Every Step in Canning Part 5

THE WAY TO SEAL

The products are in the hot jars now. The jars do not need to be full in order to keep. If you were canning by the "open-kettle" method, the air in the partly filled jar would not have been sterilized, and might contain the bacteria which cause the product to ferment or mold. But by the cold pack, the air in the can is sterilized while the product is being sterilized; and if the can is closed immediately after cooking, a single spoonful may be canned in a two-quart jar and the product will keep indefinitely.

Place Rubber and Cover on Jar. Fit the rubber. Use good rubbers and see that they lie flat and fit close up to the can. Put the covers in place.

Do Not Seal Gla.s.s Jars Tight. If using screw-top jars screw each cover down until it catches, then turn a quarter of a round back; or screw down with the thumb and little finger, not using force but stopping when the cover catches.

If using vacuum-seal jars put the cover on and the spring in place.

The spring will give enough to allow the steam to escape.

If using gla.s.s-top jars, with the patent wire snap, put the cover in place, the wire over the top and the clamp up.

The cover on a gla.s.s jar must not be tight while processing, because the air will expand when heated, and if the cover is not loose enough to allow the steam to escape, the pressure may blow the rubber out or break the jar.

When canning in tin we cap and tip the cans at once. The tin will bulge out, but is strong enough to withstand the pressure, and when the contents cool the can will come back into shape.

The jars are now ready for the canner. Tomatoes sterilized under boiling water require twenty-two minutes; in condensed-steam cooker, twenty-two minutes; in water-seal, eighteen minutes; in steam-pressure, with five pounds, fifteen minutes, and in the pressure cooker, at ten or fifteen pounds, ten minutes.

If you use the homemade outfit or any water-bath outfit be sure the water is boiling when the jars of tomatoes are lowered into the canner. Time lost in bringing the contents to the point of sterilization softens the tomatoes and results in inferior goods. Use the ordinary good sense with which you have been endowed in handling the jars and you will have no breakage. At the end of the sterilizing period, remove the jars.

In taking canned goods from boiling hot water, care is needed to see that they are protected from drafts. If necessary close the windows and doors while lifting the jars out, for a sudden draft might break them.

Examine rubbers to see that they are in place. Sometimes, if the covers are screwed down too tight, the pressure of the steam from the inside causes the rubber to bulge out. Simply loosen the cover a thread or two, push the rubber back into place and then tighten. In case the rubber does not seem to fit well or seems to be a poor rubber, it should be replaced by a new one and the jar returned to the cooker for five minutes.

The jars should be sealed tight--covers screwed down, clamps put in place--immediately after they are removed from the cooker.

Invert to test the joint and cool. If the seal is not perfect, correct the fault, and return the jar to the cooker for five minutes if hot, ten minutes if jar is cold.

Do not invert vacuum-seal jars. These should be allowed to cool and then tested by removing the spring or clamp and lifting the jars by the cover only. Lift the jar only a half inch, holding it over the table so that, in case the lid does not hold, the jar and contents will not be damaged. Or, better still, tap round the edge of the cover with a ruler. An imperfect seal will cause a hollow sound.

Tomato Puree. Small, misshapen, unevenly ripened tomatoes may be converted into tomato _puree_. The tomatoes should be washed, run through a colander to remove skins and cores, concentrated by cooking to about half the original volume, and packed in the jars. Rubbers and tops should then be placed in position and the product sterilized for the same length of time as for canned tomatoes. _Puree_ even may be kept in bottles sealed with sterilized corks and dipped several times in paraffin.

HOW OTHER VEGETABLES ARE CANNED

All other vegetables are canned exactly like tomatoes, with two exceptions. Tomatoes are scalded. All other vegetables are blanched.

We scald tomatoes to loosen the skins and to start the flow of the coloring matter, which is later arrested or coagulated by the cold-dip.

Blanching is scalding, only for a longer time. Scalding is never for more than two minutes. Blanching covers from three to thirty minutes.

We blanch beans, peas, corn, cabbage, carrots, beets, turnips, and so on, for three to ten minutes. We blanch these vegetables to eliminate any objectionable acids or bitter flavors which may be present, and thus improve the flavor; to reduce the bulk so we can pack closer; to start the flow of the coloring matter; to improve the texture of the vegetables by making them more tender, and to improve the appearance by helping to make clear the liquid in the jar. Blanching is what makes for success in the cold-pack method of canning. Blanching is _very_ important and must be carefully and accurately done.

