Every Step in Canning | Page 2

hopeless task to change all these old-fashioned, out-of-date methods of cooking but with a great amount of patience and much actual canning it can usually be done. Not always, of course, for there are some women who seem to delight in sticking to the old rather than try the new.
The present book is therefore designed for all interested in greater efficiency in the home, including not only students of home economics but all persons who have charge of homes and are interested in learning new, efficient, time and labor saving methods.
In the preparation of this book I have received much help from Mr. O.H. Benson, Agriculturist in charge of the government Boys' and Girls' Club Work, and my first instructor in Cold-Pack Canning. I also wish to acknowledge my appreciation to those who have helped to make this book possible by contributing information, advice and?encouragement.
GRACE VIALL GRAY.
October, 1919.
CONTENTS
I. GETTING READY TO CAN
II. SOFT FRUITS AND BERRIES
III. HARD FRUITS
IV. VEGETABLES
V. SOUPS
VI. JELLIES, JAMS, PRESERVES, MARMALADES, FRUIT JUICES AND SIRUPS
VII. MEAT
VIII. FISH
IX. EASY METHODS OF CANNING IN TIN
X. INTERMITTENT CANNING OR FRACTIONAL STERILIZATION
XI. WHY CANNED GOODS SPOIL
XI. I GETTING READY TO DRY
XIII. HOW TO DRY FRUITS
XIV. HOW TO DRY VEGETABLES
XV. EVERY STEP IN BRINING
XVI. CURING, SMOKING AND PRESERVING MEAT
XVII. PRESERVED OR "CANNED" EGGS
XVIII. HOME STORAGE OF VEGETABLES
XIX. HOW TO MARKET HOME CANNED PRODUCE
EVERY STEP IN CANNING
CHAPTER I
GETTING READY TO CAN
Before the World War, housewives had lost the good habit of canning, preserving and pickling. It was easier to buy California fruits by the case and canned vegetables by the dozen or half dozen cans, according to the size of the family. There is no doubt it was cheaper and decidedly easier to purchase canned fruits, vegetables, greens, soups and meats than to take time and strength in the very hottest season of the year to do our own canning.
But what was true then is not true now. The war taught us thrift. The crime of wasting even a few tomatoes or berries has sunk into our minds to stay forever; scientific canning methods have been adopted by the modern woman. Women who had never canned in days before the war had to can during war days. Food was so scarce and so high in price that to buy fancy or even plain canned products was a severe strain on the average housewife's purse. The American woman, as was to be expected, came quickly and eagerly to the front with the solution and the slogan: "More gardens and more canning and preserving at home."
A great garden and canning movement swept the whole country. As I have just said, women who had never canned before became vitally interested in putting up not merely a few jars of this and that, but jars upon jars of canned fruits, vegetables and greens; and so great was their delight in the finished products that again and again I heard them say: "Never again shall we depend upon the grocery to supply us with canned goods."
If these women had been obliged to use the same methods that their grandmothers used before them, they would have canned just the same, because it was their patriotic duty to do so; but they would have canned without the enthusiasm and zeal that was so apparent during the summers of 1917 and 1918. This enthusiasm was a result of new canning methods, methods unknown to our grandmothers. The women of to-day were forced into a new field and learned how satisfying and well worth while the results were. It is safe to guarantee that every?home-canning recruit will become a home-canning veteran.
The fascination of doing one's own canning after one has learned how simple and economical it is will be lasting. No one need fear that home canning is going to suffer because the war ended the immediate necessity for it. Home canning has come into its own because of the war, and it has come to stay because of its many merits.
There are four methods of canning that are employed by women all over the United States. They are the "open-kettle," the "intermittent," the "cold-water" and the "cold-pack" methods.
DRAWBACKS OF THE OLD METHODS
The "open-kettle," or "hot-pack," method is the oldest. It was largely used in the pre-war days. The food is completely cooked in the preserving kettle, and is then packed into hot, sterilized jars, after which the jars are sealed. As the packing into the jar is done after the sterilization has been completed, there is always a possibility of bacteria and spores entering the jar with the cooked food and the air. Fruits can be handled successfully in this way, but this method cannot be used for vegetables, greens and meats. It is a very laborious, hot and hard way to can. Modern housewives are discarding it more and more