Bulletil] 103 TA Revision of Bulletin 64 Setmbr 13
COOPERATIVE EXTENSION WORK IN AGRICULTURE AND HOME ECONOMICS
(Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914)
NCLLTURAL EXTENSION SERVICE, UNIVERSITY OP FLORIDA
FLORIDA STATE COLLEGE FOR WOMEN
AND UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE: COOPER ATING0
WiLMON NEWELL. Director
Revision of no.A9-C ek
t oI q,:c
CAN ,SURPLUS FRUITS AND
VEGETABLES
By ISABELLE S. THURSEY
Fig. 1.-The time has come to understand more fully the value of garden products. fresh or canned, to the health of farm people. Vegetables, fruit, milk and eggs are grouped as protective foods. A well planned garden and a well canned pantry should provide a generous year-round variety of these protective foods.
Single copies free to Florida residents upon request to STATE HOME DEMONSTRATION DEPARTMENT
TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA
Bulletin 103
September, 1939
BOARD OF CONTROL R. P. TERRY, Chairman, Miami THOMAS W. BRYANT, Lakeland W. M. PALMER, Ocala H. P. ADAIm, Jacksonville C. P. HELFENSTEIN, Live Oak J. T. DIAMOND, Secretary, Tallahassee
STAFF, AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION SERVICE JOHN J. TIGERT, M.A., LL.D., President of the University WILMON NEWELL, D.Sc., Director of Extension A. P. SPENCER, M.S., Vice-Director and County Agent Leader J. FRANCIS COOPER, M.S.A., Editor' JEFFERSON THOMAS, Assistant Editor' CLYDE BEALE, A.B.J., Assistant Editor' E. F. STANTON, Supervisor, Egg-Laying Contest RUBY NEWHALL, Administrative Managerl
COOPERATIVE AGRICULTURAL DEMONSTRATION WORK W. T. NETTLES, B.S., District Agent IH. G. CLAYTON, M.S.A., District Agent, Organization and Outlook Specialist J. LEE SMITH, District Agent and Agronomist R. S. DENNIS, B.S.A., Assistant District Agent A. E. DUNSCOMBE, M.S.A., Assistant District Agent R. W. BLACKLOCK, A.B., Boys' Club Agent E. F. DEBUSK, B.S., Citriculturist A. L. SHEALY, D.V.M., Animal Industrialist' HAMLIN L. BROWN, B.S., Dairyman N. R. MEHRHOF, M.AGR., Poultryman' D. F. SOWELL, M.S.A., Assistant Poultryman WALTER J. SHEELY, B.S., Animal Husbandman L. T. NIELAND, Farm Forester C. V. NOBLE, PH.D., Agricultural Economist' D. E. TIMMONS, M.S.A., Agricultural Economist, Marketing CHARLES M. HAMPSON, M.S., Agricultural Economist, Farm Management R. H. HOWARD, M.S.A., Asst. Agr. Economist, Farm Management GRAY MILEY, B.S.A., Asst. Agr. Economist, Farm Management JOSEPH C. BEDSOLE, B.S.A., Asst. Economist, Farm Management R. V. ALLISON, Pn.D., Soil Conservationist'
COOPERATIVE HOME DEMONSTRATION WORK MARY E. KEOWN, M.S., State Agent Lucy BELLE SETTLE, M.A., District Agent RUBY MCDAVID, District Agent ETHYL HOLLOWAY, B.S.H.E., District Agent ANNA MAE SIKES, B.S., Nutritionist VIRGINIA P. MOORE, Home Improvement Agent ISABELLE S. THURSBY, Economist in Food Conservation CLARINE BELCHER, M.S., Clothing Specialist NEGRO EXTENSION WORK A. A. TURNER, Local District Agent BEULAH SHUTE, Local District Agent
'Part-time.
Page
Canning a Necessity . 5 Vitamins in Canned Foods ---- --- 5 Why Foods Spoil -- --------- . _. 6
Sterilization . . 7
Canning Equipment . _ . 8 Operations of Water Bath . . 9 Steam Pressure Canner . . . . 9 Operation of Steam Pressure
M ethod . . . . . 11 Processing in the Oven . . 12 Containers to Use in Canning 12
Glass Jars --_ - ---- 12
Tin Cans . 14 Marking Cans and Jars 15
Spoilage and Storage . 16 Using the I-lot Pack Method in
Canning -. . - 17
Syrups for Canning Fruits . 18 Special Directions for Canning
Berries and Fruits 21
Avocado 21
B erries . - - ------ --- 21
Cherries (Surinam or Florida) 22 Figs 23
Grapefruit 24
Grapes 25
G uavas ---------------------- ------ ----- 26
Loquat or Japanese Plum 27
M angos ------- --- ---- 27
M ayhaw ---- ----- - ---- ---- - 28
Papaya ---- -- --- -- ----- 28
Peaches 29
Pears __. . --------- 30
Pecans . . . . . . 32 Persimmon . . 32
Plums 33
Roselle or "Jelly" Okra 33
Page
Standards and Nomenclature Designed for Canned Fruits _. 34 Special Directions for Canning
V egetables . . . - ------------------ 34
Beans ------------------ _ 36
Beets 37
Broccoli ------ 37
Carrots and Other Root Crops 37 Celery 37
Chayote and Summer Squash . 38 C orn . --- - -------- - ---------------- -------- 38
E ggplant --------- ------- - ------ -------- 38
Greens 39
H oininy --- ----------------------- 39
Okra - --- -- -- -- -- ----- 39
Okra and Tomatoes ------------- ------ 40
P ea-, .-,- - ----- - --- -- --------------- 40
Pimientos 41
Pumpkin or Winter Squash ------ 42 Sauerkraut -_ - - -- ----------------- 42
Tomatoes .-.--- 43
Vegetables for Soups . -------- __ --- 45
Standards and Grades for Canned
Vegetables --- 45
Quality Standards for Fancy
Canned Vegetables ------- --- 46 Table 1. Condensed Directions
for Canning Fruits and Tomatoes 47
Table 2. Condensed Directions
for Canning Non-Aeid Vegetables 49
Table 3. Approximate Yield of
Canned Products from Given Quantities of Fresh Fruits
and Vegetables - --------- . 51
CONTENTS
SCORE FOR
JUDGING CANNED FRUITS AND VEGETABLES
1. P ackag e .-. ------ -- -- ---- ----- ---------- --- ------ ------ -------- . . 10
Of uniform or specified size. Clean, polished. Labels neat, comprehensive-as specified. (if tins are used, they should be bright, with slightly concave ends, showing some vacuum. A gauge may be used to
determine vacuum.)
2. Pack -------------- - 30
F ullness - - ----- ----- --- -- -- --- ------- ------ --- - --------- - ____ - 10
As full as possible, with proper head space, yet with
contents preserved in good shape.
No air bubbles.
U niform ity ------ -- - - --- --- ----- -------- -- ---- ------------- -- ------- -- ---- 10
Pieces of fruit or vegetable of appropriate and reasonably uniform size, convenient for serving; attractive shape and attractively arranged, showing good workmanship, not careless preparation-a fancy product, not a fancy pack. No foreign matter present, such as sand, grit; no unnecessary bits of stem, seed,
core, leaf, silk, etc.
Proportion of fruit or vegetable to liquid ----------- ------- ----- ____ 10
Proper proportion of fruit or vegetable to juice-not excessive in amount, not more than can be served with fruit; upper level of liquid should come as near top of jar as possible to prevent discolorationoxidation.
3. Product - - - - - - -- - - ---- - ----- - -- --- ------ - --- 60
Clearness --- --------------- ----------- - - 10
Greatest degree possible in a rich, concentrated juice for fancy or grade A fruit; no cloudiness or small
particles of fruit or vegetable.
C olor -_ ---- - ----- --- --------- 10
Natural color good and well 'preserved through successful processing and efficient storage; not unduly bleached or darkened. No artificial coloring matter
used.
Texture and ripeness or maturity 10
Not tough, too green, or hard; tender but not overcooked or mushy.
F lav or --------- --------------------------------------------- 30
Characteristic of the fruit or vegetable. No suggestion of staleness, under- or over-ripeness, overcooking, decomposition.
Total Seore .
CAN SURPLUS FRUITS AND VEGETABLES Written and Compiled by
ISABELLE S. THURSBY
CANNING A NECESSITY
Few realize the great service that canned food has rendered and still is rendering the race. The human machine must have proper foods in proper proportions. In congested sections of great cities where thousands live on a city block, unless foods could be secured in condensed and concentrated form, proper feeding would be impossible. In the day when an automobile trip across the continent is a common occurrence and when men think nothing of a voyage to frozen regions of the North or to torrid jungles of the South, the canned product is a necessity,
Many women have not learned the satisfaction that comes year after year from replenishing the pantry shelves with homegrown products, furnishing the family with a more healthful and varied menu, nor have many women appreciated the opportunities that the great tourist trade offers to those who make canning an art. On the other hand, a few women in Florida have studied canning, have put into it thought and care and have worked to develop a product that would rank with the best and have built up profitable industries in their own kitchens.
Haphazard canning brings little satisfaction. The home canner should study the food needs of her family. She should consider what fresh fruits and vegetables Nvill be available each month, and can for one season the foods that will be scarce another season. Each housewife should prepare a canning budget.
If interested in budgeting for an adequate, up-to-date food supply, ask your County Home Demonstration Agent for "The Canning Budget" and "All-Year Garden and Orchard Record Book".
VITAMINS IN CANNED FOODS
It has been demonstrated by scientists that the vitamin content of canned foods is not only comparable to that of fresh foods cooked in the home kitchen, but in many cases canned foods are much the more favorable source. The canning process seems to be peculiarly favorable to the preservation of vitamin C, due to the fact, recently discovered, that the de-
Florida Cooperative Extension
structive force is not heat alone but the combined action of heat and atmospheric oxygen. In the open kettle method of cooking vegetables in the home there is far greater chance for oxidation to take place than when the vegetables are given a short pre-cook, then sealed hot and sterilized in the can.
As a rule, vitamins A, B and G are not so readily affected as vitamin C, and vitamins D and E are not appreciably affected by the heat applied either in cooking or in processing.
As to protein, carbohydrate and mineral contents of canned vegetables and fruit, it is obvious, after a moment's consideration, that there would be no greater loss of these elements in the canned vegetable than in the fresh product cooked on top of the stove. There are today no experimental data to show that canned foods are less nutritious than foods as usually cooked.
