Charlevoix county herald. (East Jordan, Mich.) 189?-1953, 1919-02-07
CANNING DIFFICULTIES
Much Trouble VIII BE Avoided by
Careful Preparation and Handling
Of Prcducta

Of Prcducta
40 enable the home Gamer over.
cone some of the difficulties likely to
be met with In canning vegetables, the
eanning-club specialists of tie de- -
ment for the Northern al Western
States give the following directions:
Sour corn. peas. beans. and aspara,
gus.-Cans of these vegetables may
show no sign Of spoilage and yet when
opened may have q sour taste and
disas-eeable odor. This trouble can
DO avoided II the Gamer will use
products which have net been gather
ed more than i've or six hours, and
will blanch, cold dip, and pack one
jar at . time and place each jar in
tho Gamer a. II 10 packed. The first
jars will not be affected by the extra
cooking. Rapid cooling of these
products prevents overlooking. clari-
aes the liquid. and preserves the
shape and texture of the vegetable.
When peas are keeping well. hut the
liquid shows . cloudy or hazy appear
ance. 1t indicates that the product was
roughly handled In blanchinC and cold
dipping, or that split or broken peas
were not removed before packing.
When peas are too old and blanching
is not carefully done the skin becomes
cracked and the liquid cloudy. Some
waters Of peculiar mineral content
have . tendency to increase cloudi-
ness.
Corn requires care.-Corn seems to
give the most trouble. but with little
care and study this product may be
canned as easily as any other. Select
corn that 10 just between the milk
and the dough stage. Dlanch not
longer than five minutes. A plunge in
cold water is SUFFICIENT. Cat the corn
from the cob with sharp knife and
pack at once in sterilized Jars. Best
results can be accomplished when two
people cut and one person fills. II
working alone. cut on sufficient corn
to MI one jar. pour on boiling water.
add salt, place rubber and cap In
position. and put the jar at once in
the Gamer. A little overlooking does
not injure the quality of canned corn.
Corn should not be tightly packed In
the jar; 1t expands a little in process
ing and each jar should be filled scant
full. Corn in the dough stage before
being packed has cheesy appearance
after canning. Corn should never be
allowed to remain in the cold dip and
large quantities should not be dipped
at one time unless sufficient help Is
available to handle the product quick
H. Water-logged or soaked corn indi.
Gates slow and inefficient packing.
Faded beets.-The older the beet the
more chance there is for loss of color.
Leave on I inch of the stem and all
OF the tail while blanching. Blanch
not more than five minutes and cold
dip. To remove the skin the beet
should be scraped. not peeled. Beets
should be packed whole IL possible.
Well-canned beets will show a slight
loss Of color when removed from the
Gamer, but will brighten up in a few
days. Small beets that run 40 to the
quart are the most suitable size for
uIst-Cidss pdCkS.
Shrinkage of greens.-This is usual
ly due to insufficient blanching during
the canning process. The proper way
to blanch all green's or pot herbs is in
steamer or in vessel improvised to
do the blanching in live steam above
the water line. II this is done, a high
percentage Of mineral salts and vola-
tile Oil Is retained by the product.
Too great acidity Of tomatoes.-A
degree Of acidity disagreeable to the
taste which is sometimes noted in
canned tomatoes may be corrected
when cooking by adding one-fourth
teaspoonful of baking soda to u quart
Of canned tomatoes.
Water for homo canning The
hardening Of beans. peas, and some
other products after cooking or pro-
cessing. or the turning of green vege-
tables to dark olive or russell color,
usually indicates that the water con-
tains too high percentage of mineral
matter. Water used for canning pur-
poses should be pure, soft, and as free
as possible from Objectionable and ex-
cessive quantities of mineral matter.
II large quantity OF food products is
to be canned and there is difficult with
the water available, II would be well
to have the water analysed. 1t would
be well also to secure advice from the
college Of agriculture or from the
Once of Home Economics, States Re-
lations Service. Department OF Agri-