WOMAN'S INSTITUTE LIBRARY OF COOKERY. VOLUME 5: FRUIT AND FRUIT DESSERTS; CANNING AND DRYING; JELLY MAKING, PRESERVING AND PICKLING; CONFECTIONS; BEVERAGES; THE PLANNING OF MEALS TEXT

cold-dip it quickly. Cut the kernels half way down to the cob and scrape out what remains after cutting. For best results in this operation, hold the ear of corn so that the butt end is up; then cut from the tip toward the butt, but scrape from the butt toward the tip. Next, pack the jars tightly with the corn, pressing it into them with a wooden masher. Unless two persons can work together, however, cut only enough corn for one jar and fill and partly seal it before cutting more. As corn swells in the cooking, fill each jar to within 1/2 inch of the top. The milk in the corn should fill all spaces between the kernels, provided there are any, but if it does not, boiling water may be poured in. Add 1 teaspoonful of salt to each jarful of corn and adjust the jar lids. Boil for 3 hours in the water bath; but, if the pressure cooker is to be used, cook for 1-1/2 hours at a pressure of 5 pounds or for 1 hour at a pressure of 10 pounds. Corn on the cob may be canned in the same way if desired, but as only three small ears can be put into a quart jar, this would seem to be a waste of space and labor. If corn on the cob is to be canned, 2-quart jars will prove more convenient than 1-quart jars. 71. PEAS.--Peas for canning should be well formed and tender, and they should be canned as soon as possible after coming from the garden. Proceed by washing the pods and shelling the peas. Blanch the shelled peas for 5 to 10 minutes in live steam, and cold-dip them quickly. Pack the peas into the jars, having them come to within 1/2 inch from the top, add 1 teaspoonful of salt to each jarful, and fill the jars with boiling water. Then adjust the jar lids and proceed according to directions for the method selected. In the water bath, boil for 2 or 3 hours; in the pressure cooker, cook for 1-1/2 hours at a pressure of 5 pounds or for 1 hour at a pressure of 10 pounds. 72. PUMPKIN AND SQUASH.--The canning of pumpkin and squash is advisable when there is any possibility of their not keeping until they can be used. Prepare either of these vegetables for canning by first peeling it and cutting the edible part into inch cubes. Blanch these cubes for 10 to 15 minutes in live steam and cold-dip them quickly. Pack the jars as full as possible, and add 1 teaspoonful of salt to each jar, but no water. After adjusting the jar lids, boil the jars of food for 1-1/2 hours in the water bath, or cook them for 1 hour at a pressure of 5 pounds or for 40 minutes at a pressure of 10 pounds in the pressure cooker. When finished, the jars will be found to be only about half full, but the contents will keep perfectly. If desired, pumpkin or squash may first be cooked as if preparing it for use and then put into the jars for processing. 73. SUCCOTASH.--Of course, succotash is not a vegetable, but the name of a food that results from combining corn and beans. These vegetables may be canned together to make for variety in the winter's food supply, or each may be canned separately and combined later. Clean the ears of corn in the manner previously directed; then blanch them for 5 minutes and cold-dip them. Also, remove green Lima beans from the pods, blanch them for 10 minutes, and cold-dip them. Then cut and scrape the corn off the cobs and mix it with an equal quantity of the beans. Pack the mixture into the jars to within 1/2 inch of the top, add a teaspoonful of salt to each jarful, and fill the jars with boiling water. Adjust the jar tops and proceed according to the directions for the process to be employed. In the water bath, boil for 2 hours; in the pressure cooker, cook for 50 minutes at a pressure of 5 pounds or for 35 minutes at a pressure of 10 pounds. 74. TOMATOES.--As has been stated, tomatoes may be canned successfully by the open-kettle method. If this method is to be employed, the first part of the preparation is exactly the same as for the cold-pack method, except that the jars, jar tops, and jar rubbers must be carefully sterilized. For canning, firm tomatoes should be selected if possible, as they will keep their shape better than those which are very ripe. If some are soft, they should be sorted out and canned for soup making or made into catsup. After washing the tomatoes, proceed to blanch them. The length of time required for blanching depends entirely on the condition of the tomatoes. They should be blanched for 1 to 3 minutes, or just long enough to loosen the skin. After blanching, dip them quickly into cold water and remove the skins. These, it will be found, may be removed easily and quickly. Pack the tomatoes thus prepared tightly into jars and fill them with boiling water, boiling tomato juice, or stewed tomatoes. Add a teaspoonful of salt to each jar. Then adjust the jar lids and proceed according to the directions given for the method selected. Boil for 22 minutes in the water bath; in the pressure cooker, cook for 15 minutes at a pressure of 5 pounds or for 10 minutes at a pressure of 10 pounds. 