CHAPTER IV
VEGETABLES
It is practical to can all vegetables, even such difficult ones as corn, peas and beans, by the cold-pack method of canning without using any preservatives, if you will follow all directions, instructions and the time-table accurately. Vegetable canning is a little more complicated than fruit canning.
TOMATOES
Every one likes canned tomatoes. In many homes more tomatoes are canned than any other product. The housewife uses them for soups, for sauces and for seasoning many meat dishes. Some women say: "I can preserve everything but tomatoes. They always spoil. What do I do wrong?" If the following directions are followed tomatoes will not spoil.
Tomatoes really are the easiest vegetable to can, because the period of sterilization is short, and many jars may be canned in a day, or if one is very busy a few jars may be canned daily without the expenditure of a great deal of time.
The best tomatoes for canning are those of moderate size, smooth and uniformly ripe. When a tomato ripens unevenly or when it is misshapen, it is difficult to peel, and the percentage of waste is high. Tomatoes should not be picked when they are green or partly ripe, for the flavor will not be so good as when they are allowed to remain upon the vines until fully ripe. Care should be taken, however, not to allow them to become overripe before canning.
In no instance should a tomato with a rotten spot be canned, even though the spot is cut out, for the occasional spoiled jar resulting from this attempted saving will cost more than the partly spoiled tomatoes are worth. If the housewife will can only uniformly ripe, sound tomatoes, saving the small, uneven but sound fruit for tomato purée, she will have a much better-looking pack and greater food value at the close of the season. Yellow tomatoes may be canned in the same manner as are the more common red varieties, except that it is not necessary to remove the cores.
First of all, grade for ripeness, size and quality; this is to insure a high-grade product. We could, of course, can different sizes and shades together, but uniform products are more pleasing to the eye and will sterilize much more evenly. If the products are of the same ripeness and quality, the entire pack will receive the proper degree of cooking.
Wash the tomatoes. Have ready a kettle of boiling water. Put the tomatoes in a wire basket, or lay them on a piece of cheesecloth or a towel, twist the ends together to form a sack, and let this down into the kettle. It is a good plan to slip a rubber band round the neck of this sack to hold the ends in place. The ends should be long enough to stand up out of the water and so avoid danger of burning the fingers when removing the product.
Have the water boiling hard. Lower the tomatoes into the boiling water. This is called scalding the tomatoes. We scald the tomatoes to loosen the skin. If the tomatoes are very ripe, one minute scalding will be sufficient. The average length of time for tomatoes, just perfect for canning, is one and a half minutes. Do not leave the tomatoes in the hot water until the skins break, as this gives them a fuzzy appearance.
The scalding kettle always should be covered, to keep in all the heat possible. Begin to time from the minute the product is immersed in the boiling water. If you wait until the water comes back to a boil, you will scald the product too long and have mushy tomatoes.
Lift the tomatoes out of the hot water and plunge them immediately into cold water, or hold them under the cold-water faucet. The cold-dip makes them easier to handle, separates the skin from the pulp, firms the texture, and coagulates the coloring matter so it stays near the surface, giving them a rich, red color. Then the shock due to the sudden change from hot to cold and back to hot again seems to help kill the spores. Do not let the product stand in the cold-dip. The water becomes lukewarm, softens the product and allows bacteria to develop.
Take the tomato in the left hand and with a sharp knife cut out the core. Be careful not to cut into the fleshy portion or seed cells, for this will scatter the seeds and pulp through the liquid, injuring the appearance of the product. Cut out the core before removing the skin, for the skin will protect the pulp and there will be less danger of breaking the tomato. If the tomatoes are ripe and have been scalded properly, the skin can be slipped off with the fingers.
The jars, rubbers and tops should be ready. Glass jars should be hot, so there will be no danger of breakage in setting them in the hot water, and so they will not cool the water in the cooker below the boiling point.
Pack the tomatoes whole, pressing and shaking them well down together, but not using force enough to crush them.
Now we come to a point where tomatoes are different from most vegetables. Beans, carrots, peas, and so on, have hot water added to them. But as a large part of the tomato is water, no more is needed. Another exception where no water is needed is with the "greens family." So with tomatoes we add no water, but add one teaspoonful of salt and one teaspoonful of sugar, just for seasoning, to every quart jar. I think that tomatoes always are improved by the addition of a little sugar, but this is not necessary and can be omitted, as also can be the salt.
