The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-08-04
WHAT IS NEEDED
 FOR AWORTHWHILE CANNING OUTFIT
Manufacture Answer Dues tions for Those Preserv
 ing at Home

What is the minimum equipment necessary for canning and preserving in the home? This question has been answered by some thirty manufactur- CTS of enameled, galvanized and tin ned kitchen wares who are timing to educate the American housewife to the greater conservation of her kitchen utensils in war times
 In order to bring the subject before housewives, the manufacturers had weH-known home economics writer prepare a statement of the best ways of producing economy.
 If you are patriotic woman, says the statement, responding to the call of the government, to can and store food for next winters use, you need this bulletin.
 Get your canning equipment ready. With frequent transportation held up because of government shipments there will be unavoidable shortages in supplies. Be. prepared for harvest time.
 Your needs are simple. There are many devices for making canning easy now on the market, but the uni- versal canner is the old fashioned wash boiler. If your boiler is used for the family wash it Is better to bury a new one to be kept for canning. A rectangular boiler with no curve at the ends made of heavy tin and pre- ferably having a copper bottom makes a good canner. The square ends give an additional capacity of one jar over the boiler with rounded ends. A square end boiler large enough to fit over two stove holes ar gas burners will hold ten quart or eleven pint jars. The boiler must be fitted with a false bot tom. This is often made of wood, but wire racks with side handles which allow the jars to be lifted out of the boiling water without touching, them with the hands are safer. Racks come in single sizes, one holder to a jar, or in boiler size to hold nine to ten jars. A boiler size rack is made of heavy tin and the side handles are notched so that when the jars are lift ed out of the boiling water the rack may be hung on the sides of the boil CT while the jars are removed.
 It is not always possible to can nine to ten jars at a time. Therefore it is wise to add to the equipment a small CT boiler which will fit ovef one stove hole or. gas burner and which will hold up to five quart jars. The boil CT must be tall enough to permit the water to cover the jars and yet not run over the top while boiling. For this purpose a large enamel preserv- ing boiler, with a lid, is to be recom- mended and the individual jar hold CTS may be used for the false bot toms. The preserving boiler will not only act as a canner but can be used for those fruits which must be cooked before sterilization in the jars; fruits such as apple sauce, apple butter, grape butter, etc.
 For preparing the food to be can ned large tin or enameled dishpans will prove useful for washing and cold dipping. The most of the canning will be done by a cold pack system and if the boiler used is used exclu- sively for canning, the vegetables and fruits may be blanched in the wash boiler. But if the boiler is used as a clothes boiler it is not safe to do blanching in it. And the heating of two lots of water, one for bianching, and one for canning is such an ex- pensive process that the purchase of a second boiler is not only safer but more economical A wire basket with a fine mesh may be used for blanch- ing or two strong cheese cloth bags. ] Only one of these is used for the two processes, blanching and cold-dipping, but when canning is done day after day it is better to provide two bags and to te certain that each one is boiled and dried in the sun before us- ing again. The bags absorb the Eodor and flavors of the fruits or vegetables in them and for this reason the wire basket is preferable.
 1 After the cold dip the fruits and vegetables are cut into pieces and
 packed in the jars. Sharp knives make quick work and for the cutting a large tray of galvanized ware with a wide shelving rim is invaluable. The tray IS practically indestructible; knife slips have no effect on it as they do
 on the kitchen table. The wide shelv- ing edge prevents the vegetables from flying off as they are cut, and the | operation of cutting is much quicker l upon flat surface where, for in | stance, a dozen stalks of rhubarb, as-
 paragus or celery may be cut at once
 than by the old way of holding each one in the hand and painstaking cut tting one by one. In canning ce.=. g tray such as this is almost essential 1S SuIIAll6 I11S dlAS 1TOIIl tuC CODs scatters them about the kitchen floor unless c wide edge tray is Used.
 A wide mouth funnel for s::::rE jars is an inexpensive but very valu. liable part of a. canning outfit. Tunnels of this tyre have mouths at least two
 inches across and there is very little waste from spilling when they are
 used in filling the jars. They are
 made in both tin and enameled ware
 Two types of spoons are useful. Botf
 should have very long handles, an6
 wooden handles are best since they
 never get hot. Enamel handled spcl:! are more plentiful than those witI
 wooden handles. Tin spoons mear
 burned fingers. There should be al
 least two long handled deep bowlet
 enamel spoons for handling hot syr.
 upy products and one spoon with .
 perforated bowl, often known as 2
 Skinner spoon," for lifting vegetables
 and fruits from hot water.
 The last need is jar litter. It may
 be used to handle hot jars and tc tighten screw tops. It also prevents
 many burns and scalds and its cost
 is trifling.
 Summed up, woman who is can.