Let me repeat about blanching: Have the kettle of blanching water _boiling vigorously, completely immerse_ the product in the boiling water, cover the kettle _immediately_ and begin to time the product.

Do not stand with the cover in hand and wait for the water to come back to the boil, for, of course, it stopped boiling for a second when you lowered into it the cold product. If you cover the kettle the water will quickly reboil. Do not keep wondering if it is boiling and take off the cover to see. All these may seem foolish precautions, but it is necessary to follow directions accurately.

And remember, all things that are scalded or blanched must be followed immediately by a cold plunge or "cold-dip." The scalding or blanching is the "hot-dip," and this must be followed by the "cold-dip." You may be asking, what is the point of this "cold-dip"? It is a very logical question.

We "cold-dip" a product to harden the pulp under the skin and thus permit the removal of the skin without injury to the pulp; to coagulate the coloring matter and make it harder to dissolve during the sterilization period and to make it easier to handle the products in packing, and to subject the product to a sudden shock by quick change in temperature.

STEPS IN CANNING VEGETABLES

If you will follow these steps for all vegetable canning you cannot help but be successful:

1. Clean jars and test rubbers. If rubbers do not return to normal shape after stretching, do not use.

2. Prepare material to be canned, according to directions given on chart.

3. Hot-dip--blanch or scald--the prepared food. This process consists of immersing the prepared product in boiling water for different lengths of time, according to the material to be canned. See chart.

Hot-dipping shrinks the product and enables one to pack more material in a jar.

4. Cold-dip the material. This process consists of plunging the blanched or scalded food into cold water, which makes it more easily handled. Be sure the water is cold; the colder the better.

Take the product out immediately and let it drain. _Don't let any food soak in the cold water._

From this point on, speed is highly important. The blanched vegetables which are slightly warm must not be allowed to remain out of the jars a moment longer than is necessary.

Remove skins when required, and as each article is pared cut it into pieces of proper size and

5. Pack directly into the clean, scalded cans or jars. Pack as solidly as possible, being careful not to bruise or mash soft products. Pack the product to within three-eighths of an inch of the top. Lima beans, navy beans, peas, corn, pumpkin and sweet potatoes swell, so pack them within only one inch of the top of the jar.

6. Add seasoning. One teaspoonful salt to every quart jar of vegetables, and an equal amount of sugar to tomatoes, corn and peas if desired.

7. Add boiling water to within a quarter inch of top to all vegetables, except tomatoes and greens. Tomatoes contain ninety-four per cent water, so none should be added. Tomato juice can be used if desired. Greens are canned in just the water that clings to the leaves after the cold-dip.

8. Adjust rubber rings and the covers of the jars; partially seal.

9. Sterilize--see time-table on pages following.

10. Remove from canner and completely seal. Test for leaks. Cool jars as rapidly as possible, without drafts striking them.

Rapid cooling of the product prevents overcooking, clarifies the liquid and preserves the shape and texture of the product.

SPECIAL DIRECTIONS FOR VARIOUS VEGETABLES

Greens. No water is added to greens. Ninety percent of greens is water. They are high in mineral matter and we must preserve that.

Asparagus. Remove string before packing in jar. Can or dry tough ends for soup. If asparagus is packed in jars as whole stalks, pack with the tips up.

Tomatoes. Remove skins before packing. Tomatoes may be canned whole or in pieces. Skin, cook and strain imperfect tomatoes. Use this for liquid; as 94 per cent of the tomato is water, no water is needed.

Eggplants. Make slices about to of an inch thick. Do not add salt, as it causes eggplants to turn dark.

Pumpkin and squash. If you do not wish to sc.r.a.pe out of the sh.e.l.ls you can remove seeds, pare and cut into small blocks of uniform size. Then blanch.

Sweet corn. Corn expands a little in processing, and for this reason jars should not be filled quite full. Corn that has reached the dough stage before being packed will have a cheesy appearance after canning. Corn should never be allowed to remain in the cold-dip water.