The salt in canning does not act as a preservative, but as seasoning; so if for any reason you forget the salt, do not be alarmed. Your products will keep perfectly without the salt.
THE WAY TO SEAL
The products are in the hot jars now. The jars do not need to be full in order to keep. If you were canning by the "open-kettle" method, the air in the partly filled jar would not have been sterilized, and might contain the bacteria which cause the product to ferment or mold. But by the cold pack, the air in the can is sterilized while the product is being sterilized; and if the can is closed immediately after cooking, a single spoonful may be canned in a two-quart jar and the product will keep indefinitely.
Place Rubber and Cover on Jar. Fit the rubber. Use good rubbers and see that they lie flat and fit close up to the can. Put the covers in place.
Do Not Seal Glass Jars Tight. If using screw-top jars screw each cover down until it catches, then turn a quarter of a round back; or screw down with the thumb and little finger, not using force but stopping when the cover catches.
If using vacuum-seal jars put the cover on and the spring in place. The spring will give enough to allow the steam to escape.
If using glass-top jars, with the patent wire snap, put the cover in place, the wire over the top and the clamp up.
The cover on a glass jar must not be tight while processing, because the air will expand when heated, and if the cover is not loose enough to allow the steam to escape, the pressure may blow the rubber out or break the jar.
When canning in tin we cap and tip the cans at once. The tin will bulge out, but is strong enough to withstand the pressure, and when the contents cool the can will come back into shape.
The jars are now ready for the canner. Tomatoes sterilized under boiling water require twenty-two minutes; in condensed-steam cooker, twenty-two minutes; in water-seal, eighteen minutes; in steam-pressure, with five pounds, fifteen minutes, and in the pressure cooker, at ten or fifteen pounds, ten minutes.
If you use the homemade outfit or any water-bath outfit be sure the water is boiling when the jars of tomatoes are lowered into the canner. Time lost in bringing the contents to the point of sterilization softens the tomatoes and results in inferior goods. Use the ordinary good sense with which you have been endowed in handling the jars and you will have no breakage. At the end of the sterilizing period, remove the jars.
In taking canned goods from boiling hot water, care is needed to see that they are protected from drafts. If necessary close the windows and doors while lifting the jars out, for a sudden draft might break them.
Examine rubbers to see that they are in place. Sometimes, if the covers are screwed down too tight, the pressure of the steam from the inside causes the rubber to bulge out. Simply loosen the cover a thread or two, push the rubber back into place and then tighten. In case the rubber does not seem to fit well or seems to be a poor rubber, it should be replaced by a new one and the jar returned to the cooker for five minutes.
The jars should be sealed tight—covers screwed down, clamps put in place—immediately after they are removed from the cooker.
Invert to test the joint and cool. If the seal is not perfect, correct the fault, and return the jar to the cooker for five minutes if hot, ten minutes if jar is cold.
Do not invert vacuum-seal jars. These should be allowed to cool and then tested by removing the spring or clamp and lifting the jars by the cover only. Lift the jar only a half inch, holding it over the table so that, in case the lid does not hold, the jar and contents will not be damaged. Or, better still, tap round the edge of the cover with a ruler. An imperfect seal will cause a hollow sound.
Tomato Purée. Small, misshapen, unevenly ripened tomatoes may be converted into tomato purée. The tomatoes should be washed, run through a colander to remove skins and cores, concentrated by cooking to about half the original volume, and packed in the jars. Rubbers and tops should then be placed in position and the product sterilized for the same length of time as for canned tomatoes. Purée even may be kept in bottles sealed with sterilized corks and dipped several times in paraffin.
HOW OTHER VEGETABLES ARE CANNED
All other vegetables are canned exactly like tomatoes, with two exceptions. Tomatoes are scalded. All other vegetables are blanched. We scald tomatoes to loosen the skins and to start the flow of the coloring matter, which is later arrested or coagulated by the cold-dip.
Blanching is scalding, only for a longer time. Scalding is never for more than two minutes. Blanching covers from three to thirty minutes.
