandy, add fruit as it comes in season. You can add any leftover fruit, always using equal measures of sugar and fruit. This keeps beautifully and makes a delightful dessert. May be used for first course where fruit is used, or over any fresh fruit.
- Do not use this method for vegetables. The string-bean instructions here are a RAW PACK in plain jars topped with boiling water. Green beans are a low-acid vegetable, and boiling water cannot reach the temperature that destroys Clostridium botulinum spores. The USDA and the National Center for Home Food Preservation specify a PRESSURE CANNER for all low-acid vegetables. Read this chapter as history, not as a procedure.
- The jelly method still works. Fruit jellies are high-acid and self-preserving in a way vegetables are not, so the jelly half of this chapter is sound. Modern practice adds a boiling-water bath for the filled jars and a tested pectin ratio rather than the equal-cup rule given here.
- Sealing wax and paraffin are out. Where the book seals with wax, modern practice uses two-piece lids and checks the seal after cooling. Paraffin can crack as the jelly settles and admit mould.
Home canning in 1922 sat at an awkward moment. The science of botulism was barely a decade old — the organism was identified in 1895 and its danger in home-canned vegetables was only established through the 1920s — so a book like this could print a raw-pack vegetable method in good faith. The USDA began issuing pressure-canning guidance in that same decade, and the split this chapter straddles, between safe high-acid fruit preserving and unsafe low-acid vegetable canning, is exactly the line modern guidance draws.