Every Step in Canning Part 6

Field corn. This product is commonly known as corn-club breakfast food. The corn should be selected between the milk and the dough stage. Wide-mouthed gla.s.s jars or tin cans should be used for canning this product. Avoid packing container too full, as the product swells during the sterilization period. The corn should be canned the same day it is picked from the field if possible. After this product has been sterilized and cooked and stored away it will form a solid, b.u.t.ter-like ma.s.s which may be cut into convenient slices for toasting, frying and baking purposes.

Mushrooms. Do not fail to blanch and cold dip. After opening containers remove the mushrooms immediately and use them as quickly as possible.

Sweet peppers. Place the peppers in the oven and bake them until the skins separate from the meat. Remove the skin. Pack in hot jars. Add 1 teaspoonful of salt to a quart. Add boiling water.

Lima beans. Lima beans can be either blanched or steamed. If blanched allow 5 minutes; if in live steam allow 10.

Wax or string beans. Beans can be canned whole or cut into uniform pieces.

Cabbage and cauliflower. Cabbage and cauliflower should be soaked in cold brine ( lb. salt to 12 quarts water) for one hour before blanching.

Brussels sprouts. Use small solid heads.

Peas. A cloudy or hazy appearance of the liquid indicates that the product was roughly handled in blanching and cold dipping, or that broken peas were not removed before packing.

Carrots and parsnips. Carrots can be packed whole, in slices or in cross-section pieces. Skin of parsnips can be sc.r.a.ped off after blanching and cold dipping.

Beets. Small beets that run 40 to a quart are the most suitable size for first-cla.s.s packs. Well-canned beets will show a slight loss of color when removed from the canner, but will brighten up in a few days.

Turnips. Sc.r.a.pe skin after blanching and cold dipping.

Corn and tomatoes. Add 1 teaspoonful of salt to every quart of mixture. Mix 2 parts of tomatoes with 1 part corn. One teaspoonful of sugar improves the flavor.

Corn, tomatoes and string beans. Use 1 part of corn, 1 part of green string beans and 3 parts of tomatoes. Add 1 teaspoonful of salt and 1 teaspoonful of sugar to every quart jar.

CHARTS FOR CANNING ALL VEGETABLES AND GREENS

[A] SCALDING OR BLANCHING MINUTES [B] IN BOILING WATER OR HOMEMADE OUTFIT (212F.) [C] IN CONDENSED STEAM OUTFIT [D] IN WATER-SEAL OUTFIT 214F [E] IN STEAM PRESSURE 5 TO 10 POUNDS [F] IN PRESSURE COOKER 10 POUNDS

VEGETABLES/ NUMBER OF MINUTES TO STERILIZE PREPARATION [A] [B] [C] [D] [E] [F]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cla.s.s 1--Greens, Domestic and Wild -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ALL GREENS--SPINACH, Steam in 120 120 90 60 40, at BEET TOPS, CHARD, colander or (2 hr) (2 hr) (1 hr) (1 hr) 10 lbs.

DANDELIONS, ETC. in steamer Pick over; wash in until wilted several waters. Takes about 15 minutes. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cla.s.s 2 --Special Vegetables ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ASPARAGUS Blanch tough 90 90 60 50 25, at Wash, remove woody ends 4 (1 hr) (1 hr) (1 hr) 10 lbs.

ends; cut to fit minutes, tip jar; tie in bundles. ends 2 minutes. TOMATOES Select Scald 1 22 22 18 18 10, at fresh, ripe, firm 10 lbs.

tomatoes. Skins will slip off after scalding and cold dipping. EGGPLANTS Remove skin Blanch 3 60 60 50 45 30, at after blanching (1 hr) (1 hr) 10 lbs.

and cold dipping. Slice crosswise and pack. PUMPKIN AND SQUASH Blanch 5 120 120 90 60 40, at Cut into sections; (2 hr) (2 hr) (1 hr) (1 hr) 10 lbs.

remove seeds; sc.r.a.pe sh.e.l.ls after blanching and cold dipping. CORN--SWEET 5 on cob 180 180 120 90 60, at Cut corn from cob, (3 hr) (3 hr) (2 hr) (1 hr) 10 lbs.

blanch immediately after and cold dip. CORN--FIELD 10 180 180 120 60 50, at Remove husk and (3 hr) (3 hr) (2 hr) (1 hr) 10 lbs.