75. TOMATOES FOR SOUP.--If there are soft tomatoes at hand or if tomatoes are canned by the open-kettle method, quantities of tomato juice will be available. Such material as this may be put through a sieve and boiled down for winter use in the making of soups, bisques, etc. It may be canned simply by pouring the boiling juice into sterilized jars and sealing them immediately. 76. TOMATOES AND CORN.--An excellent food combination results from combining stewed tomatoes with corn. Such a combination may be canned safely by either the open-kettle or the cold-pack method. The acid of the tomatoes helps to keep the corn, but the combination requires longer cooking than just plain tomatoes. Prepare each vegetable as for canning separately, but, if desired, cut the tomatoes into pieces. Mix the two foods in any desirable proportion and, for the cold-pack canning method, put the food into the jars. Add 1 teaspoonful of salt to each jarful, but no water. Then adjust the jar lids, and proceed to sterilize and cook the jars of food. In the water bath, cook them 1-1/2 hours; in the pressure cooker, cook them for 50 minutes at a pressure of 5 pounds or for 35 minutes at a pressure of 10 pounds. DIRECTIONS FOR CANNING FRUITS 77. The chief difference between the canning of fruits and the canning of vegetables is that sugar in the form of sirup, instead of salt water, is used for the liquid. Fruits may be canned without sugar if desired, but nothing is gained by so doing, for sugar will have to be added later. Because of the sugar used in canning and the acid contained in the fruit, canned fruit has better keeping qualities than canned vegetables. In fact, it is much more likely to keep well even though it does not receive such careful attention as vegetables. It is for this reason that canned fruit does not require so much time for sterilization as vegetables do. Still it should not be inferred that care is not necessary in the canning of fruits. Indeed, the more care that is taken, the better are the results likely to be. 78. SIRUPS FOR CANNING.--Before the canning of fruits can be undertaken, it is necessary to possess a knowledge of the sirups that are needed. Such sirups consist simply of sugar dissolved in boiling water. The quantity of sugar and water required for a sirup depends on the acidity of the fruit and the purpose for which it is to be used. Plain canned fruits that are to be used for sauces, etc. require less sugar proportionately than those which are preserved, and fruit canned for pie making may have less than either. Thus, fruits of the same kind may be canned with sirups of different proportions. To a great extent, the quantity of sugar to use with fruit may be regulated by the taste, but it will be readily seen that such fruits as sour cherries and plums will require more sugar to make them palatable than pears and blueberries. It will be well to note, though, that the sugar does not penetrate the fruit unless the two are cooked together. 79. In order to make sirup for canning, place the desired quantities of sugar and water in a kettle and proceed to heat them. Stir the liquid while it is heating, in order to assist in dissolving the sugar. When it has begun to boil rapidly, remove the sirup from the fire and use it at once. Do not continue boiling. In preparing such sirups, it will be well to note that the greater the proportion of sugar to water or the longer the sugar and water are allowed to boil, the denser, or heavier, will the sirup become. It is this _density_ of sirup that regulates its use for the different kinds of fruit and determines its nature. Thus, a sirup in which the proportion of sugar to water is so large as to make the sirup thick is known as a _heavy sirup_; one in which the proportion of water to sugar is so large as to make the sirup thin is called a _light sirup_; and one in which the proportion of sugar and water is such as to produce a sirup that is neither thick nor thin, but stands between the two extremes, is called a _medium sirup_. TABLE I SIRUPS FOR CANNING FRUITS Proportions Degrees ------------ With Sirup Sugar Water Hydro- No. Cups Cups meter Uses --------------------------------------------------------------- 1 2 4 28 Open-kettle canning, or pie fruit canned by any method. 2 2 3 30 Open-kettle canning, or pie fruit canned by any method. 3 2 2 40 Open-kettle canning, or sweet fruits canned by cold-pack methods. 4 2 1-1/2 48 Sweet fruits canned by cold-pack methods. 5 2 1 54 Sour fruits canned by cold-pack methods. 