Every Step in Canning Part 17

The fish are first cleaned and the entrails removed, then the fins are cut off. The fish are then soaked for about two hours in a salt brine to remove the blood. This brine is made with about 10 lbs. of salt to 8 gallons of water. The brine is then rinsed off and the fish are cooked, either boiled or cooked by steam. When codfish are thoroughly cooked, the meat will drop off of the bone in pieces, and it is very white in color and crisp in texture. These pieces are then broken in suitable sizes and are ready to place in the cans. The cans are filled as full as possible, because after processing the fish will shrink some.

CRAWFISH

The best way to can crawfish is to put it up in a bouillon as follows: Water, 2 gallons; vinegar, 1 quart; cloves, 10; carrots in slices, 6; onions in slices, 6; cloves of garlic, 3.

To the above should be added a good quant.i.ty of pepper to suit the taste, a little salt and bunch of parsley and a little thyme. Boil slowly for about an hour. Throw in the crawfish after the intestines have been extracted; to do this take the live crawfish in your hand and tear off the wing which is in the middle of the tail; it will pull out at the same time a little black intestine which is very bitter.

Boil one or two minutes, never longer, put in cans and process.

TIME-TABLE FOR BLANCHING AND STERILIZING FISH

[A] SCALD OR BLANCH [B] HOT WATER BATH OUTFIT 212F [C] CONDENSED STEAM OUTFIT 212F [D] WATER-SEAL OUTFIT 214F [E] STEAM PRESSURE 5 TO 10 POUNDS [F] PRESSURE COOKER 10 POUNDS

NUMBER OF MINUTES TO STERILIZE PRODUCT [A] [B] [C] [D] [E] [F]

------------------------------------------------------------------ Fish of all kinds 3 to 5 3 hrs. 3 hrs. 2 hrs. 2 hrs. 1 hrs.

min. Sh.e.l.l fish of all 3 min. 3 hrs. 3 hrs. 2 hrs. 2 hrs. 1 hrs.

kinds

CHAPTER IX

EASY METHODS OF CANNING IN TIN

If the proper sanitary requirements are provided and instructions of the cold-pack method of canning are followed, it is entirely safe and practical to use tin cans for all kinds of fruits, vegetables and other food products. Food poisoning--commonly called ptomaine poisoning--and the effects ascribed to "salts of tin" result from improper handling and improper preparation of the product before packing, or from allowing the product to stand in the tin after it has been opened. The raw food products used for canning in tin must be in sound condition, just as they must be if put into gla.s.s containers.

It is true that canned foods may be rendered unfit for use by improper handling of the product before packing and that decomposition may occur after canning, owing to insufficient processing, improper sealing or the use of leaky containers. This condition, however, is no more likely to be encountered in foods put up in tin than in products canned in other types of containers. You run no more danger of poison from your own tin-canned products than from tin-canned food bought at the store. Most canned foods if in a spoiled condition readily show this condition by the swelling of the can or by odor or taste. Canned foods showing such evidences of decomposition should not be used.

Certain foods which are high in protein, such as meats, peas, beans and fish products, may undergo decomposition without making this condition obvious to the senses. It is essential, therefore, that the greatest care be taken to subject such products to proper preparation and ample processing. It should be remembered that canned foods, after opening the containers, should be treated as perishable products and should be handled with the same precautions that are applied when fresh products are being used.

ADVANTAGES OF CANS

Many housewives ask, "Why can in tin when we have always used gla.s.s jars?" There are many advantages in canning in tin which we can well consider. There is no breakage as in gla.s.s; you can handle the tin cans as carelessly as you choose and you will not hear a snap or crack indicating a lost jar. Furthermore, tin cans are easier to handle not only in canning but in storing.

The expense each year of new tin covers or new tin cans is no more than the purchase of new rubbers and the replacement of broken gla.s.s jars. Furthermore, one big advantage of tin over gla.s.s is that tin cans can be cooled quickly by plunging them into cold water immediately upon removal from the canner, and thus the cooking is stopped at the proper moment. The product is consequently better in form and flavor than when the cooking is prolonged, as it must be in gla.s.s jars. Many women like the large openings of cans because they can make better packs than when using narrow-necked jars.

If you do not care to bother with the soldering you can purchase a safe and simple device that will do the work for you. This device is called a tin-can sealer. With a sealer no soldering is necessary.

Even an inexperienced person, by following directions carefully, can seal a can as well as an experienced one. The sealed cans look exactly like those purchased at the store. Two or three cans a minute can be sealed with this device.

This is the way to operate a can sealer: Prepare the fruits and vegetables as for any canning, following directions formerly given for cold-pack canning.

After the fruits or vegetables have been properly prepared, blanched and cold-dipped if necessary, place them in sanitary, solderless cans.

Put water or sirup on, according to directions. Put the top on the can and place the can in the sealer.

Raise the can into the chunk by swinging the raising lever at the bottom of the machine against the frame. Turn the crank, rapidly at first, with the right hand, and at the same time push the seaming-roll lever very slowly with the left hand until it will go no farther. This is one of the most important steps in the use of the machine. Continue to give the crank several turns after the seaming-roll lever has gone as far as it will go. This completes the first operation or seam.