silk. Cut the corn from the cob after it has been blanched and cold dipped. Feed the corn to a food chopper and grind to a pulp. Cook this product in a kettle, add 2/3 teaspoonful sugar and 1/3 teaspoonful salt to each quart. Cook (stir while cooking) until the product has a.s.sumed a thickened or pastelike ma.s.s. MUSHROOMS If small, 5 90 90 80 50 30, at can them whole; if (1 hr) (1 hr) (1-1/3 10 lbs.

large they may be hr) cut into sections. SWEET PEPPERS Use .. 90 90 75 60 40, at either green or red (1 hr) (1 hr) (1 hr) (1 hr) 10 lbs.

peppers. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cla.s.s 3--Pod Vegetables and Other Green Products ------------------------------------------------------------------------- BEANS--LIMA 5 to 10 180 180 120 60 40, at Sh.e.l.l and wash. (3 hr) (3 hr) (2 hr) (1 hr) 10 lbs.

BEANS--WAX OR STRING 5 to 10 120 120 90 60 40, at Wash and string. (2 hr) (2 hr) (1 hr) (1 hr) 10 lbs.

CABBAGE Use small 5 to 10 120 120 90 60 40, at solid heads of (2 hr) (2 hr) (1 hr) (1 hr) 10 lbs.

cabbage. CAULIFLOWER Use 3 60 60 40 30 20, at flowered portion of (1 hr) (1 hr) 15 lbs.

cauliflower. BRUSSELS SPROUTS 5 to 10 120 120 90 60 40, at Cut into sections (2 hr) (2 hr) (1 hr) (1 hr) 10 lbs.

and remove core. PEAS 5 to 10 180 180 120 60 40, at Sh.e.l.l and wash. Add (3 hr) (3 hr) (2 hr) (1 hr) 10 to 1 teaspoonful of 15 lbs.

salt and 1 tea- spoonful of sugar toevery quart. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cla.s.s 4--Roots and Tuber Vegetables ------------------------------------------------------------------------- CARROTS, PARSNIPS, 5 90 90 80 60 40, at SALSIFY (1 hr) (1 hr) (1-1/3 (1 hr) 10 lbs.

Remove skin by hr) sc.r.a.ping after blanching and cold dipping. BEETS 5 90 90 80 60 40, at To retain the color (1 hr) (1 hr) (1-1/3 (1 hr) 10 lbs.

of beets leave 3 or hr) 4 inches of the stem and all the root on while blanching. After cold dipping, the skin may be removed Sc.r.a.pe the skin. TURNIPS 5 90 90 80 60 40, at Wash thoroughly (1 hr) (1 hr) (1-1/3 (1 hr) 10 lbs.

with a vegetable hr) brush. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Cla.s.s 5--Vegetable Combinations ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CORN AND TOMATOES 120 120 120 60 45, at Prepare individual (2 hr) (2 hr) (2 hr) (1 hr) 10 lbs.

vegetables and then combine and pack. CORN, TOMATOES AND STRING BEANS Corn 3 Tomatoes 1 120 120 120 60 45, at String beans 5 (2 hr) (2 hr) (2 hr) (1 hr) 10 lbs.

Count from time when water begins to boil (bubbles all over). This time schedule is for both pint and quart jars. Add 30 minutes to time of sterilizing for 2-quart jars.

CHAPTER V

SOUPS

After one has learned how to can fruits and vegetables successfully, the next thing to attempt is the canning of soups.

Soups may be canned with or without meat. We make one variety which is a pure vegetable soup. We use no stock or meat, and can it in its own juice or liquor, thus using no water.

When we wish to use it we dilute it three or four times and serve it as a vegetable soup or, more frequently, when we have chicken bones or any meat bones on hand, we add a can of this concentrated vegetable mixture to the bones and make a delicious stock soup.

I will give this recipe as I have given it to many friends, all of whom have p.r.o.nounced it excellent:

1 Peck ripe tomatoes 1 Head cabbage 1 Dozen carrots 1 White turnip 3 Pounds string beans 1 Pound okra 3 Red peppers 1 Peck spinach 2 Pounds asparagus 6 Small beets 6 Ears sweet corn

Scald the tomatoes by placing them in a wire basket and plunging them into boiling water for one and a half minutes. Cold-dip them immediately. After removing the core and stem end of the tomato, the skin slips right off. Save all the tomato juice. Cut the tomatoes into quarters. Put into a large pail or bucket with the juice. Blanch the cabbage, carrots, turnip, string beans, okra and sweet red peppers five minutes. Cold-dip. Of course you blanch and cold-dip each product separately. Cut each vegetable after it is blanched and cold-dipped into small cubes and add to the tomatoes.

Spinach must be carefully washed to remove all grit and sand. All greens must be washed through several waters to cleanse them thoroughly.

Instead of blanching the spinach in a kettle of boiling water, as we do the other vegetables, we steam it by placing it in a colander over boiling water or in a regulation steamer with tightly fitting cover, such as is used for steaming suet puddings and brown bread. If you can with a steam-pressure canner or a pressure cooker, then steam the spinach there. If we boiled the spinach for fifteen or twenty minutes we would lose a quant.i.ty of the mineral salts, the very thing we aim to get into our systems when we eat spinach, dandelion greens, Swiss chard and other greens. After the blanching or steaming comes the cold dip.

There is something about blanching asparagus, either for soups or when canned alone, that is worth knowing. Instead of blanching the whole stalk of asparagus for the same length of time, we use a little discretion, giving the tougher, harder ends a full four minutes'

blanching, but allowing the tender tip ends only two minutes. You are possibly wondering how that is done.

Tie the asparagus stalks in bunches and put the bunches with all the tips standing one way on a piece of cheesecloth. Tie the cloth or snap rubber bands round it, and then stand the asparagus in boiling water in an upright position for two minutes; next lay the asparagus lengthwise in the blanching water for another two minutes, and you have accomplished your purpose. You have given the tougher parts two minutes' more blanching than the tender parts. Use a deep enough kettle so the asparagus will be completely covered when laid lengthwise. After the blanching, cold-dip the asparagus.

Wash the beets. Leave two inches of the top and all the tail on the beets while blanching. Blanch for five minutes, then cold-dip. Next sc.r.a.pe off the skin, top and tail. The tops can be put right into the soup too. Any surplus tops can be steamed with the spinach and can be treated similarly.

Blanch corn on the cob five minutes. Cold-dip. Cut the corn from the cob, cutting from tip to b.u.t.t end. Add the corn to the other vegetables. Add no water. Pack the mixed vegetables into clean gla.s.s jars; add one level teaspoonful of salt to every jar; partially seal; cook one hour and a half in wash-boiler or other homemade outfit. At the end of that period remove jars from canner, seal tight, and the work is done.

Of course you are interested in the cost of this soup. Most of the ingredients came right from our garden. We had to buy the okra and the red peppers, but I figured everything just as if I had to buy it from the market; and on this basis, the cost of our soup would have been only seven and a half cents a can. We canned it in tin, using size Number Two, which is the same as pint size in gla.s.s jars.

Another vegetable soup without stock, dried beans and peas being used, is made as follows:

Soak six pounds of Lima beans and four pounds of dry peas over night.

Boil each thirty minutes. Blanch sixteen pounds of carrots, six pounds of cabbage, three pounds of celery, six pounds of turnips, four pounds of okra, one pound of onions, and four pounds of parsley for three minutes and dip in cold water quickly. Prepare the vegetables and chop into small cubes. Chop the onions and celery extra fine. Mix all of them thoroughly and season to taste. Pack in gla.s.s jars or tin cans.

Fill with boiling water. Partially seal gla.s.s jars. Cap and tip tin cans. Process ninety minutes if using hot-water-bath outfit or condensed-steam outfit; sixty minutes if using water-seal outfit or five-pound steam-pressure outfit; forty-five minutes if using pressure cooker.

In many homes cream of tomato soup is the favorite. To make this soup the housewife uses a tomato pulp and combines it with milk and seasonings. You can can a large number of jars of this pulp and have it ready for the cream soup. To make and can this pulp follow these directions:

Tomato Pulp. Place the tomatoes in a wire basket or piece of cheesecloth and plunge into boiling water for one and a half minutes.

Plunge into cold water. Remove the skins and cores. Place the tomatoes in a kettle and boil thirty minutes. Pa.s.s the tomato pulp through a sieve. Pack in gla.s.s jars while hot and add a level teaspoonful of salt per quart. Partially seal gla.s.s jars. Sterilize twenty minutes if using hot-water-bath outfit or condensed-steam outfit; eighteen minutes if using water-seal, or five-pound steam-pressure outfit; fifteen minutes if using pressure-cooker outfit.