6 2 1/2 68 Very rich fruits canned by cold-pack methods; preserves canned by open-kettle method. --------------------------------------------------------------- 80. The density of sirup is also affected by the amount and rapidity of evaporation that takes place in boiling, and these, in turn, depend on the amount of surface that is exposed. For instance, if a sirup is cooked in a large, flat kettle, the evaporation will be greater and more rapid than if it is cooked in a small, deep vessel. Atmospheric pressure affects the rapidity of evaporation, too. In a high altitude, evaporation takes place more slowly than at sea level, because the boiling point is lower. Thus, in the making of sirups for canning, the first point to be determined is whether the sirup desired should be light, medium, or heavy, and in its preparation the points mentioned must receive consideration. 81. For determining the density of sirup, a _sirup gauge_, or _hydrometer_, will be found useful. This device consists of a graduated glass tube attached to a bulb that is weighted with mercury. The graduations, or marks, on the tube, or top part, of the hydrometer serve to indicate the percentage of solid matter dissolved in a solution and register from to 50 degrees. To use such a gauge, partly fill a glass cylinder--an ordinary drinking glass will do--with the sirup and place the hydrometer in it. The greater the amount of solid matter dissolved in the sirup, the higher will be hydrometer float. Then read the number of degrees registered by observing the mark that is level with the surface of the sirup. The number of degrees that the hydrometer should register for sirups of different densities--that is, for sirups consisting of different proportions of sugar and water--are given in Table I. This table, in addition, gives the uses that should be made of such sirups, and each one is numbered so that it may be referred to readily later in the recipes for canning fruits. 82. CLASSIFICATION OF FRUITS.--For the sake of convenience in canning, fruits, too, are here divided into groups. These groups, three in number, together with the fruits included in each, are: 1. _Soft Fruits_, which are subdivided into three kinds, namely, sweet, sour, and very sour. The _sweet soft fruits_ include blackberries, blueberries or huckleberries, sweet cherries, elderberries, ripe gooseberries, mulberries, and black and red raspberries; the _sour soft fruits_, apricots, currants, grapes, peaches, and strawberries; and the _very sour soft fruits_, sour cherries, cranberries, green gooseberries, plums, and rhubarb. 2. _Hard Fruits_, which include apples, quinces, and pears. 3. _Special Fruits_, which include ripe figs, kumquats, loquats, nectarines, persimmons, and pineapples. The advantage of this classification, as in the case of the vegetable classification, is that, as a rule, all fruits belonging to a group or a subdivision of a group may be canned in the same way and with sirup of practically the same density. 83. CANNING METHODS FOR FRUITS.--The canning of fruits may be done by the several methods previously discussed, but the Cold-pack and open-kettle methods seem to meet with most favor. On account of the sirup used in canning fruit and the acid in the fruit, the open-kettle method is usually fairly successful, whereas, in the canning of vegetables, with the exception of tomatoes, it is not so reliable. The housewife, by experiment, can determine which method will suit her needs best, but by no means should methods be mixed. If a certain method is decided on, it should be adhered to in every detail and carried through without any substitution. For all methods, as has been mentioned, the fruit should be selected when it is fresh and in good condition, as such fruit has less chance to spoil than fruit that is overripe or has decayed spots. After it is graded for size and condition, the fruit should be washed, stemmed, hulled, seeded, peeled, or halved, quartered, or sliced, depending on the kind. Then the work may be proceeded with according to the canning method that is to be followed. 84. If fruits are to be canned by the open-kettle method, certain precautions must be observed in order to insure success. The sterilization of the product cannot be perfect in this method no matter how carefully the canning is done; and this means that the sugar and the fruit acids must be greatly relied on to assist in preservation. Still, the jars, jar covers, jar rubbers, and any utensils used for filling the jars must be sterilized and kept in boiling water until the fruit is ready to be canned. Another thing to guard against is the discoloring of the fruit. Any fruit that is likely to become discolored after it is prepared for canning should be kept in salt water until it is ready to be cooked. A solution consisting of 1 teaspoonful of salt to each quart of water will answer for this purpose. After the fruit has been prepared and while the containers, etc. are being sterilized, it is