WHY FOODS SPOIL
Successful canning is based on an understanding of the important causes for the rapid deterioration and spoilage of fresh foods and on a knowledge of the methods by which this spoilage may be prevented. There are two main causes of food spoilage: the action of enzymes and the action of three groups of minute organisms that are always present on the outside of fruits and vegetables, in fact on everything. These are molds, yeasts and bacteria. The art of canning is an attempt to free foods of these substances and to keep them free of reinfection by sealing them in air-tight containers. If the home canner fully understands this fact and will remember that microorganisms are everywhere, she will have greater success.
Enzymes.-All fresh fruits, vegetables and meats contain substances called enzymes. Up to a certain point they bring about desirable changes in foods. They cause fruits and vegetables to ripen normally and the tissues of meats to become more tender as they are held in storage, but if allowed to go on unchecked enzymes hasten the decay of foods. The low temperature of cold storage retards the action of enzymes and the heat of cooking or canning destroys them entirely.
Yeasts and Molds.-Members of this group when allowed to grow on foods cause changes many of which bring about actual spoilage. Familiar examples of changes that stop short of spoilage are the souring of milk, rising of bread, fermenting of sauerkraut, making of vinegar, ripening of cheese. They are
Caii SewPhts F)-vits and Vegetables
easily destroyed by heat in canning. Temperatures below the boiling point of water (1500 F. to 1800 F.) for varying periods of time are effective in destroying them.
The appearance of mold growth is familiar to everyone. There are many kinds of yeasts. Some are responsible for considerable spoi'a.-e of canned fruits and preserves since they are active destroyers of sugar. When this happens it means that too little heat was used at some step of the canning procedure, or that the container was defective and allowed the organisms to gain entrance from the air.
Bacteria.-These organisms cause the most trouble for the home canner. While bacteria are growing actively they are easily destroyed at the temperature of boiling water (2120 F.). However, some kinds of bacteria go through a dormant or spore form in the course of their life cycle and in that stage are very resistant to heat. This occurs under unfavorable conditions of crop growth, such as long dry seasons. The spores are very resistant even to long boiling, but at 240" F., the temperature obtained in the steam pressure canner, they may be destroyed in 30 minutes.
Whether foods are acid or non-acid also makes a difference in the rate at which bacteria may be killed.
"Two hours from garden to can" is a good rule to follow in canning vegetables and fruits. Quick handling prevents enzyme action and bacterial growth, both of which are hastened ,vhen food is allowed to stand in a warm place. Likewise canning success depends to a considerable degree upon clean food, clean equipment, clean methods, and personal cleanliness.
STERILIZATION
Sterilization means the complete destruction of all forms of life in the product sterilized. This is usually done by heat. The product to be preserved is placed in the jar or can and heated to a temperature fatal to all the micro-organisms it contains. That sterilized products shall not spoil they must be sealed airtight to exclude the entrance of any other spoilage organisms.
The temperature necessary to sterilize varies with the product. Bacteria do not develop readily in an acid medium so the acid fruits and tomatoes require lower temperatures for sterilization. The yeasts and molds, commonly found on fruits and tomatoes, are destroyed at boiling temperature (212' F.), and some even below this temperature.
Florida Cooperative Extension
Products low in acid and often high in protein and coiitaining heat-resistant organisms are difficult to sterilize. All vegetables except tomatoes and all meats fall in this class. These products should be canned only in the steam pressure cooker. Bacteria in these products are destroyed in the pressure cooker which subjects them to a temperature of 240" to 250" F. moist heat, for varying lengths of time.
Most fruit juices can be safely sterilized at temperatures of from 1650 to 175' F., and temperatures above boiling should be avoided, as they change the flavor of the juices. The original character and flavor of the fresh fruit is desirable.
CANNING EQUIPMENT
Take stock of equipment, as well as supplies needed for canning. Plan for convenient equipment and arrangement-clean surroundings, well screened; plenty of hot and cold water. Elaborate, expensive equipment is not needed, little more is required than should be found in any well-appointed kitchen.
CW
Fig. 2.-A funnel is an efficient
aid in filling jars.
Fig. 3-A silver.
Shallow tray6, pans, bowls and vegetable brushes are needed for grading, sorting and washing; colanders or sieves for washing and draining berries; sharp paring knives for peeling and cutting, a silver or "stainless" steel knife for the fruit that discolors with the use of steel.
Jar fillers, funnels, and flexible wooden or metal spatulas are all great conveniences in filling jars and bottles. Some sort
Can Surplus Fritits and Vegetables
of jar lifter is essential, or a wire basket that makes it possible to lift a large number of jars in and out of the canner at one time. These baskets can be made at home or by a thinner at small expense. Half-pint and pint size measuring cups, teaspoons, tablespoons, clock and sca'es all aid in securing accurate results. A food chopper that delivers its contents into one vessel without a drip and a silver are good investments.
A silver, or a fruit press, is a valuable piece of equipment, especially in South Florida, if used only for work with guavas. The silver serves as a fruit or vegetable press, sieve, colander and ricer. A wash boiler, lard tin, peanut butter tin, or any vessel large enough to ho'd a convenient number of jars is required for processing fruits and tomatoes. It should be provided with a rack and a cover and should be deep enough to allow water to cover jars to a depth of at least one inch. The rack or false bottom may be made of wooden strips or of strong wire netting, which is raised a half inch or more above the bottom of the vessel, thus allowing full circulation of water under jars. The water bath or wash boiler method is preferable to the pressure cooker for canning all fruits and tomatoes.
OPERATIONS OF WATER BATH
1. Count time as soon as water reaches the boiling point. Keep boiling at a moderate rather than a vigorous rate.
2. Have water well over tops of cans or jars.
3. Remove the cans or jars as soon as the processing time is complete. Tighten covers immediately without lifting the lid, if not completely sealed before processing. Test for leaks.
4. Cool jars quickly, but do not allow a draft as the jars may crack in quick contraction, as a result of too rapid cooling. If tins are used, plunge immediately in cold water.
If an imperfect seal is discovered within a day after a jar has cooked, open it and use contents, if good; discard if not good. It is not wise to reprocess after the contents have cooled,. as this overcooks the food.
STEAM PRESSURE CANNER
The steam pressure canner, or cooker, is recommended for use in processing non-acid vegetables as well as for canning all meats, fish, and sea food. Those who can these foods should equip themselves with pressure cookers, not only because of the
Florida Cooperative Extension
great saving of time, energy and fuel, but especially because of the greater security afforded through cooking at high temperature these products which are unsafe to can by means of the water bath.
Pressure cookers, or steam pressure canners, range in size from the small one which will hold only three quart jars to the factory sizes which have a capacity o f thousands of cans per day. Pressure cookers f or family use may vary in price from $10 to $60, depending upon the size and
3 make desired.
Zp The steam pressure can4 ner is constructed of strong
IV I (t material and provided with
I a tightly fitting lid which
when clamped in place makes P it possible to hold steam
under pressure and obtain a correspondingly y high temperature - ranging from 212' F. to 2740 F. Each steam pressure outfit is equipped with a pressure gauge which registers the pressure in Fig. 4.-Steam pressure cooker. pounds and the corresponding temperature, a safety valve, and usually, a steam petcock. It may be easily regulated so as to maintain the desired pressure and temperature and can be used for cooking as well as for canning.
In the use of the steam pressure canner the products, properly prepared and packed into containers, are cooked under a pressure of from 5 to 15 pounds of steam. This means a temperature of 229' F. to 250' F. All organisms in both the active and spore forms are destroyed in a relatively short time under such high temperatures. Most of the non-acid vegetables and meat products usually are cooked under steam pressure of 10 pounds or 2400 F. This temperature applied for the proper length of time will not injure the quality of the product, and will destroy all harmful organisms.
Caii S ophts Fr0ts "nd Vegetable. 11
The pressure cooker method is employed by commercial canners for all meats and all vegetables except tomatoes.
Processing is the most important operation in canning. No matter how carefully all other steps may have been performed, if the processing is not thorough, if all organisms are not killed or rendered harmless, the material will spoil. When all bacteria, yeasts and molds present in the food and in the can are destroyed, and when the can is sealed air-tight so that no new organisms can enter, the food cannot fail to keep. Tf either one is partially done, it cannot fail to spoil.
OPERATION OF STEAM PRESSURE METHOD
1. Fill pressure cooker with water to a depth of two inches. Heat. Place properly packed jars or sealed tins on rack.
2. When canner is filled, place cover in position with the mark on the cover and canner in conjunction. Fasten moderately tight, one pair at a time. the clamps which are opposite each other; then go back over all the clamps, tightening each.
3. See that no steam escapes anywhere except at the petcock when it is open. Allow the pet-cock to remain open until the steam escapes with a hissing noise. or for at least 7 minutes, then close.
4. Allow temperature to rise until gauge registers the desired pressure. Usually 10 pounds is sufficient for canning.
5. Count time from moment desired pressure is reached and regulate fire to maintain that pressure. Fluctuations in pressure when canning in glass, as from 10 pounds to 7 pounds and back again to 10 pounds, are very likely to result in loss of liquid from the jar. The steam formed under the liquid under sudden reduction of pressure cannot escape enough through the narrow space between cover and rubber, and it "boils up" so furiously that it pushes the liquid out of the jar. This is likely to happen with any sudden drop in pressure. It is especially likely to happen if the pressure is allowed to go so high that the safety valve releases the steam rapidly.
6. Lack of liquid in canned product,; may be due also to in.-;ufficient pre-cooking; to failure to expel all air from spaces among particles of products when jar was filled with liquid; to improper packing of jar, i. e., packing loosely in bottom and tightly near top.
7. Uniform pressure may be maintained by turning the gas, or kerosene flame up or down. as need arises; or in case of wood
Florida Cooperative Extension
stove, by moving the canner away from flame to retard heat.
8. Remove canner from fire at end of processing period. If glass jars are used let pressure run down to zero before petcock is opened. If opened before pressure falls to zero the jar.; will lose a part or all of their liquid contents. Also if the canner is opened before the pressure has fallen to zero steam may scald the operator. Even when No. 2 tin cans are used the release cock should be opened very slowly and cautiously. For No. 3 cans it is better to allow pressure to fall to zero before removing, since a sudden release of steam offers too great a strain on the seams of the cans. The cans should then be immediately removed and plunged into water to cool.