Continue turning the crank with the right hand, and with the left hand pull the seaming-roll lever until it will go no farther in this direction. After this has been done give the crank several more turns, and the second and final operation is complete. Bring the seaming-roll lever back to the middle position and remove the can. The can is then ready for sterilization.

Before sealing a new lot of cans or after changing for a different size of can, one or two of the cans about to be used should be tested for leaks. If this is done and the cans stand the test it will be unnecessary to test the remaining cans of that same lot. The following is a simple and safe test:

Put one tablespoon of water into an empty can and seal. Have on hand a vessel containing enough boiling water to cover the can. Set aside and, as soon as bubbles disappear from the surface, immerse the can in the hot water. This heats the water in the can and creates a pressure within the can. Keep the can under the surface for two minutes, and if by that time no bubbles rise from the can the can has been sealed air-tight.

ADJUSTING THE SEAMING ROLLS

If bubbles rise from the can the seam is not sufficiently tight. If this seam is not sufficiently tight the _second_ seaming roll needs adjusting, provided the directions regarding seaming rolls given below have been observed. To set the rolls proceed as follows: Loosen the nut on the bottom of the seaming-roll pin. With a screw driver turn the seaming-roll pin counter clockwise--that is, from right to left.

Turn very slightly and, while holding the seaming-roll pin with the screw driver in the left hand, tighten nut with the right hand, and test as before.

Occasionally it is well to compare the seam after the first operation with the sample can which is sent with the machine.

If seaming rolls cut into the can they are set too close, and the seaming-roll pin should be adjusted in the opposite direction from above.

After adjusting, always test cans as suggested above before canning.

The seaming rolls are set before the machine leaves the factory and should not require adjusting for some time, but I have found that slight variations in cans may make adjusting necessary.

If for any reason the second seaming roll is brought into contact with the can before the first operation is complete it may injure the can seriously, thus preventing an air-tight seam.

If the first seaming roll is forced in too rapidly it may ruin the seam. Push the seaming-roll lever gently and steadily, while turning the crank with the right hand. This rolls the seam gradually. There is no danger from bringing in the second seaming roll too quickly if the first seaming roll has completed its work.

There are thus, as you see, two kinds of tin cans used in home canning: The sanitary or rim-seal can, which is used with a sealer, and the cap-and-hole can. The latter consists of a can, and a cover which carries a rim of solder and is fastened on the can by the application of heat.

The sanitary can has a cover a trifle larger than the diameter of the can, thus leaving the full diameter of the can open for filling. That part of the cover that comes into contact with the can is coated with a compound or fitted with a paper gasket or ring which makes a perfect seal when the cover is crimped on the can. Some mechanical device is necessary for sealing this can, and this is the sealer.

Cans may be had with inside enamel or plain without any enamel. The following fruits and vegetables should be canned in enamel-lined cans: All berry fruits, cherries, plums, rhubarb, pumpkin, beets and squash.

All highly colored products should be canned in enamel-lined cans to prevent the bleaching effect induced by their action upon the plain tin. Some prefer to can fish and meat in the enamel-lined cans. Other products not mentioned here may be canned in plain cans, since they are less expensive than the enamel-lined cans.

Covers are lined in two ways, with the paper gasket and the compound gasket. The compound gasket is merely a preparation, scarcely visible, applied to the under side of the cover and is not easily damaged by handling. The paper gasket is a ring placed on the under side of the cover and must be handled carefully. If the paper gasket becomes broken the cover must be discarded. To sterilize covers having the paper gasket, place them in the oven for a few minutes, but _do not wet them_, before sealing cans. Do not remove or handle paper gaskets.

When the cans are removed from the cooker the ends should be raised; this is caused by the pressure within. If they are not raised at the ends the cans should be carefully examined for defects. After the cans are sterilized they should be cooled off in water. This will cause the ends to collapse. If they do not collapse the reason is probably due to overfilling. It must be remembered that peas, beans and corn swell a certain amount after water is placed in the cans; therefore, in canning these vegetables the cans should be filled only to within a quarter of an inch of the top. If the pressure of the air from without will not cause the end to collapse, it should be forced in by hand.

THE TINNING OUTFIT

Tin-can sealers are made to handle the regular Number 2, or pint cans, and the Number 3, or quart cans. The sizes are interchangeable, so that in a few minutes' time a Number 2 machine may be changed into a Number 3 machine with the necessary attachments. So it is economy to buy a machine with these attachments, as you can then use either pints or quarts as you desire.

If you are selling to boarding houses and hotels you also will want half-gallon and gallon cans. If you use these larger-size cans and want the sealer you can get it for these sizes, but you must tell exactly what you want when ordering.

The prices which I give are 1919 prices and are of course not stationary. A sealer that will seal the Number 2 sanitary tin cans costs $14. A sealer for Number 3 cans will cost the same amount. But the ideal arrangement is the combination machine which can be used for both the pints, Number 2, and the quarts, Number 3. This type of sealer costs $16.50. A special machine is used for sealing the Number 10 or gallon cans, and its price is $35.

The price of the "winter can opener" is $17.00 for smaller size and $19.50 for the larger one.

Several standard sizes of tin cans are in common use for canning purposes, as follows: