Part 89 (1/2)

2. Width of ring or f.l.a.n.g.e from 1/4 to 12/32 of an inch.

3. Thickness of 1/12 of an inch.

4. Tensile strength sufficient to ”stretch considerably and return promptly to place without changing the inside diameter.”

5. Firm enough so that no crease or break shows after it has been tightly folded.

SELECTION AND PREPARATION OF FRUIT FOR CANNING.--Select solid, and not over-ripe, fruit. It is better to have underripe than over-ripe fruit.

Fresh fruits--if possible picked on the same day they are to be used--are desirable for canning.

Most fruits should be washed before using. Quinces should be rubbed with a coa.r.s.e towel before they are washed. Berries and small fruits should be washed before they are hulled or stemmed. Most small fruits contain so much water that it is not necessary to add water for cooking. Hence such fruits should be drained thoroughly after was.h.i.+ng. If there are any decayed or bruised spots on fruit, the damaged portion should be removed completely.

Peaches and tomatoes may be peeled instead of pared. This is done by placing the fruit in a wire basket and then immersing the basket in a kettle of boiling water for 3 minutes. Remove the basket of fruit from the hot water and plunge it for a moment in cold water. Drain, then peel the fruit. If desired, cut into halves, quarters, or slices. After fruit is peeled or pared, it can be kept from discoloring by covering with cold water.

METHODS OF CANNING FRUIT

Several methods may be used for canning fruit:

(_a_) OPEN KETTLE.--This method consists of cooking the fruit in water or sirup and pouring it into jars and sealing. The entire process of sterilization takes place in the kettle before the food is poured into the jars. Hence the name of the process,--_Open Kettle_.

For this method it is necessary to _boil the jars and rubbers_ before placing the food in them. This is done as follows:

Fill and surround jars with cold water. Cover lids and rubbers with cold water. Gradually heat the water and allow it to boil for at least 15 minutes. Allow the jars, covers, and rubbers to remain in the boiling water until just ready to use them. Do not touch the inside of the jars and covers with your fingers. Immerse spoons, cups, knives, skewers, or knitting needles used for testing fruits, in boiling water before using them in contact with the foods. If corks are used for sealing bottles, scald them also.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Courtesy of _Merrill School _ FIGURE 90--CANNING FOODS.]

If small juicy fruits are preserved by the open kettle method, no water should be added. Add the sugar to them and allow them to stand until some of the juice is drawn from them, then cook.

If tough fruits are canned by this method, first steam, then cook in sirup, or first cook them in clear water, add the sugar, and finish cooking.

Fruit may be canned with or without sugar. Usually some sugar is used.

However, some housekeepers contend that the fresh-fruit flavor is retained better by reheating the fruit and adding the sugar just before it is served. Different quant.i.ties of sugar may be used. If the fruit breaks into pieces readily, cook in a thick sirup. The quant.i.ty of water used with the sugar varies with the juiciness of the fruit. _For each pound of fruit use from 1/2 to 1 cupful of sugar with from 1/8 to 1 cupful of water_.

After cooking the fruit, adjust the rubber on the sterilized jar, fill the jar (to overflowing) with the hot fruit and sirup, cover at once, and seal. Invert the can and let it stand until cool.

(_b_) COLD PACK.--This method is followed by placing the prepared food in a clean, tested, hot jar, covering the food with water or sirup, adjusting the rubber ring and cover to the jar, and processing both the jar and its contents in boiling water or steam.

Before placing the food in the jar, it may be _blanched_, _i.e._ subjected to boiling water or steam. After blanching, the food is _cold- dipped_, _i.e._ plunged into cold water. After the preliminary steps, such as was.h.i.+ng, paring, and cutting into pieces, foods may be _blanched_ and _cold-dipped_ as follows:

Place the food in a cheese-cloth bag or in a wire basket and immerse it in boiling water. Certain fruits are allowed to remain in the water from 1 to 5 minutes (see Table). (The time is dependent upon the kind of fruit.) Then remove the product from the boiling water, dip it immediately in cold water, remove at once, and drain for a few minutes. These two processes are used for large firm fruits. Berries and all soft fruits are canned without blanching and cold-dipping.

Whether the fruit is blanched and cold-dipped or not, place it in hot jars to 1/2 inch of the top. If a sirup is desired, it may be made by using 1/4 _to_ 1 _cupful of sugar for each quart jar with from 2 to 3 cupfuls of water._ Adjust a new, wet rubber on the jar; fill the jar to 1/4 inch of the top with sirup or with boiling water. Place the cover on the jar, but do not seal it tightly. If a screw top jar is used, screw on the lid by grasping it with the thumb and little finger. If the jar has a bail top, adjust the top bail only,--not the lower bail. Then process the jars and their contents by placing in:

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGURE 91.--RACK FOR HOLDING JARS. Note that the rack is shaped to fit a wash boiler.]

(1) Kettle or clothes boiler provided with a rack (see Figure 91) or some sort of false bottom such as strips of wood, straw, paper, or wire-netting of one half inch mesh.

(2) Steam cooker (see Figure 18).

(3) Pressure cooker (see Figure 17).