PROCESSING IN THE OVEN
The oven is often recommended for the processing of food in glass jars. However, the dry air of an oven conducts heat less readily than does steam or hot water. The temperature of the product in the jar never exceeds 2120 F. although the temperature of the oven may be much higher (250'-275' F.) than the boiling point of water. If the jars are compietelsealed before being put in the oven there will be some steam pressure but this is not advised, since the accumulated steam would break the seals or the jars themselves. The use of the oven is not recommended for canning meat, fish or non-acid vegetables.
CONTAINERS TO USE IN CANNING GLASS JARS
To be satisfactory, a jar should give an air-tight seat and should have a simple, efficient means of sealing.
Glass jars are known by the caps they wear. They come in three types: the old, original mason jar with the porcelain lined metal screw cap; the lightning type with a glass disc cover held in place by two wire clamps; and the automatic self or vacuum-sealing type that seals automatically when cooled.
The lid or cap of the mason jar is hard to clean and the porcelain lining may become loosened or chipped. If this happens, or the metal part of the cap is dented or bent. the cap must be replaced by a new one.
The lightning type jar with its Oass lid can be cleaned and sterilized easily, but the wire clamps may become loosened from use and must be adjusted. This type of jar is sanitary. simple.
Can Surplus Fruits and Vegetables
and of attractive appearance, and gives good service Linder Florida conditions.
The automatic sealing lids on the third type can be used onl once, necessitating replacement of the cover.
Glass jars should be selected and purchased from the standpoint of quality of glass, durability or re-use value, and ease with which they can be sealed rather than from the standpoint of the initial cost. All jars manufactured for use in the home. regardless of type, when used according to directions furnished by the maker will give what is essential to all-an air-tight seal.
The wire clamps which fit over the gass top on the rubber band and which hold the top in place are not easily subject to rust, corrosion or other deterioration influenced by climatic conditions. This glass top is easily cleaned and unless carelessly cracked or nicked may be used over and over again. The relatively high initial cost of the all-glass type jar is offset by this advantage.
All jars, before being filled, should be tested and the imperfect ones discarded. First, examine for cracks, nicks and bubble holes. Next examine the surface upon which the lid or cover makes its contact with the jar, where the seal will be made. Both the top of the jar and the lid should feel smooth to the touch and should form a perfect plane.
Test for Seal.-Partially fill jar with warm water, adjust rubber and lid and seal jar. Invert and shake vigorously. If no water escapes, the jar has a perfect seal and is suitable to use in canning. When the clamp is adjusted, it should slip into the notch on the cover with a slight snap. (If too loose. it may slip off during processing and the contents of the jar will be spoiled.) Remove the bail from the jar, bend it downward slightly in the middle, then bend the sides in to fit the Jar. Replace and test again. If the bail is too tight the cover may be broken while processing. Never use two rubbers to tighten clamp. Instead, adjust the bails as directed. New bails inay be purchased from the factory to replace old ones if needed.
RubbersThe rubber is the most important factor in securing a perfect seal. Only the best new rubbers should be used. Never use rubbers a second year. A good rubber is soft and elastic and should stretch readily and return to normal size. When sealing jars be sure no salt, seeds or pulp are on the rubber band or on the part of the jar where the rubber band rests.
Florida Cooperative Extension
TIN CANS
Canning in tin should be more popular than it is, now that sanitary tins and an easily operated sealing machine are on the market at a very nominal price. It is often quite feasible for several families to join in the purchase and use of a sealer.
Some of the many advantages of canning in tin are: No danger of breaking, no loss of liquid, ease of handling when processing under pressure. Tin cans heat through more quickly and may be plunged immediately into cold water. This rapid cooling checks the cooking and produces a more desirable product.
The large opening in the new type tin makes it easier to pack some products in tin than in glass jars unless the newer, wide mouth jars are used.
r
A
"Mow&
Fig. 5-Small hand sealing machine for sanitary tins.
It is recommended that all vegetables except tomatoes be sterilized under steam pressure. Glass jars are not as satisfactory to use in a pressure sterilizer as tin. Frequently much of the liquid boils out of the container causing the jar after sterilization to be only three-quarters or one-half filled with liquid, unless considerable care is used during sterilization and cooling. These difficulties are overcome in commercial canneries by the use of compressed air in the pressure canners, but this is not possible for the home canner.
Cav Surphis Frio'ts awd Vegetables
Sanitary cans are really the most satisfactory containers for vegetables that must be sterilized under pressure in the home.
Tins with special enamel linings are recommended for canning certain products. R-enamel or sanitary enamel-bright gold in appearance-is used for any product whose color would be affected by contact with plain tin and cause it to fade. This includes all red fruits, berries, beets and pumpkin.
C-enamel is a lacquer which is dull gold in appearance and is used exclusively for certain vegetables, meats, fish, lye hominy. and such other products as may form black discoloration either in the food itself or on the can. This black discoloration is iron sulphide, and though entirely harmless, it detracts greatly from the appearance of the food. C-enamel should not be used for any product which is acid, nor for vegetables canned with an acid or vinegar sauce.
However, plain tin may be safely used for any food product and is usually recommended to the home canner who is canning small amounts of several different products. Tin is not harmful to the human system in any quantities which might go into solution in canned foods. Food packed in plain clean tin is perfectly safe and wholesome. When in doubt as to which kind of enamel to use, play safe and use only plain tin.
In the time tables for fruit and vegetable canning, pages 47 to 50, recommendations are given for the type of can to be used with the various products.
Sealing Sanitary Tins.-Very little experience is required to obtain a perfect seal with the hand-power sealers used for sanitary tins if the directions accompanying the sealer are followed closely. The prepared food is packed boiling hot into the hot, sterile can, and boiling hot syrup or other liquid is added to fill it within one-fourth inch of the top and the tin is quickly sealed before the contents have had time to cool.
MARKING CANS AND JARS
All containers should be plainly marked with name and grade of' the product. India ink or canners' ink is used satisfactorily for marking tins, as it stands hot water. Also, wax pencils are specially made for writing on tin and glass. After sterilization gummed labels may be used. All lots should be dated so that products canned earliest can be used first. Also the containers of each lot may be identified later, and a short record giving the time of pre-cook and sterilization in each case should
Florida Cooperative Extension
be kept for future reference. Such labeling and records will be found very valuable in locating the cause of spoilage, should this occur, and in tabulating helpful reference material.
SPOILAGE AND STORAGE
Spoilage.-Sometimes with an inexperienced person canning in tin and using the sealer, leaks will occur around the seam of sanitary cans. Leaks, however, can be detected by bubbles appearing when the cans are dropped into hot water. Leaks permit air to enter, and the air brings with it "germs" which cause the fruit or other product to mold, ferment, or produce a gas that sometimes causes the cans to swell. Flat sour. however, is not indicated from any outside appearance of the can. It may result from canning stale vegetables, improper cooling, or from storage in too warm a place. A sound tin or glass jar should have a vacuum which is indicated by the suction of the air into the tin or jar when it is first opened. If the cover on a jar is difficult to remove, it is usually a sign of good vacuum.'
Spoiled cans or jars of food should never even be tasted. They may be deadly poison. Do not feed spoiled food to poultry or animals; it may poison them. Bury it deeply.
Storage-It is also generally true of any canned product, and some are more definitely unstable than others, that while they may not show spoilage by molding, souring, or fermenting, even when properly pasteurized or sterilized they still may deteriorate. They may change in flavor and in other ways lose quality and food value from exposure to light and heat through improper storage.
For this reason, special precautions needed to preserve the high degree of co!or, flavor, texture, vitamin content, and other valuable characteristics of the raw products should be strictly observed.
'A good vacuum in the sealed container is of primary importance m the canning of food. A vacuum is produced in the jar or tin either by heating the food before it is packed (precook) or by heating the product in the container (exhaust). The application of heat causes the internal gases and vapors to expand. Upon cooling there is a contraction of the expanded gases, vapors and solids and a partial vacuum is formed within the container. In addition to inhibiting the growth of spoilage microorganisms, the vacuum serves to maintain an effective seat. The average vacuum considered safe for foods in tin cans is 12 inches. A device for testing vacuum may be purchased for about $4.00. The exclusion of air. through complete filling of containers and closing under a hot exhaust, is most important in preventing deterioration and protecting the quality of canned products during the hot summer months.
Can Surplus Fruits and Vegetables
Today perhaps as much attention is being called to the need for better and more modern storage facilities as to any other item of improvement in canning technology. The home canner must likewise be concerned with improvement of her storage facilities. The ideal home storage room should be well ventilated, dry, clean, dark, free from odors, and of a favorable or low storage temperature. This ventilated pantry should be constructed so that the cool air which is stored up under the house or in the house may circulate constantly through the space throughout the day, keeping the products at approximately the same temperature that is maintained in a cellar or other underground storage space.2
USING THE HOT PACK 31ETHOD IN CANNING
The newer method in canning is called "hot pack". In this a short precooking of the vegetables or fruits is substituted for the formerly recommended "blanching". Some of the cooking water or syrup is used to fill the container scalding hot and it is then processed. The difference between the "cold pack" and the "hot pack" is that the "cold dip" is omitted and in place of blanching in a large amount of water, the product is precooked in a small amount of liquid, usually until it boils, and is thoroughly shrunken. This saving of valuable nutrients is of great importance. An exception to the "hot pack" method is found in grapefruit sections and tomatoes which are canned by the "cold pack".
Steps in Hot Pack Canning.-Select only fresh, sound products. Can as soon as picked; do not let stand overnight. To avoid heating keep products in cool place while waiting to can. Grade for size, color and degree of ripeness. Do not can young, tender vegetables with older ones; the one would be overcooked before the other is thoroughly processed. Over-ripe products may disintegrate, spoiling appearance of the product and sometimes leaving the liquid cloudy. Over-ripe but sound fruit should be used in jams rather than for canning. For choice products, fruits and vegetables must be in prime condition when used for canning.
Preparation for Canning.-Clean products carefully, shell, pare, scrape, core, seed, slice, according to fruit or vegetable
Tor full particulars and suggestive drawings for building ventilated pantries, see your Home Demonstration Agent or write the State Home Demonstration Office. Tallahassee, Florida.
Florida Cooperative Extensioia
and the purpose for which it is to be used. Peaches and tomatoes are scalded and then are quickly dipped in cold water. The skin will then slip easily. Make sure water bath or pressure canner, whichever is needed, will be ready to receive jars or tins as soon as packed.
