EVERY STEP IN CANNING: THE COLD-PACK METHOD TEXT

BEET TOPS, CHARD, |colander or | (2 hr)| (2 hr)|(1½ hr)| (1 hr)|10 lbs. DANDELIONS, ETC. |in steamer | | | | | Pick over; wash in |until wilted| | | | | several waters. |Takes about | | | | | |15 minutes. | | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Class 2 --Special Vegetables ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ASPARAGUS |Blanch tough| 90 | 90 | 60 | 50 |25, at Wash, remove woody |ends 4 |(1½ hr)|(1½ hr)| (1 hr)| |10 lbs. ends; cut to fit |minutes, tip| | | | | jar; tie in bundles.|ends 2 | | | | | | minutes. | | | | | | | | | | | TOMATOES Select | Scald 1½ | 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)|(1½ hr)| (1 hr)|10 lbs. remove seeds; | | | | | | scrape shells 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)|(1½ 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 assumed a | | | | | | thickened or | | | | | | pastelike mass. | | | | | | | | | | | | MUSHROOMS If small, | 5 | 90 | 90 | 80 | 50 |30, at can them whole; if | |(1½ hr)|(1½ 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| |(1½ hr)|(1½ hr)|(1¾ hr)| (1 hr)|10 lbs. peppers. | | | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Class 3--Pod Vegetables and Other Green Products ------------------------------------------------------------------------- BEANS--LIMA | 5 to 10 | 180 | 180 | 120 | 60 |40, at Shell 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)|(1½ hr)| (1 hr)|10 lbs. | | | | | | CABBAGE Use small | 5 to 10 | 120 | 120 | 90 | 60 |40, at solid heads of | | (2 hr)| (2 hr)|(1½ 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)|(1½ hr)| (1 hr)|10 lbs. and remove core. | | | | | | | | | | | | PEAS | 5 to 10 | 180 | 180 | 120 | 60 |40, at Shell 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. | | | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Class 4--Roots and Tuber Vegetables ------------------------------------------------------------------------- CARROTS, PARSNIPS, | 5 | 90 | 90 | 80 | 60 |40, at SALSIFY | |(1½ hr)|(1½ hr)| (1-1/3| (1 hr)|10 lbs. Remove skin by | | | | hr) | | scraping after | | | | | | blanching and cold | | | | | | dipping. | | | | | | | | | | | | BEETS | 5 | 90 | 90 | 80 | 60 |40, at To retain the color| |(1½ hr)|(1½ 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| | | | | | Scrape the skin. | | | | | | | | | | | | TURNIPS | 5 | 90 | 90 | 80 | 60 |40, at Wash thoroughly | |(1½ hr)|(1½ hr)| (1-1/3| (1 hr)|10 lbs. with a vegetable | | | | hr) | | brush. | | | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Class 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 | 1½ | 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 pronounced 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 quantity 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 scrape 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 butt end. Add the corn to the other vegetables. Add no water. Pack the mixed vegetables into clean glass 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 glass 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 glass jars or tin cans. Fill with boiling water. Partially seal glass 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. Pass the tomato pulp through a sieve. Pack in glass jars while hot and add a level teaspoonful of salt per quart. Partially seal glass 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. Soup Stock. To make the soup stock which is the foundation of all the stock soups, use this recipe: Secure twenty-five pounds of beef hocks, joints and bones containing marrow. Strip off the fat and meat and crack bones with hatchet or cleaver. Put the broken bones in a thin cloth sack and place this in a large kettle containing five gallons of cold water. Simmer--do not boil--for six or seven hours. Do not salt while simmering. Skim off all fat. This should make about five gallons of stock. Pack hot in glass jars, bottles or enameled or lacquered tin cans. Partially seal glass jars. Cap and tip tin cans. Sterilize forty minutes if using hot-water-bath outfit or condensed-steam outfit; thirty minutes if using water-seal or five-pound steam-pressure outfit; twenty-five minutes if using pressure-cooker outfit. Soups made with soup stock are many and varied. One can utilize the things at hand and change the distinctive flavor from year to year. I will give you a few good specimen recipes which if followed will give good results: Vegetable Soup. Soak a quarter pound dried Lima beans and one pound unpolished rice for twelve hours. Cook a half pound pearl barley for two hours. Blanch one pound carrots, one pound onions, one medium-size potato and one red pepper for three minutes and cold-dip. Prepare the vegetables and cut into small cubes. Mix thoroughly Lima beans, rice, barley, carrots, onions, potato and red pepper. Fill glass jars or the enameled tin cans three-fourths full of the above mixture of vegetables and cereals. Make a smooth paste of a half pound of wheat flour and blend in five gallons soup stock. Boil three minutes and add four ounces salt. Pour this stock over vegetables and fill cans. Partially seal glass jars. Cap and tip tin cans. Sterilize ninety minutes if using hot-water-bath outfit or condensed-steam outfit; seventy-five minutes if using a water-seal or five-pound steam-pressure outfit; forty-five minutes if using pressure-cooker outfit. Cream of Pea Soup. Soak eight pounds of dried peas over night. Cook until soft. Mash fine. Add the mashed peas to five gallons of soup stock and bring to boil. Pass the boiling liquid through a fine sieve. Make a smooth paste of a half pound flour and add paste, ten ounces of sugar and three ounces of salt to the soup stock. Cook until soup begins to thicken. Pack in glass jars or tin cans. Partially seal glass jars. Cap and tip tin cans. Process ninety minutes if using hot-water-bath outfit or condensed-steam outfit; eighty minutes if using water-seal outfit; seventy minutes if using five-pound steam-pressure outfit; forty-five minutes if using pressure-cooker outfit. Cream of Potato Soup. Boil one and a half pounds of potatoes, sliced thin, and five gallons of soup stock for ten minutes. Add three ounces of salt, a quarter teaspoonful of pepper and a half pound of butter and boil slowly for five minutes. Make three tablespoonfuls of flour into smooth paste and add to the above. Cook three minutes and pack in glass jars or tin cans while hot. Partially seal glass jars. Cap and tip tin cans. Sterilize ninety minutes if using a hot-water-bath outfit or condensed-steam outfit; seventy-five minutes if using a water-seal outfit; sixty-five minutes if using a five-pound steam-pressure outfit; forty-five minutes if using a pressure-cooker outfit. Bean Soup. Soak three pounds of dried beans twelve hours in cold water. Cut two pounds of ham into quarter-inch cubes and place in a small sack. Place beans, ham and four gallons of water in kettle and boil slowly until the beans are very soft. Remove the ham and beans from the liquor and mash the beans fine. Return ham and mashed beans to the liquor, add five gallons of soup stock and seasoning, and bring to boil. Pack into jars or cans while hot. Partially seal jars. Cap and tip tin cans. Process two hours if using hot-water-bath or condensed-steam outfit; ninety minutes if using water-seal outfit; seventy-five minutes if using five-pound steam-pressure outfit; sixty minutes if using pressure cooker. Okra Soup. Slice eight pounds okra into thin slices the round way. Blanch ten minutes and cold-dip. Boil one and a half pounds rice for twenty-five minutes. Mix okra and rice and fill cans or jars half full. To five gallons soup stock add five ounces salt, a quarter teaspoonful of coriander seed and a quarter teaspoonful of powdered