The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1939-08-24
Homemakers' Column
Edited by Miss Mildred Barton, Home
Demonstration Agent, Oakland.
Tomatoes

Originally, the tomato came from
tropical America. Since then it has
knocked about considerably. Tt gain
recognition as a food, it had to go to
Europe where in the 18th century
Englishmen grew it purely for its
ornamental value. In 1898, it ap-
peared before the Supreme Court of
the United States. On that occasion,
the highest court of the land handed
down the decision, in connection with
tariff problem, that tomatoes-while
they are fruit botanically speaking
are vegetables in the language Of
common usage.
However, a tomato by any classified
ton is valuable in the diet. According
to the nutritionists, one mediums
ripe, red tomato will furnish about
half of a days requirement for ascor-
bic acid or vitamin C-and about one
fifth of the vitamin A needs for a day
plus small amounts of some of the
other vitamins.
Reassuring to those who can toma-
toes at home should be the results Of
an experiment completed recently in
laboratories of the Bureau Of Home
Economics. They found that tomatoes
put up by recommended home canning
methods-even though they lost some
of their vitamin C in storage after
canning-still rated as a good source
of that vtamin.
Tomatoes are easier to can at home
than most vegetables because, unlike
most vegetables, they are acid foods.
For that reason they need not be
processed in a steam pressure Gamer.
Processing them in water bath for a
reasonable length of time will kill
any dangerous or troublemaking
bacteria that happen to be present.
Firm, ripe tomatoes, medium in
size, and free from decay, are the can
ming ideal. Pack them either hot or
cold in glass jars or tin cans. Toma-
toes packed hot will need considerably
shorter processing than those packed
raw.
In either case, skin the tomatoes
first. An easy way to do this is to put
them in a tray or wire basket, dip
this in boiling water for about a
minute, then plunge it into cold water.
Drain, peel, and core the tomatoes i'm
mediately. Pack them "as is" closely
as possible into containers, add / tea
spoon salt for every quart, fill the can
or jar with tomato juice, then process.
Or, cut the tomatoes in quarters, heat
them to boiling, and pack hot, using
the same amount of salt, then process.
Tomatoes as juice are in the most
convenient form for making aspices-
as we'll as many other tomato-favored
dishes. And put up without any salt
it will fit into diets of infants.
As short a time as possible from the
vine to the container-that's an i'm
portant rule for tomato juice. So
work with only to 2 gallons at time
and do not let the tomatoes stand
around between operations, After a
preliminary washing and trimming
cut the tomatoes into small pieces,
Simmer the tomato pieces until they
soften.
Then put these at once through a
fine sieve-a cone or a bowl-shaped
sieve is best to get as little air as
possible into the pulp. Reheat the
juice at once-just to boiling. Then
pour it into sterilized jars-add Y
to l teaspoon of salt to a quart if de-
sired-seal Immediately. The juice
in the glass jars will need no process
sing. Or, pour the hot juice into tin
cans, seal Immediately, and process
for 5 minutes in a boiling-water bath.
Do not leave head space in either
jar or can.
Another important point in tomato
canning success is using the right
kind of utensils. To keep the natural
tomato color and flavor in juice-use
knives of stainless steel and avoid
kettles of copper, brass, or iron. And,
of course, never cook or even let toma
toes stand around in galvanized iron
utensils. They'll take up zinc from the
pan and become poisonous. Those who
buy commercially canned tomato pro-
ducts, will, after January 1 1910,
have Federal standards to help them.
On that date, standards Of quality and
fill of container will go into effect for
all canned tomatoes, tomato PURGE, and
tomato paste that enters into inter-
state commerce. These standards re-
Gently were established by the secre-
tary of Agriculture by authority Of the