We blanch beans, peas, corn, cabbage, carrots, beets, turnips, and so on, for three to ten minutes. We blanch these vegetables to eliminate any objectionable acids or bitter flavors which may be present, and thus improve the flavor; to reduce the bulk so we can pack closer; to start the flow of the coloring matter; to improve the texture of the vegetables by making them more tender, and to improve the appearance by helping to make clear the liquid in the jar. Blanching is what makes for success in the cold-pack method of canning. Blanching is very important and must be carefully and accurately done.
Let me repeat about blanching: Have the kettle of blanching water boiling vigorously, completely immerse the product in the boiling water, cover the kettle immediately and begin to time the product. Do not stand with the cover in hand and wait for the water to come back to the boil, for, of course, it stopped boiling for a second when you lowered into it the cold product. If you cover the kettle the water will quickly reboil. Do not keep wondering if it is boiling and take off the cover to see. All these may seem foolish precautions, but it is necessary to follow directions accurately.
And remember, all things that are scalded or blanched must be followed immediately by a cold plunge or "cold-dip." The scalding or blanching is the "hot-dip," and this must be followed by the "cold-dip." You may be asking, what is the point of this "cold-dip"? It is a very logical question.
We "cold-dip" a product to harden the pulp under the skin and thus permit the removal of the skin without injury to the pulp; to coagulate the coloring matter and make it harder to dissolve during the sterilization period and to make it easier to handle the products in packing, and to subject the product to a sudden shock by quick change in temperature.
STEPS IN CANNING VEGETABLES
If you will follow these steps for all vegetable canning you cannot help but be successful:
1. Clean jars and test rubbers. If rubbers do not return to normal shape after stretching, do not use.
2. Prepare material to be canned, according to directions given on chart.
3. Hot-dip—blanch or scald—the prepared food. This process consists of immersing the prepared product in boiling water for different lengths of time, according to the material to be canned. See chart. Hot-dipping shrinks the product and enables one to pack more material in a jar.
4. Cold-dip the material. This process consists of plunging the blanched or scalded food into cold water, which makes it more easily handled. Be sure the water is cold; the colder the better.
Take the product out immediately and let it drain. Don't let any food soak in the cold water.
From this point on, speed is highly important. The blanched vegetables which are slightly warm must not be allowed to remain out of the jars a moment longer than is necessary.
Remove skins when required, and as each article is pared cut it into pieces of proper size and
5. Pack directly into the clean, scalded cans or jars. Pack as solidly as possible, being careful not to bruise or mash soft products. Pack the product to within three-eighths of an inch of the top. Lima beans, navy beans, peas, corn, pumpkin and sweet potatoes swell, so pack them within only one inch of the top of the jar.
6. Add seasoning. One teaspoonful salt to every quart jar of vegetables, and an equal amount of sugar to tomatoes, corn and peas if desired.
7. Add boiling water to within a quarter inch of top to all vegetables, except tomatoes and greens. Tomatoes contain ninety-four per cent water, so none should be added. Tomato juice can be used if desired. Greens are canned in just the water that clings to the leaves after the cold-dip.
8. Adjust rubber rings and the covers of the jars; partially seal.
9. Sterilize—see time-table on pages following.
10. Remove from canner and completely seal. Test for leaks. Cool jars as rapidly as possible, without drafts striking them.
Rapid cooling of the product prevents overcooking, clarifies the liquid and preserves the shape and texture of the product.
SPECIAL DIRECTIONS FOR VARIOUS VEGETABLES
Greens. No water is added to greens. Ninety percent of greens is water. They are high in mineral matter and we must preserve that.
Asparagus. Remove string before packing in jar. Can or dry tough ends for soup. If asparagus is packed in jars as whole stalks, pack with the tips up.
Tomatoes. Remove skins before packing. Tomatoes may be canned whole or in pieces. Skin, cook and strain imperfect tomatoes. Use this for liquid; as 94 per cent of the tomato is water, no water is needed.
Eggplants. Make slices about ½ to ¾ of an inch thick. Do not add salt, as it causes eggplants to turn dark.