Precooking is heating the fruit or vegetable in a syrup, steam, or boiling or simmering water for a short time before processing.
Packing.-Keep previously washed and rinsed jars in near boiling water until food is ready for packing. Usually it is more convenient to have rubber in place. Do not wipe out jar. Merely shake out surplus moisture. Tins may be made ready in the same way and held in warm place until needed. Give the rubber and composition gasket covers a dip in boiling water before using.
Fill the hot food immediately into the container after the preparation is finished. Select for uniformity in size and quality, and arrange for a symmetrically placed and attractive pack. Do not pack so loosely as to waste space in jars or cans, but do not pack so tightly that there is not room for expansion. Fill jar as packed with boiling liquid or syrup in which the vegetable or fruit is precooked, leaving 1/ inch head space. Paddle or agitate to remove air bubbles as completely as possible.
Sealing and Processing.-Processing is the method of heating a product in partially or completely sealed containers in boiling water or steam, resulting in a product that will be attractive and will keep for an indefinite length of time.
SYRUPS FOR CANNING FRUITS
Sugar is useful not only for sweetening but because it helps fruits hold their shape, color, and natural flavor. Fruits for pie making or for diabetic diets are often canned with no sugar. In time they will fade somewhat in color, lose some of their taste and texture. Using fruit juice instead of water emphasizes the flavor of the fruit and adds also to the food value.
When canning juicy fruits like berries, if sugar is not used, can them in their own juices and add no water. Pick out the riper fruits and extract the juice by crushing, heating and straining. Pack remaining fruits closely and firmly into the container without preheating, cover with the boiling hot juice and process in water bath. Firm fruits like pears,, peaches and
Can Surptws Fruits and Vegetables
guavas which are niot always juicy enough to provide all their own juice for canning will need a small amount of water added when canned without sugar. The least amount of water possible should be used to avoid diluting the fruit flavor.
For all practical purposes syrups for canning may be prepared with the following proportion of sugar and water: very light syrup, 1 cup sugar to 4 cups water; medium, 1 cup sugar to 2 cups water; heavy, 1 / cups sugar to 1 cup water. Add sugar to water (or fruit juice), bring to boil. strain to remove solid impurities and use boiling hot. When measuring sugar see that it is well settled in cup and slightly rounded. So measured,
1 cup sugar will equal weight of 1 cup xvatcr.
The proper method of expressing syrups is in terms of percent of sugar. This may be determined by means of a special kind of hydrometer t
known as a saccharimeter.
Which syrup to use depends upon (a) acidity of fruit, (b) family preference, (e) the amount of fruit packed into the jar.
The amount of syrup required to pack a quart of fruit will depend largely upon the size of the pieces of fruit and closeness of the pack. One to Fig. 6. A
Wilhydrmeter o r
11/4 cups may be allowed for one quart. This wilBrix" saccharirastere a a uid to he eginerin mkin syups e (in gh glass) for incasAll fruits intended for desserts should be canned ring sugar conin syrup (even fruits for salads usually take at ln fsrp least a light syrup). The syrup should be of such density and of such quantity as to give a sub-acid taste without obscuring any of the natural flavor and aroma of the fruit.
CANNING SYRUPS OF DIFFERENT DENSITIES Syrup Density
Syrup Sugar Water Approximate [Character of Syrup Number I(cups) (cups) Percentage I I 1 4 20 Very thin
2 1 2~ :/ 30 Thin
3 1 2 -40 Medium
4 1 1 50 Thick
5 11/ 1 60 Heavy
Florida Cooperative Extension
. Fruit intended for cooking purposes, may be canned, if desired, without sugar. Sugar is used, not to preserve the fruit, but to bring out the flavor and to improve the taste and texture. A No. 1 syrup may be used where heavier syrups are quoted.
WHY FRUITS FLOAT IN THE JAR
Some fruits such as strawberries, guavas, and soft, juicy plums contain much air and undergo considerable shrinkage when heated. They give up a large portion of their juice, and the shrunken fruit rises to the top of the jar. Often the lower half or even two-thirds of the jar contains juice only while the shriveled fruits fill the upper half or third.
When fruits are canned in syrup which is too heavy, the syrup extracts through osmosis a large portion of the juice from the fruit, causing it to shrink and float to the top of the jar.
When fruits (also tomatoes) are over-processed, the cell structure is broken down, causing the fruits to break up or to shrink. In either event, the fruit becomes lighter than the syrup or juice, and consequently it will float to the top of the jar.
If given the proper preliminary pre-cook or shrinkage in the syrups best adapted to their texture, peaches, pears, plums. Surinam cherries, guavas, and all berries will be evenly di.,tributed throughout the jar.
The natural color, flavor and texture of fruits must be retained or improved in successful canning processes. Strawberries, wild plums, papaya, and some guavas tend to break up when cooked or heated directly in syrup. If the sugar concentration within the berry or fruit is not equal to that without, the fruit floats. Hence, if strawberries and certain other fruits are allowed to stand a few hours or sometimes overnight in sugar, the fruit loses water, shrinks and becomes slightly tough. Then, if heated slowly or removed from the heat a few minutes before boiling and allowed to stand, usually covered, the sugar penetrates the strawberry, plumps it, and keeps it from floating.
Also strawberries and plums develop a strong flavor when cooked a long time. Therefore, the sugar is allowed to penetrate before boiling. The best results are obtained if the cook is rapid and the amount of fruit handled is small.
Can Surplus Fruits aud Vegetab!es
On the other hand, hard fruits such as pears, mangos and some guavas must be softened first by cooking in water or a light syrup. They will become hard and shriveled if placed directly into a heavy syrup.
SPECIAL DIRECTIONS FOR CANNING BERRIES AND FRUITS
AVOCADO
Methods of preserving the avocado and its by-products have, to date, been unsuccessful. While color and texture may be retained the resulting product proves flat and unpalatable after a ghort time, even when held in cold storage.
BERRIES
Dewberries, blackberries, blueberries, elderberries, youngberries, and mulberries take practically the same method of canning. The condition of the fruit will have much to do with the quality of the product. Berries should be gathered in shallow trays or baskets and not in deep baskets or buckets which allow them to be bruised or crushed. They should be uniformly ripe and sound, and as large as possible. Sort carefully and wash by placing a shallow layer of fruit in colander or strainer and dip in and out of water. Do not let stand in water. Remove hulls or stems. Pack in hot, clean jars as closely as possible without crushing. Do this by putting a few in a jar at a time and gently pressing into place, layer by layer, until full, and removing all air bubbles by gently agitating. Fill jar with hot medium to heavy syrup. Complete seal and process pint jars in water bath 10 to 12 minutes; quart jars 15 to 20 minutes. When cool, store in dry, dark, ventilated pantry.
If in making syrup for berries, berry juice is used in place of water, the product will be better in color, flavor and food value. Canned berries have the variety of uses that fresh berries have. They may be served as a breakfast fruit or for dessert. They are excellent in pies, puddings or fruit sauces.
Strawberries are an exception and cannot be canned by the above one-process method as they tend to lose both color and flavor and rise in the jar, presenting a most unappetizing appearance. The following directions for canning strawberries give excellent results.
Use only freshly picked, perfectly sound, ripe strawberries. (It is never desirable to can any fruit that is not in prime
Florida Cooperative Extension
eating condition.) Wash carefully and cap. Never allow them to stand in water nor to stand long after being washed because they soften rapidly when wet. To each pound of strawberries allow 3/ to I cup of sugar. Place berries and sugar in alternate layers in a kettle, reserving enough sugar to cover the top layer completely. Cover vessel and set aside in a cool place for several hours, over night if preferred. After standing it will be found that the sugar has caused much juice to flow from the fruit and that most of the sugar is in solution in this juice. Now heat the fruit and syrup over a slow fire in the partially covered kettle until all sugar is dissolved and simmer gently for 7 to 10 minutes. Remove from the fire and let stand covered until cold, or better yet, over night. Occasional stirring of the fruit is advantageous. Reheat fruit to below simmering (160' F.), pack in hot, sterile jars or R-enamel tins. Seal and simmer pints in water bath 8 minutes.
The above method of canning strawberries, using a minimum amount of sugar, rather than making preserves in which the maximum amount of sugar is used, gives a product much to be preferred and one in which the natural color, shape, flavor and aroma are retained. These properly canned strawberries are delightfully appetizing to use over cereal, in gelatine or other desserts, ice cream, sherbet, and punch.
The strawberry is very unstable in color and flavor and should be canned only in the amount needed until the fresh fruit is in season again. (See "Conserving Florida Berries" and "Last Lap on Strawberries" for further information.)
CHERRIES (SURINAM OR FLORIDA)
Prepare medium or heavy syrup as preferred. Select fine, ripe fruit-that which will drop from the bush into hand when lightly touched. Wash gently and remove pits. Precook 1 to 2 minutes in boiling water. Pack hot in jars, add hot syrup, and process quarts in water bath 16 minutes. Cherries tend to shrivel in a heavy syrup without preliminary blanch or precook. Water used in the precook should be used for making syrup. Surinam cherry juice blended with grapefruit juice fresh or canned makes a wonderfully fine flavored blend for party punch or, indeed, any occasion.
The surinam cherry or so-called Florida cherry is one of the most easily cultivated and ornamental of our subtropical shrubs, and is used perhaps more for hedging and other decorative
Can Surplus Froits aod Vegetables
purposes than for its fine flavored fruits. The fruit is beautifully colored, juicy, of high acidity, and individual flavor. It deserves to be grown more generally as a valuable addition to the home orchard in southern Florida. For best quality and quantity production, the surinam cherry asks for abundant moisture.
Surinam cherries are of three varieties, one with brilliant red fruits-the variety most commonly grown, another almost black in color and of unusually fine flavor, and a less known type which is orange in color when ripe.
FIGS
Figs in season must be gathered daily in shallow baskets when thoroughly ripe, and be canned without delay.
Grade for size, wash and drain. Precook figs in gently boiling water from 2 to 6 minutes. This preliminary, open-kettle cook prepares for penetration of sugar syrup, facilitates packing a well-filled jar or can, and improves appearance.
