Every Step in Canning | Page 9

can strawberries for the market or to win a prize at the
county or state fairs, can them as follows:
Canned by this recipe, strawberries will not rise to the top of the sirup.
Use only fresh, ripe, firm and sound berries. Prepare them, and add
eight ounces of sugar and two tablespoonfuls of water to each quart of
berries. Boil slowly for fifteen minutes in an enameled or acid-proof
kettle. Allow the berries to cool and remain several hours or over-night
in the covered kettle. Pack the cold berries in hot glass jars. Put rubbers
and caps of jars in position, not tight. Sterilize for the length of time
given below for the type of outfit used:
MINUTES
Water bath, homemade or commercial 8
Water seal, 214 degrees 6
5 pounds steam pressure 5
10 pounds steam pressure. Do not use.
Remove the jars, tighten the covers, invert the jars to cool and test the
joints. Wrap the jars with paper to prevent bleaching.
CHAPTER III
HARD FRUITS
PINEAPPLES
The object of canning citrus fruits is, first, to save the surplus and

by-products; second, to furnish wholesome fruits at reasonable cost to
more of our people; third, to help the producer to transform by-products
into net profits.
Almost every one likes canned pineapple, but some housewives
stopped canning this fruit because they found that when cooked in sirup
it seemed to get tough and less palatable. Vegetable and fruit fibers are
toughened when cooked with sugar for any length of time, so in all
cases where you desire to keep the product as Nature grew it avoid this
form of cooking.
When the product is put into the jars with a sirup and cooked in the jar
you will have a product superior to the one that is cooked over the
direct fire in the kettle with the sirup.
But pineapple slices or pieces are so hard they cannot be put directly
into the jars as berries are. Pineapples must undergo a preliminary
process to make them palatable and soft. This preliminary process is
known in canning as "blanching."
After the pineapple has been prepared by paring and removing the eyes,
it can be left in slices or cut into cubes. In cutting hold the pineapple at
the top and use a sharp knife. It is then placed in a wire basket or a
piece of cheesecloth for the blanching. Blanching means to immerse the
product in boiling water for a certain length of time to reduce its bulk
and soften it.
Pineapples are blanched for five minutes. We scald peaches and
apricots, which are soft fruits; but we blanch pineapples, apples and
quinces, the hard fruits.
Scalding means to immerse the product in boiling water for a very short
time--just long enough to loosen the skins. Blanching is just a longer
period of scalding.
When you blanch pineapples use only enough water to cover them.
This same blanching water can be used for making the sirup. It contains
much of the pineapple flavor and there is no reason for discarding it.

But this is absolutely the only blanching water that is ever used. All
other blanching water, particularly that in which vegetables are
blanched, is full of objectionable acids that we want to get rid of, so
under no circumstances must it be used. But with pineapples the object
of blanching is primarily to soften the hard fiber, so there is no
objection to using the blanching water.
After the pineapple has been in the covered kettle of boiling water for
five minutes, it is held under cold water until cool enough to handle.
Never let it soak in cold water, as that will impair its delicate flavor.
After this it is packed into hot sterilized jars. Rubber rings are put on
the jars, the covers are put in place--not tight--and the jars are put in the
canner.
Pineapple is sterilized for thirty minutes in a hot-water-bath outfit;
thirty minutes in a condensed steam outfit; twenty-five minutes in the
water-seal; twenty-five minutes in the steam pressure under five pounds
of steam, and eighteen minutes in the pressure cooker under ten pounds
of pressure. At the end of the sterilizing period the jars are removed, the
covers completely tightened and the joints carefully tested for leakage.
A thin or medium-thin sirup is best for pineapples. Measure the
blanching water and to every two cups of it add three cups of sugar. If
you wish the sirup thin heat until the sugar is dissolved. If medium-thin
sirup is desired, boil it