Pumpkin and squash. If you do not wish to scrape out of the shells you can remove seeds, pare and cut into small blocks of uniform size. Then blanch.
Sweet corn. Corn expands a little in processing, and for this reason jars should not be filled quite full. Corn that has reached the dough stage before being packed will have a cheesy appearance after canning. Corn should never be allowed to remain in the cold-dip water.
Field corn. This product is commonly known as corn-club breakfast food. The corn should be selected between the milk and the dough stage. Wide-mouthed glass jars or tin cans should be used for canning this product. Avoid packing container too full, as the product swells during the sterilization period. The corn should be canned the same day it is picked from the field if possible. After this product has been sterilized and cooked and stored away it will form a solid, butter-like mass which may be cut into convenient slices for toasting, frying and baking purposes.
Mushrooms. Do not fail to blanch and cold dip. After opening containers remove the mushrooms immediately and use them as quickly as possible.
Sweet peppers. Place the peppers in the oven and bake them until the skins separate from the meat. Remove the skin. Pack in hot jars. Add 1 teaspoonful of salt to a quart. Add boiling water.
Lima beans. Lima beans can be either blanched or steamed. If blanched allow 5 minutes; if in live steam allow 10.
Wax or string beans. Beans can be canned whole or cut into uniform pieces.
Cabbage and cauliflower. Cabbage and cauliflower should be soaked in cold brine (½ lb. salt to 12 quarts water) for one hour before blanching.
Brussels sprouts. Use small solid heads.
Peas. A cloudy or hazy appearance of the liquid indicates that the product was roughly handled in blanching and cold dipping, or that broken peas were not removed before packing.
Carrots and parsnips. Carrots can be packed whole, in slices or in cross-section pieces. Skin of parsnips can be scraped off after blanching and cold dipping.
Beets. Small beets that run 40 to a quart are the most suitable size for first-class packs. Well-canned beets will show a slight loss of color when removed from the canner, but will brighten up in a few days.
Turnips. Scrape skin after blanching and cold dipping.
Corn and tomatoes. Add 1 teaspoonful of salt to every quart of mixture. Mix 2 parts of tomatoes with 1 part corn. One teaspoonful of sugar improves the flavor.
Corn, tomatoes and string beans. Use 1 part of corn, 1 part of green string beans and 3 parts of tomatoes. Add 1 teaspoonful of salt and 1 teaspoonful of sugar to every quart jar.
CHARTS FOR CANNING ALL VEGETABLES AND GREENS
| NUMBER OF MINUTES TOSTERILIZE | ||||||
| VEGETABLES / PREPARATION | SCALDING OR BLANCHINGMINUTES | IN BOILING WATER OR HOMEMADEOUTFIT (212°F.) | IN CONDENSED STEAM OUTFIT | IN WATER-SEAL OUTFIT214°F | IN STEAM PRESSURE 5 TO 10POUNDS | IN PRESSURE COOKER 10 POUNDS |
| Class 1—Greens,Domestic and Wild | ||||||
| ALL GREENS—SPINACH, BEET TOPS,CHARD, DANDELIONS, ETC. Pick over; wash in several waters. | Steam in colander or in steameruntil wilted Takes about 15 minutes. | 120 (2 hr) | 120 (2 hr) | 90 (1½ hr) | 60 (1 hr) | 40, at 10 lbs. |
| Class 2—Special Vegetables | ||||||