Place in cans or jars and steam 30 minutes. Add heavy syrup and process 11/ > to 2 hours at boiling. Sterilization must be long enough to overcome the "raw" appearance (chalky white color). The resulting product should be tender, plump, unbroken and translucent in appearance with a syrup that will test 35 to 40 degrees, Balling hydrometer. Or, after the first short preliminary cook in water, figs may be placed in a heavy syrup at once and be cooked in the open kettle until they are clear and the syrup is fairly heavy. This takes at least an hour, usually longer. The figs should then be allowed to stand over night to plump and further absorb syrup.
All open-kettle boiling should be done gently and in an abundance of syrup, that as f ew as possible of the figs be broken. The next day bring figs to boiling point, pack in hot, sterile jars and seal immediately. Any left-over syrup is excellent to serve with hot biscuit or waffles.
It has been demonstrated by the commercial canners that there is a much greater potential demand for figs canned in a syrup of medium sugar concentration than for the timehonored fig preserves as prepared in the South. While fig preserves are popular and appeal to most palates, they are extremely sweet, and on this account only a small quantity can be eaten at a time. Also they are relatively expensive to make. On the other hand, figs canned in medium or thick syrup are not excessively sweet and not unduly costly. They make a
Florida Cooperative Extension
delightful breakfast fruit as well as a dessert when served with cream cheese and crisp crackers.
Fig Spread.-This is made from the broken figs or over-ripe stock. Clip off stems, run through coarse food grinder. Measure. Place in heavy aluminum kettle and cook until thickened. Add one-half to three-fourths measure of sugar to one measure of fig pulp and cook to 221' F. Pack in hot jars, seal and process by boiling 5 minutes. This makes a most wholesome "spread" for lunches and may be used also for cake filling and ice cream.
Over-ripe figs also may be pre-cooked in open kettle, without sugar, packed solid in jars, and sterilized for use in baking and for making ice cream. (See "The Fig, a Prize Package of Food and Medicine" for further information and recipes.) GRAPEFRUIT
Wash and dry strictly fresh, ripe, sound grapefruit. With a sharp knife remove all peel and white membrane or rag. There are different methods of doing this. In one method slices are cut from both ends of the unpeeled fruit, cutting into the flesh or segments. Then remove the rest of the peel and rag in wide slices, cutting from one end to the other. When this operation is completed you have a juicy ball minus all rag, with all the segments exposed. It is then an easy matter to run the blade of a paring knif e or the pliable blade of a grapefruit spatula between the segments and separate them from the rest of the membrane or rag. It is possible in this way to remove every segment entirely whole, free from all rag and seed.
With the segments free from rag and seed, pack firmly and solidly in a sterilized jar or preferably a No. 2 tin, keeping the rounding sides to the jar or tin. Add 2 tablespoons of extra heavy sugar to a pint jar or tin when half full. Run knife blade or spatula down next to side of container to permit syrup to flow more freely into spaces between sections and to release air bubbles. Syrup may be omitted, but flavor and texture are better when used.
When jar is full adjust rubber, cover and pasteurize 35 minutes at 1800 F. If canning in tin exhaust for 10 or more minutes or until hot in center of tin. Seal, then process as above. Cool in cold water. Store in cool, dry phce.
It is very important that the processing temperature for grapefruit be not allowed to go beyond 175cF. or 1800 F. or
Can Surplus Fruits and Vegetables
its tine, delicate flavor will be destroyed. If a thermometer is not at hand to keep check on the temperature, bring the water to a boil then remove water bath from heat and allow cans to remain in hot water 25 minutes. Be sure there is an average of a quart of water for every pint can.
We sometimes speak of using "culls" for canning purposes. By "culls" is meant absolutely fresh, sound, ripe fruit, free from all forms of decay, but they may be under-sized, over-sized, or misshapen in some way.
Grapefruit is most commonly canned in No. 2 tins. The plain tin container has been found more suitable for grapefruit than the glass container, affording greater protection as to flavor. Grapefruit is becoming more and more popular as a canned fruit in its ready-to-serve form. The "hearts" are excellent for breakfast, for fruit cocktails, salads, and for desserts of all kinds and in many combinations.
GRAPES
Use firm but fully ripe fruit. Weigh, wash, separate skins and pulps. Place hulls in kettle, adding I cup water for each 6 pounds fruit. Cook covered until hulls are quite tender and water evaporated. Heat pulps and juice in another kettle until
-soft enough to liberate seed. Put through colander or fruit press. Combine pulp and hulls, add one pound sugar to each six pounds fruit. Bring slowly to boil and boil 4 to 5 minutes. Pack in hot jars, seal and process 5 minutes. This makes a most wholesome, delicious "spread" for lunches and may be used for cake and pie filling, for ice cream, and for making into grape catsup.
Whole Grapes.-Select firm, ripe grapes preferably of the muscadine variety. Insert sharp pointed paring knife in stem end and pick out seed with point of the knife. Pack seeded whole grapes cold in jars. Pour over them a heavy syrup (measure for measure). Let stand one-half hour; refill if necessary; adjust rubber and top, leaving bail up. Stearn jars at boiling until fruit is softened but unbroken; add more syrup if needed, and seal boiling hot. The time for steaming or processing varies with the variety. The Scuppernong requires approximately an hour, the James 11/. hours and the Thomas fully 2 hours.
Many think this makes a delicious canned product, quite equal to the Northern canned cherry. Seed may be left in, but if so,
Florida Cooperatib'e Extenisioii
slit each grape in order that syrup may penetrate and so prevent the grapes from shriveling. However, it is not at all a difficult task to remove them. (See "Grapes and Grape Products" leaflet for further information on utilization.)
Fig. 7. The common guava grows wild in Florida in great abundance from Marion County southward. Because of its high nutritive value, wider use should be made of this beautifully colored, characteristically flavored fruit, sweet or sour. Guavas may be used fresh or processed, alone or combined with citrus fruits or pineapple. They are used principally for making jelly, butter, preserves and sweet pickles.
GUAVAS
There are several ways of canning guavas. They may be canned whole, peeled or unpeeled; may be halved, have the seeds removed by means of the dilver or a fruit press, and this pulp returned to halves and cooked with them; or shells and pulp may be cooked as two separate products.
Wash. remove blossom and stem, and peel. Cook 1 to 3
minutes (according to the size and ripeness of fruit) in boiling thin or medium syrup. This preliminary cook is given in
Cmit Surptas Froits aiid Vegetables
order to have f ull pack when processing is completed. If a "peach" pack is desired and guavas are large and thick heated, halves may be packed in jars, after very slight precook, in overlapping layers; the concave surface of each half should be downward and the blossom end should face the glass. A tablespoonful of syrup should be added to each layer. Process 16 to 20 minutes at boiling.
Guava Sauce.-Wash fruit and remove blossom end and any blemishes on skin. Run through silver to remove seed. Measure. Cook in heavy aluminum kettle until somewhat thickened. Add 2 cups sugar (according to acidity of fruit) to 4 cups of pulp and cook rapidly again for about 10 minutes, stirring often. Pour into hot jars, put immediately into boiling water bath and process 5 minutes. This is excellent for pudding sauces, shortcakes, cobblers, gelatin desserts, or ice cream. (See "The Goodly Guava" for many other uses of the guava.)
LOQUAT OR JAPANESE PLUM
The loquat is one of Florida's most beautiful ornamentals and produces most delectable fruit of a slightly tart, yet sweet flavor. The fruit used fresh in fruit cups and salads is always enjoyed. The loquat ranks high as a pie fruit and also makes delicious preserves.
To Can.-Use freshly gathered (clipped) not over-mature fruit, Remove stem and blossom ends, skin and seed, or can with seed left in (seed are objectionable only because of space consumed). Give 2 to 4 minutes precook in light, medium or heavy syrup depending on the acidity of the fruit which varies with different varieties. Pack in jars, process quarts 20 minutes.
Loquat Sauce.-Prepare loquats by removing blossom end, stems, and seeds. It is not necessary to remove skin. Run through food chopper, using medium blade. Measure. Add 1 cup of water to 4 cups loquat. Cook until tender, adding more water if needed. When tender add 1 to 2 cups of sugar, cook 5 minutes longer. Pour in hot jars and sea]. Process immediately 5 minutes at boiling.
Loquats canned without pitting develop a "bitter almond" or pit flavor, very pleasing to some and disliked by others.
MANGOS
If fruits of the seedling type are used for canning they will have to be selected before they show color, otherwise the stringy
Florida Cooperative Extensiot
fiber will be objectionable. If these are used, peel, slice in convenient pieces, immerse in medium syrup for I to 2 minutes or until pliable, pack in jars, boil syrup until heavy, and strain over fruit. Process immediately 16 to 20 minutes at boiling. If the finer, budded varieties are used, select at the stage of best flavor and handle as you wou'd freestone peaches.
Mangos, unlike other fruit, are delicious if used at any stage of growth. There are endless ways of preparation-jelly, butters, preserves, sweet pickles and relishes. The mango forms the basis of most chutneys of the East India type.
Because the supply of the delicious budded varieties of mangos is limited, they usually command a high price and are mainly used fresh as an incomparable dessert fruit or in combination with citrus fruits, pineapple or papaya. They are used also in fruit cups, salads, and frozen desserts.
The flavor of the seedling mangos when green or half ripe is generally liked and may be used for making pies and a sauce that is highly acid and of the most intriguing flavor. Mango slices or the sauce should be more generally canned to serve with meat, as a dessert, as shortcake filling or ice cream, sherbet, and mousse.
MAYHAW
Juice, jelly and a sauce or butter are made from the fruit of the mayhaw. They should be gathered at the first indication of color and used promptly. It is recommended that the fruit be cooked in an abundance of water and the pomace or pulp left from this drip be put through the fruit press to remove seed and be made into a sauce or butter. Use 1/.9 cup sugar to each cup pulp and cook rapidly, stirring carefully until the consistency desired is reached. Pour into hot sterile jars and seal at once. (See "The Jelly Tree" for further information.)
PAPAYA
The papaya may be canned very much as peaches are canned, but due to lack of acidity in most papayas the flavor is improved by the addition of lemon juice or by canning with equal parts of grapefruit segments. The bright color and firm texture of the papaya make it a desirable addition to some types of mixed fruit salads.