necessary to prepare the sirup that is to be used. For the sweet fruits of Group 1, No. 1 or 2 sirup should be made; for the sour fruits of this group, No. 2 or 3 sirup; and for the very sour fruits, No. 4 or 5 sirup. The hard fruits may be canned by this method with No. 1, 2, or 3 sirup, while the special fruits require No. 4 or 5 sirup. If the fruit is to be canned for pie, it will be advisable to use thin sirup and then use more sweetening when pies are made. When the sirup is made by mixing the sugar and water and bringing it to a boil, the prepared fruit should be dropped into it and cooked. The fruit should be cooked in the sirup until it may be easily pierced with a fork or until it is soft. Berries have to be cooked only a few minutes, while the hard fruits may require from 10 to 15 minutes. The jars should be placed upright in a pan of hot water while the boiling fruit from the kettle is poured into them, and as each jar is filled the rubber should be put in place and the cover adjusted and secured. It is important to close one jar before filling another, because the longer a jar remains open the more bacteria will be permitted to enter. Even by working as rapidly as possible and taking the greatest precaution, a certain number of bacteria are bound to enter in this method of canning. After the jars are filled and sealed, they should be placed upside down or on the side to cool and test for leaks. 85. If the cold-pack method is employed in canning fruit, it is possible to obtain a sterilized product that is dependent for preservation on neither the sirup used nor the acid of the fruit. In this method, the jars, jar tops, covers, and utensils for handling the fruit do not have to be sterilized beforehand. They may simply be washed clean and kept hot in clean water until they are needed. After the fruits are prepared, some are blanched or scalded and cold-dipped, while others are not. They are then packed into jars and boiling sirup is poured over them. Then the rubbers are adjusted, the covers placed on, but not made tight, and the jars are placed under water in the water bath or on the racks in the pressure cooker, which should contain a small amount of water, as has been explained. After cooking the required length of time, the jars of fruit are removed from the cooking utensil, sealed, and allowed to cool. The sirup used in the cold-pack canning method may be heavier in each case than that mentioned for the open-kettle method, because there is no evaporation, as is the case where fruits are boiled in the sirup before they are placed in the cans, but less will be required if the packing is well done. GROUP 1--SOFT FRUITS 86. SWEET SOFT FRUITS.--The sweet fruits included in Group 1 --blackberries, huckleberries, elderberries, ripe gooseberries, mulberries, raspberries, and sweet cherries-may be canned in exactly the same way, so that the same general directions will apply to all. Prepare the different kinds of berries, which should be as fresh as possible, by looking them over carefully and removing the poor ones, and then washing them. To wash them, pour them into a colander and dip it up and down in a large pan of clean, cold water. The less handling such fruits receive, the more perfect will they remain for canning. Prepare sweet cherries, which should be procured with the stems on if possible, by first washing them and then stemming them. They may be pitted, or seeded, or they may be left whole, depending on personal preference. Cherries that are not pitted will keep their shape and have a good appearance, but they are not so convenient for eating as those which have been pitted. 87. After the fruit has been prepared in the manner just explained, pack it closely into the hot, clean jars, using a spoon for this purpose and turning each jar as the fruit is poured into it. Press the berries or the cherries down carefully, so that 2 quarts of them will fill a 1-quart jar. Then proceed to make the sirup. As these fruits are the sweetest, they require less sugar than any other. If such fruit after it is canned is to be used for pie making, sirup No. 1 or 2 will be suitable, but if it is to be used for sauce, No. 3 sirup may be used. When the mixed sugar and water is boiling rapidly, pour it over the fruit packed into the jars. Then place the rubbers, adjust the jar tops, and proceed to sterilize and cook the cans of fruit. Boil these in the water bath for 15 minutes, or cook them in the pressure cooker for 8 minutes at a pressure of 5 pounds or for 4 minutes at a pressure of 10 pounds. 88. SOUR SOFT FRUITS.--Of the sour fruits, STRAWBERRIES, GRAPES, and CURRANTS require about the same quantity of sugar, that contained in sirup No. 3, 4, or 5 usually being sufficient. Otherwise, the canning process, including the length of time for processing, does not differ materially from that just given for sweet soft fruits.