| ASPARAGUS Wash, remove woody ends; cutto fit jar; tie in bundles. | Blanch tough ends 4 minutes, tipends 2 minutes. | 90 (1½ hr) | 90 (1½ hr) | 60 (1 hr) | 50 | 25, at 10 lbs. |
| TOMATOES Select fresh, ripe, firmtomatoes. Skins will slip off after scalding and cold dipping. | Scald 1½ | 22 | 22 | 18 | 18 | 10, at 10 lbs. |
| EGGPLANTS Remove skin after blanchingand cold dipping. Slice crosswise and pack. | Blanch 3 | 60 (1 hr) | 60 (1 hr) | 50 | 45 | 30, at 10 lbs. |
| PUMPKIN AND SQUASH Cut into sections;remove seeds; scrape shells after blanching and cold dipping. | Blanch 5 | 120 (2 hr) | 120 (2 hr) | 90 (1½ hr) | 60 (1 hr) | 40, at 10 lbs. |
| CORN—SWEET Cut corn from cob,blanch immediately after and cold dip. | 5 on cob | 180 (3 hr) | 180 (3 hr) | 120 (2 hr) | 90 (1½ hr) | 60, at 10 lbs. |
| CORN—FIELD Remove husk and silk.Cut the corn from the cob after it has been blanched and colddipped. Feed the corn to a food chopper and grind to a pulp. Cookthis product in a kettle, add ⅔ teaspoonful sugar and ⅓teaspoonful salt to each quart. Cook (stir while cooking) until theproduct has assumed a thickened or pastelike mass. | 10 | 180 (3 hr) | 180 (3 hr) | 120 (2 hr) | 60 (1 hr) | 50, at 10 lbs. |
| MUSHROOMS If small, can them whole; iflarge they may be cut into sections. | 5 | 90 (1½ hr) | 90 (1½ hr) | 80 (1⅓ hr) | 50 | 30, at 10 lbs. |
| SWEET PEPPERS Use either green or redpeppers. | .. | 90 (1½ hr) | 90 (1½ hr) | 75 (1¾ hr) | 60 (1 hr) | 40, at 10 lbs. |
| Class 3—PodVegetables and Other Green Products | ||||||
| BEANS—LIMA Shell and wash. | 5 to 10 | 180 (3 hr) | 180 (3 hr) | 120 (2 hr) | 60 (1 hr) | 40, at 10 lbs. |
| BEANS—WAX OR STRING Wash andstring. | 5 to 10 | 120 (2 hr) | 120 (2 hr) | 90 (1½ hr) | 60 (1 hr) | 40, at 10 lbs. |
| CABBAGE Use small solid heads ofcabbage. | 5 to 10 | 120 (2 hr) | 120 (2 hr) | 90 (1½ hr) | 60 (1 hr) | 40, at 10 lbs. |
| CAULIFLOWER Use flowered portion ofcauliflower. | 3 | 60 (1 hr) | 60 (1 hr) | 40 | 30 | 20, at 15 lbs. |
| BRUSSELS SPROUTS Cut into sections andremove core. | 5 to 10 | 120 (2 hr) | 120 (2 hr) | 90 (1½ hr) | 60 (1 hr) | 40, at 10 lbs. |
| PEAS Shell and wash. Add 1 teaspoonfulof salt and 1 tea- spoonful of sugar toevery quart. | 5 to 10 | 180 (3 hr) | 180 (3 hr) | 120 (2 hr) | 60 (1 hr) | 40, at 10 to 15 lbs. |
| Class 4—Rootsand Tuber Vegetables | ||||||
| CARROTS, PARSNIPS, SALSIFY Remove skinby scraping after blanching and cold dipping. | 5 | 90 (1½ hr) | 90 (1½ hr) | 80 (1⅓ hr) | 60 (1 hr) | 40, at 10 lbs. |
| BEETS To retain the color of beetsleave 3 or 4 inches of the stem and all the root on whileblanching. After cold dipping, the skin may be removed Scrape theskin. | 5 | 90 (1½ hr) | 90 (1½ hr) | 80 (1⅓ hr) | 60 (1 hr) | 40, at 10 lbs. |
| TURNIPS Wash thoroughly with avegetable brush. | 5 | 90 (1½ hr) | 90 (1½ hr) | 80 (1⅓ hr) | 60 (1 hr) | 40, at 10 lbs. |
| Class5—Vegetable Combinations | ||||||
| CORN AND TOMATOES Prepare individualvegetables and then combine and pack. | .. | 120 (2 hr) | 120 (2 hr) | 120 (2 hr) | 60 (1 hr) | 45, at 10 lbs. |
| CORN, TOMATOES AND STRING BEANS | 3 1½ 5 | 120 (2 hr) | 120 (2 hr) | 120 (2 hr) | 60 (1 hr) | 45, at 10 lbs. |
Count from time when water begins to boil (bubbles all over). This time schedule is for both pint and quart jars. Add 30 minutes to time of sterilizing for 2-quart jars.