Papaya lends itself to the making of sauce, butter, salad combinations, preserves, and spiced pickles-the latter product being exceptionally delightful. Papaya may be canned for pie filling
Can Surphis Fruits mid VegetableN
as the fruit makes pie de luxe. It may be used in either the green stage, when the skin is still tender and green in color (do not peel) and the seeds are yet white (do not remove) for sweet pickles or it may be used full ripe. Use the same formula for papaya pickles as for peach pickles. The syrup from ripe papaya preserves is a rich golden color and of a delicate, interesting flavor. Papaya juice is being manufactured in large quantities at present, its popularity due mainly to its exploitation as a health drink and to the addition of other fruit juices of a sprightly nature, such as grapefruit and pineapple and even to strongly flavored products like .-inger.
Papayas are on the markets of South Florida during the entire year, barring unusual weather conditions, such as frosts and heavy rains. The quality and flavor vary considerably and for many people the taste must be acquired.
In the full ripe stage the papaya makes a delectable breakfast or dessert fruit, served with lemon or lime. In cocktails and salads it combines deliciously with pineapple and citrus fruits. The fresh papaya pulp with milk or cream makes a most delicious frozen dessert. Siced and seasoned in the same way wz peaches, papayas are used for pie or, with pulp put through a sieve and milk, eggs, and spices added, for a custard pie. The papaya ranks high as a pie fruit.
PEACHES
Before preparing fruit make a thin or medium syrup, allowing 1 cup of liquid for each quart jar. If the almond flavor is desired a f ew cracked pits may be boiled in a small amount of water and this water used in making the syrup to give the desired flavor. Make a No. 3 or No. 4 syrup and strain before pouring in containers.
Sort fruit, using only firm, ripe, sound peaches for canning. Put aside the soft, broken or extra ripe ones for jam or bLitter. Immerse peaches in boiling water for about I minute or until skins will slip easily. Plunge in cold water and remove as soon as cool. Skin, cut into halves and discard seed. Peaches will pack better if dropped in hot syrup long enough to render pliable, about 2 minutes or longer. Do not cook until soft. Remove at once and pack in hot jars. If little juice is desired place the halves in overlapped layers, the concave surface of each half being downward and the blossom end facing the glass. As each layer is built up add a tablespoon or more of the syrup, paddling carefully to remove air bubbles. Process quarts 22
Florida Coo perative Extension
minutes if fruit is quite firm, or 16 minutes if riper and more tender. Clingstones require about 10 minutes longer time than freestone peaches. If the peaches are packed cold in tin cans, cover with hot syrup and exhaust in boiling water 5 minutes before sealing. Then process as directed in Table 1.
The peach season is not very long, hence it behooves all peach lovers to make the most of it while it lasts. (See "The Succulent Peach" for further information.)
PI TyING 5 POON5 n 1.
CU1TT1NG,COR!NG Z .
PEEL) NG K~N IVES
Fig. 8.-Special devices such as these make canning easier, facilitate good workmanshiip. They may be used in paring guavas, mangos, papayas; coring pears and tomatoes. pitting peaches; and removing sections of grapefruit. 1. Medium sized peach pitter; 2, loop pear coring knife; 3, peach pitter (may be used for coring tomatoes);: 4., paring and coring knife for pears, potatoes, etc.; 5, peeling and coring knife especially for use with tomatoes 6 , small knife for use with all fruits, especially good for removing sections from citrus fruits.
Sweet Spiced Peaches.-Put in a kettle 3 / pounds of sugar, 1 pint vinegar, 1 pint water, 1/4, ounce ginger root, 1/ ounce whole cloves, / ounce stick cinnamon. Bring mixture to boil. Let stand over night to absorb spice flavor. Strain and add boiling hot to jar or can; or preferably, pour over prepared peaches and let stand over night. Then strain off, boil again
and add to peaches that have been packed in the jar. Process 12 to 16 minutes.
PEARS
Peel, leave whole, cut in halves, or slice, according to size and use to which pears will be put. When packed whole, leave stems on. Use apple corer from blossom end to remove core. If very small leave core in fruit. Cook from 5 to 10 minutes,
Cau Surplus Fruits and Vegetables
according to size, in a medium syrup until barely flexible. This preliminary cook is necessary to make full pack. When packed whole, if pears are small, place each layer stems up. Let the second row fill the spaces between the two stems. Pack the fruit in the hot sterile jars firmly enough to give an attractive but not over-crowded appearance. Add the hot syrup (strained) as the layers are built up. Use a 30 to 40 percent syrup. Process quarts 16 to 20 minutes, depending on length of precook.
If pears are canned in tin plunge immediately into cold water and cool as quickly as possible, otherwise fruit may turn pink in color. Better quality pears can be obtained when canned in tin than in glass because of the quicker cooling. If additional flavor, as lemon or ginger, is desired for canned pears, add to syrup at beginning of precook. Then add a decoration of the sliced lemon or ginger root in packing the jar.
Canned Baked Pears.-Select medium sized pears, remove blossom end and stem. Place in baking pan with a small amount of water; cook covered until somewhat tender. Remove cover: brown lightly, dressing with a light covering of mild honey or sugar; pack into jars and process 20 to 30 minutes. Serve with or without a caramel or lemon sauce. This is a delicious, wholesome, and practical method of canning pears.
Compote of Pears.-Off-sized or malformed pears may be sliced, steamed in their own juices, and canned with a small amount of sugar for use in making pies, cobblers and other desserts.-'
The Pineapple pear and the LeConte are much more desirable than the Kieffer, in both color and texture, have a relatively small number of grit cells, and are more uniform in shape.
The grading is very important and should be done carefully to obtain a uniform pack. A special guarded knife is used by commercial canners, and the peeling is done from the stem to the blossom end and not around the pear. The core, stem, and
"Pears must be carefully gathered at the proper stage of maturity for canning and be transported without bruising. They develop a better flavor and are of finer grained texture if ripened after gathering. Fruit ripened on the tree is apt to be coarse in texture and often softens badly around the core. Gather pears when full size, somewhat yellow in color, but while still hard. Hold from 4 to 8 days to ripen in a dark but well ventilated, cool room. LeConte pears are an exception to this rule and if picked when three-fourths grown and allowed to mellow in a darkened room, make the most delicious canned product of any of the pears grown in Florida. The fruit will not ripen evenly, and it will be necessary to sort daily during this ripening period in order that fruit of a prime degree of maturity for canning may be obtained.
Florida Cooperative Extension
blossom or calyx are removed by a loop shaped knife (see Fig. 8), or the core may be removed with a French potato ball cutter. If pears are canned in halves, cut the pears lengthwise and remove all core and the bundle of fibers extending from core to stem.
If pears are left in contact with the air for any length of time they oxidize and turn brown very rapidly. This difficulty can be partially avoided by placing fruit in a dilute salt brine (3 tablespoons salt to I gallon water). Brine checks the action of oxidase, the enzyme responsible for browning.
It is not desirable to can pears in water. They should be canned in a syrup of sufficient density to develop the delicate. aromatic flavor for which pears are valued. A medium syrup made by boiling together 2 quarts of water with 1 quart sugar will not be too sweet for most varieties. Strain to remove impurities or any sediment.
PECANS
The pecans must be in a perfectly fresh condition and freshly hulled. Clean, sort, and use only the perfect, unbroken halves. Place immediately in pan in hot oven and when nuts are hot through, fill into hot, dry, pint or half pint jars which have previously been boiled to sterilize them. Seal and process at boiling for 30 minutes or in the steam pressure cooker at 5 pounds for 10 minutes. Store in a cool, dry place.
Note: Most of the containers in which commercial nuts are packed are closed with a vacuum sealer and without applying heat or processing.
PERSIMMON
The persimmon is pre-eminently a fruit for consumption while fresh. It is most commonly served when soft and full-ripe, the pulp being spooned out and eaten as a dessert. However. it may also be sliced and served with cream. When peeled the large fruited varieties make a delectable fruit salad on lettuce, with French, cream or mayonnaise dressing. The non-astringent varieties, of which Fuyugaki is the finest, can be eaten while still bard and are used for dicing in fruit salads in the same manner as apples are used.
The soft pulp may be made into a delicious sauce or "spread" when the abundance of fruit seems justifiable and when its proper stage of ripeness can be accurately determined. While persimmons darken when heated, the flavor is not impaired.
Can Surplus Fruits and Vegetables
For a sauce or marmalade take sufficient fruit to make I quart of pulp, removing the skins. Add 1/2 cup strained orange juice or half orange and half lemon juice, and cook the mixture rapidly until thick. Add 2 to 3 cups of sugar and cook to the desired consistency. Seal boiling hot in hot jars. Spice may be added if preferred.
PLU31S
Cultivated.-Select sound, uniformly ripe plums. Prick with fork. Let stand in hot medium syrup until cool. Pack in jars as firmly as possible without crushing; add syrup, somewhat concentrated, and process quarts 12 to 15 minutes.
Wild-Select well-ripened but not over-ripe fruit. Wash and drain. Prepare medium syrup and when boiling add plums. Cover and remove from fire. If plums have considerable acidity, when cold-preferably the next day-drain off juice, add sugar sufficient to make a 50 to 60 percent syrup, bring to a boil and boil 10 minutes. Add plums and again set aside. When cold, if plums are tender and slightly transparent and syrup somewhat heavy, pour into hot, sterilized jars, seal and simmer pint jars 5 minutes. These wild plums, with their peculiar acidity and tang of the skin, are not only fine for canning but for juice, jelly, and butter making. (See "Plums, Wild and Otherwise" for other utilization recipes.)
ROSELLE OR "JELLY" OKRA
Pick calyces as soon as they are full grown to get best flavor and jellying quality, and to extend the roselle season from November into February-providing, of course, there are no frosts.
Roselle Sauce.-When served as sauce, use equal measures of calyces (with seed removed) and water. Cook gently until tender in open kettle. Sweeten lightly, bring to boil again, pack at once into hot containers, place in water bath (at boiling) and process quarts 8 to 12 minutes. If a smooth product is desired rub through a fruit press before sugar is added.
Note: This annual has been tested sufficiently to indicate its value and to warrant more extended cultivation in the warmer sections of Forida. The plant is a vigorous grower and bears abundantly. The stems are reddish in color and branch profusely. The blossoms fade within one day and the calyces, which are the edible portion, are ready for picking abouL three weeks after the bloom appears. These are open pods, much smaller than the ordinary okra, bright red in color, and contain a very pleasing and refreshing acid. Roselle practically takes the p:ace of cranberry, and a few bushes of this ornamental and useful plant should be found growing in every garden in South Florida for making "ade", sauces, and jams.
