Every Step in Canning: The Cold-Pack Method

by Grace Viall Gray

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.