Florida Cooperath7e Extensiov
STANDARDS AND NOMENCLATURE DESIGNED FOR CANNED FRUITS
Commercially canned fruits- and fruit products in great variety and of varying quality are found in all up-to-date stores. They are commonly sold under four grades: fancy, choice,, standard, and off-grade or sub-standard. Unfortunately these grades are not always indicated on the label, nor is the price, in many cases, indicative of the quality.
The Bureau of Agricultural Economics of the United States Department of Agriculture has set up definite grades designated for fruits as: A, Fancy; B, Extra Standard or Choice; C, Standard and Sub-standard. While these very simple and definite terms (A, B, C) relative to quality are not used by all commercial canners, it is believed some type of informative labeling will eventually come into universal use. With the knowledge and use of the terms of informative and descriptive labels, the housewife will know exactly what is in the can before it is opened. Home canners themselves will do well to observe all the special precautions and use the same degree of syrup density as the commercial canners of fruit in order to conserve as nearly as possible the high degree of color, flavor, and vitamins characteristic of the raw fruit.
SPECIAL DIRECTIONS FOR CANNING VEGETABLES
While the water bath canning method has been widely used in the canning of non-acid vegetables in past years, we are recommending at this time that only the steam pressure canner be used. The steam pressure canner not only saves time but also eliminates all spoilage difficulties when directions are carefully followed. Since most vegetables have only a small amount of acid as compared with fruits, this low degree of acidity permits the growth of certain bacteria which are very difficult to kill by heating at 212" F. Hence, a temperature above boiling (2120 F.) is necessary for all non-acid vegetables. This requires the use of the steam pressure cooker and preferably tin cans and the hand sealer, rather than glass jars. Neither the steam pressure cooker nor the hand sealer is difficult to operate, and both can be obtained at reasonable cost.
Only fresh, tender, young vegetables should be canned. They should be perfectly sound, carefully and thoroughly washed and
Can StirpluR Frvit., and Vegetable.,;
quickly prepared. NEVER CAN VEGETABLES THAT HAVE STOOD OVER NIGHT.
To obtain the highest possible flavor and food value, vegetables-beans, peas, corn, carrots, and all greens-should be canned if possible within two hours after gathering unless held in a very cold place. Loss of fresh flavor and the growth of many heat-resistant bacteria characterize products held in a warm kitchen (or a warm grocery store), resulting in a loss of valuable food constituents and making sterilization more difficult. (Organisms called enzymes in the product cause a chemical change in a warm atmosphere.)
-4;%
Fig. 9-Carefully canned vegetables are pleasing to the eye as well as the palat ,
Precook for Green Colored Vegetables.-Until recently canning directions have advised precooking green vegetables, in fact all vegetables, at the boiling temperature. Now it is recommended that any green vegetable beans, English peas, turnip greens, spinach-be precooked at a low temperature. That is, a temperature just below simmering, about 1700 F. should be used in order to better hold the natural green color and the fresh flavor that is so desirable in the finished product. This lower cook takes a longer time and extra care to get the vegetable in the container as hot as needed.
Maintaining the natural green color and the fresh flavor in canned vegetables has been a serious problem until recent years. Green has been a problem because it is so elusive, and the heat of the canning often has faded or changed it to a dull green. Worse still, with the loss of color has gone some loss of flavor and fresh texture.
It has been known that chlorophyl, the green substance in plants, is sensitive to acid applied during heating. Most vegetables contain acid which the heat of cooking drives out and which affects the chlorophyl unless it can pass off in the steam. If cooked in a closed kettle or sealed can. the acid remains and
Florida Cooperative Extension
attacks the green co'or. Hence, this newer rule: For the sake of color and freshness generally, precook at a temperature of about 170' F., or below simmering, In this lower cook the color seems to "set" or hold; it will not fade or change later even when it is exposed to the high heat of processing.
The precook is important and accomplishes three things: It drives the air out of the vegetables; it wilts or shrinks the product so that it packs well; and it gives a high temperature at the start of the processing which is necessary for a good vacuum in the container.
Spoilage and Storage.-When preparing canned vegetables for the table they should be examined very carefully. Any indication of spoilage, foreign odor or taste, or any unusual appearance should be sufficient grounds for discarding that package. With ordinary care in selection, preparation, and the use of the steam pressure in canning of vegetables, the Florida housewife need have little fear of feeding her family unwholesome foods.
Seasoning for Canned Vegetables.-For most vegetables I teaspoon of salt is used for each quart. In case of tomatoes. peas, field peas, field peas and butter beans, corn, carrots, and beets, a salt and sugar mixture tends to improve flavor. This is made in proportion of 1 cup of salt to 2 cups of sugar. Use 2 level teaspoons of this mixture for a quart, and 1 teaspoon for each pint.
BEANS
Butter Beans-Use only freshly picked, young, tender beami. (Legumes such as snap beans, butter beans, and peas lose vitamin C rapidly unless held under refrigeration.) Wash pods before shelling. Wash the shelled beans. Precook 4 to 8 minutes. Pack boiling hot into containers and cover with water in which beans were cooked. When the jar is packed half full. add seasoning. Seal and process.
Snap Beans.-Only very small, tender, freshly picked beans should be used for canning. These are the most desirable, are richest in vitamins, and grade the highest-Grade A, or Fancy. They are canned whole with ends of pod snipped. Wash thoroughly, snip or, if preferred, cut into desired lengths.
Place in kettle, cover with boiling water and simmer uncovered about 4 minutes or until the beans will bend without breaking. The larger, less succulent grades will take 5 to 10 minutes precook. Pack hot into the containers, cover with
Can Surplus Fruits and Vegetables
liquid in which cooked; add 1 teaspoon salt to each quart and completely seal. Process immediately as directed in Table 2.
If mature beans or so-called "shell beans" (those which have grown starchy) are used, the time for processing should be increased 10 minutes.
BEETS
Only young, tender beets should be canned. Sort, leave I inch stem on each root to prevent bleeding. Wash thoroughly. using a scrubbing brush if necessary. Boil with skins on 15 to 20 minutes or until skin will readily slip off; or cook 5 minutes at 5 pounds pressure, allowing pressure to run down before opening petcock. Skin, trim, and pack (as tightly as possible without crushing) into glass jars or enamel lined cans. Fill with clear, boiling water, season, completely seal and process immediately.
BROCCOLI
Select only very young broccoli with tight, unopened flower buds and can immediately after gathering. Soak 1/2 hour in salt water to remove any insects. Wash thoroughly. Tie in small bundles and steam or slightly wilt for 2 or 3 minutes in water below boiling in uncovered container. Be very particular not to over-soften.
Remove broccoli, pack, cover with boiling water, add salt, seal and process at once.
CARROTS AND OTHER ROOT CROPS
Only very young, tender carrots, turnips, or parsnips should be canned. Steam or boil until one-fourth cooked, or cook under pressure to 5 pounds and open cooker when gauge registers zero. Cut into halves or slice as preferred. Pack. Cover with boiling water. Add salt and sugar mixture. completely seal and process immediately.
CELERY
Often at the celery growing centers this vegetable may be purchased very cheaply. Celery is easy to can and is delightful to use in meat soups, cream of celery soup and au gratin dishes.
Prepare celery carefully by brushing well and scrapiDg to remove any soil, blemishes or defects. Cut into 1/2 or 1 inch lengths. Cover with water and cook 5 to 10 minutes or until wilted. Pack boiling hot into jars or cans, cover with liquid in which celery was precooked. Add I teaspoon salt to each quart, completely seal and process immediately.
Florida Cooperative Extension
CHAYOTE AND SUMMER SQUASH
Select only young, tender fresh vegetables. Wash and cut into halves if needed or cut into cubes for convenient packing. Steam 5 to 10 minutes. Pack into jars, add salt, cover with boiling water, completely seal and process immediately.
CORN
Corn is best for canning when taken in the last days of the milk stage. When it has passed the milky stage or when stale. it is very hard to sterilize successfully. Sweet corn deteriorates with amazing rapidity; hence, it should never be allowed to wait after being gathered. Shuck, silk, and clean carefully. A stiff bristle brush will help here. Cut corn from cob without precooking, but do not cut too deep. Scrape from cobs with back of knife. Put in kettle and for every pint of corn add 1 cup boiling water and 1 teaspoon of the salt and sugar seasoning. Stir and allow to boil 10 to 12 minutes. Add more water if needed. Pack boiling hot into containers. The pack should be loose and moist. Seal tin cans and process. (Do not use quart containers for corn.) Heat glass jars 15 to 20 minutes in water bath before sealing completely and putting in pressure cooker.
Whole Grain Style.-Corn for the whole grain pack should be gathered two or three days earlier than for cream style corn. For whole grain style cut from the cob only deep enough to remove most of the kernels without objectionable hulls. Do not scrape cob. The whole grain corn is considered to retain appearance and flavor of fresh corn more nearly than cream style. Whole grain corn has less tendency to discolor when packed in plain tin cans than does cream style corn, though the C-enamel cans give better results for both kinds.
Add seasoning and enough boiling water to cover the corn and bring to boil. Boil 3 minutes. Fill boiling hot in jars and heat in boiling water 15 to 20 minutes. Completely seal and process in pressure cooker as in Table 2. Tin cans are filled boiling hot, sealed at once and processed. Cool cans in cold water after sterilizing.
EGGPLANT
Can only freshly gathered, young fruit. Wash, peel and cut into cubes and hold in salt brine (1 tablespoon salt to I quart water). Drain and steam or cook in a small quantity of water
Can Suxplus Fruits and Vegetable,
foi about 5 minutes or until boiling hot. Pack hot, add salt, and seat completely. Process 45 minutes at 10 pounds pressure.
GREENS
All greens, if canned when very young, tender and freshly gathered, are a valuable addition to the diet. Many plants are used for greens. such as turnip tops, beet tops, mustard, spinach, chard, and kale. In canning they are all treated practically in the same manner. Can as soon as possible after they are picked. Be sure that they are free of insects, blight, wilt and tough stems. Wash thoroughly in a number of waters, lifting the greens out each time. Precook in an uncovered vessel until completely wilted, adding as little water as possible and never allowing water to heat above simmering. Pack loosely while scalding hot into cans or jars. Add pot liquor to completely cover. adding boiling water when necessary. Add 1 teaspoon salt. Process immediately.
HOMINY
Use a fancy grade of hard, white corn. To make I gallon of hominy, use 1 tablespoon of concentrated lye, 6 cups of water and 6 cups of shelled white corn.
Use an iron or enamel kettle; never use an aluminum one.
Wash and soak the corn in lukewarm water for a short time. Place the soaked corn in the lye solution and boil for 20 to 25 minutes, just long enough to loosen hulls. Remove, rinse thoroughly in fresh water; rub to loosen hulls and the dark portion of the kernel near the germ. Let stand in fresh water 2 or 3 hours, changing water occasionally to be sure all lye is removed. Drain. The black coat covering the germ of the corn should be removed by this time. Cover corn with water, bring to a boil. Pack into cans hot, to within 1 inch of top. Fill can with boiling water to 1/t inch of top. Add 1/2 teaspoon of salt to No. 2 cans. Seal cans hot and process at 10 pounds (2400 F.), No. 2 cans 75 minutes. Remove cans. and cool quickly in cold Water.
OKRA
Select young, tender pods, 11/2 to 2 inches long. Remove stem without cutting into seedpod and leave whole. Steam or precook 3 to 5 minutes. Add salt. Pack hot, covering with hot liquid in which okra was cooked. Seal and process immediately.
Florida Cooperative Extension
OKRA AND TOMATOES
Use only very young, small pods and sound, firm, ripe tomatoes. Wash okra and trim without cutting into seedpod. Combine okra and tomatoes and heat to boiling. Pack boiling hot. add seasonin-- and seal completely. Process.
PEAS
Blackened Peas.-Blackeyed peas may be canned with pork. the most popular way, or may be made "vegetarian" by omitting the pork. Pork adds much to the flavor and palatability of the finished product. (The pork generally used is salt pork sides. Cured bacon, however, adds a very pleasing zest, but is considerably more expensive than salt pork.)
The pork should be cut in cubes or slices. The amount used per can helps to determine type and quality of product. The pork for a No. 2 tin should weigh 0.6 ounce, No. 3, 1.0 ounce. It should be in one piece and should show strips of lean meal and clear, firm fat. When a tin is opened it should show ver)few broken or mushy peas. The peas should be neither tough nor soft and while approximately firm, should crush easily between the fingers. They should be full and firm and have the pleasing, nut-like flavor characteristic of this type of legume. (See also directions for English peas and butter beans.)
English Peas.-Gather the peas when cool, or early in the morning. Select fresh young peas and do not allow to stand long after gathering or shelling. Peas and beans, when piled up and allowed to stand for even a few hours during warm weather, may "heat" and develop flat sour.4 Avoid this by using refri.-eration or by spreading out and keeping as cool as possible.
Wash pods well and shell only enough to fill containers to be processed at one time. Grade as to maturity and size. Bring to boil with water to cover and boil 5 to 7 minutes. Pack boiling hot into hot cans or jars. Add I teaspoon sugar and salt seasoning to each pint. A gluey or cloudy liquid may be the result of over-cooking, often too full a pack, or too much mineral matter in the water. Water of high mineral content ha a tendency to increase cloudiness and may harden the peas.
'Flat sour is a term applied to a type of spoilage of non-acid vegetab'es causing the product to become soft and mushy and have a sour taste and odor. Gas bubbles are not present as in a fermented product. The bacteria causing this form of spoilage grow best at temperatures of about 130' to 140' F. They sometimes cause spoilage in canned foods not properly cooled after processing or held at too high storage temperatures. Corn, peas and green beans are subject to flat sour spoilage.
Can Surplus Fruits and Vegetables
(Boiling, then cooling and straining off carefully will often softer) hard water sufficiently. Or, let the water stand after boiling until the fine precipitate settles and then pour off the clear water to use in canning.) Peas which are too mature or which are given too long a precook may burst, allowing the starch to escape into the surrounding liquid. A cloudy appearance of the liquid of peas might also indicate that spoilage had occurred.
Many of the commonly canned garden vegetables are naturally excellent sources of vitamins A and C-the vitamins which are most subject to destruction by oxidation. It has been found that much of this vitamin content is rapidly lost if the vegetables stand in a warm place after coming in from the garden. The less the vegetable is exposed to the air, the better for vitamin saving, hence beans and peas should not be shelled until just before canning operations, since it has been shown that shelled peas and beans lose ascorbic acid (vitamins) much more rapidly than unshelled ones. When freshly gathered and just mature enough, sweet corn, peas, snap and butter bean,contain a great deal of sugar as well as vitamins. Likewise, if these vegetables are held in a warm place after they are picked the sugar rapidly changes to starch. Canning and freezing industries and commercial shippers of fresh vegetables now make every effort to cool vegetables right after harvesting. Sometimes the vegetables are plunged in ice water to take out the "field heat" and are kept in a cold room. Sometimes they are packed in ice before shipping. The housewife may well take a tip from these industries and use her refrigerator to slow up enzyme action and spoilage as well as to save vitamins, flavor and crisp texture.
PIMIENTOS
The best sweet peppers for canning are the Spanish varieties known as pimientos. These peppers have very thick flesh and tough skins and are comparatively smooth and free from ridges. (The bell peppers are not suitable for canning.) Pimientos should be ripe, sound and free from bruises. Sort, using whole peppers for canning and the small or broken ones for sauces, soups, chutneys and Dixie relish. Prepare peppers for peeling by placing them in a hot oven for 6 or 8 minutes to blister and crack the skin; if the oven is not hot enough it will cook the flesh of the pepper before the skin is blistered. Dip quickly in cold water to cool. Peel, cut out stem, remove seed cores, fold and pack in flattened layers in cans or jars. No liquid is
Florida Cooperoth e Extension
used in the preparation of these peppers; the processing brings out a thick liquor which almost covers them in the can or jar. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt to each pint.
PUMPKIN OR WINTER SQUASH
Wash the pumpkin, cut in halves or convenient slices, remove seed and steam until tender (if in pressure cooker, 10 minutes at 10 pounds pressure). Remove pulp from shell, run through silver or fruit press. Spices may be added to the pumpkin if intended for pie filling. Some think flavor is better if added at the time of canning than when making the addition at the time of using.
The proportion of ground spices generally used for each quart of steamed, strained pumpkin is: 1/2 cup brown sugar, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, 1 teaspoon salt, and I teaspoon ginger. Stir pulp until of a smooth, even consistency and pack into cans or jars while steaming hot. Heat in water bath at boiling for 10 minutes. Completely seal and process immediately in the pressure cooker as directed in Table 2.
SAUERKRAUT
Cabbage is converted into sauerkraut by a lactic acid fermetitation which takes place in the brine made from the juice of the cabbage drawn out by the salt. Kraut making affords a convenient means of conserving surplus cabbage during periods of temporary overproduction. Sauerkraut, as well as the juice, is a most valuable and healthful food and should be more commonly used in Florida homes. It is delicious served with hot meats and fowl. It is especially good with spare ribs, roast pork, duck and chicken. It may be served cold as a relish or as a salad.
Method.-Select only fresh, sound heads of mature cabbage. (It is a great mistake to wait until the cabbage is over-mature and sunburned in the field before using it for kraut making.) One pound of salt is used with 40 pounds of cabbage; 2 ounces (31/2 tablespoons) with 5 pounds cabbage; 2 level teaspoons with I pound cabbage. A 2 gallon crock holds 10 pounds or more;
1 pound fills a pint jar.
Remove outside green and dirty leaves. Quarter the head and cut out the core. (In many commercial factories core is not removed.) Weigh cabbage. For shredding, use a kraut cutting machine which shreds finely and rapidly. (Cost of cutting machine is about $1.75 to $2.50, or a 50-cent slaw cutter
Can Surplus Fruits and Vegetables
may be found very efficient.) Mix salt and cabbage in large pan thoroughly for even distribution and until juice flows freely. (For further information write for Circular 40, Making and Using Sauerkraut.)
TOMATOES
Plain Canned.-Select fresh, firm, uniformly red-ripe tomatoes. They should be sorted carefully and be absolutely free from spots or decay. Wash thoroughly to remove all soil. Scald in boiling water in wire basket or square of cheesecloth about 1 minute or long enough to cause skins to slip easily. Remove and chiA in cold water. Over-scalding will make the tomatoes soft and under-scalding will cause waste of time and fruit in removing their skins. Do not attempt to handle too many at one time as the whole process must be carried through quickly.
Drain, core and peel promptly. Cut out core with a short bladed, sharp pointed knife or a tomato corer. Clip off skins. This is most easily done by beginning at the blossom end. Often there is a small, black spot at the blossom end which should be removed. When sufficient quantity of tomatoes to till two or three jars or tins has been secured, pack at once firmly and solidly into the glass or tin containers with back of wooden spoon until enough juice is released to cover the solids and to fill all spaces between pieces. If too large to pass readily through the opening, cut into suitable sizes. Add 2 teaspoons of sugar and salt mixture for each quart. If tomatoes are canned in tin, the tins filled to 1/ inch of top must be heated in boiling water or live steam until contents are hot before sealing.
Glass jars maybe packed full. Steriizeas directed in Table 1. Do not add any water as it is a violation of the Pure Food Law to add water or even the juice from other tomatoes. The only liquid allowed is the juice which is pressed out of the tomatoes during their preparation.
Tomato Juice.-High grade, choice, ripe tomatoes only should be used for juice. They should be red-ripe, well developed, firm, and smooth, as well as high in acidity. Green tomatoes, or overripe, moldy or decayed fruit, will impair the flavor and must be avoided.
Wash carefully and drain. Cut out all cores. Place in kettle, crushing a few to secure enough free juice to start the cooking. Cook the tomatoes lightly in a covered container to release the color from the skins and give a larger yield of juice. Avoid boiling. This cooking also liberates the vegetable gums and
Florida Cooperative Extension
the pectin around the seeds and fleshy tissue, drives out air, renders enzymes inactive and permits a better separation of pulp from skin. Al'ow to cool somewhat without stirring befor pulping. Extract the pulp by passing first through a coarse sieve and then a fine sieve. The first sieve will remove the skin, seeds and coarse fiber; the second one should be very fine in order to disintegrate the pulp as finely as possible so that it will stay in suspension for a long period. It is difficult, with the equipment found in the home, to sieve tomato juice fine enough for the particles of red to stay in suspension like the commercially prepared juice. Even if the clear juice, in storage, goes to the top and the pulp settles to the bottom, it may be shaken or stirred together before serving.
Reheat the juice at once after putting through the sieve. If u8ing glass containers, heat the juice to 1900 F. (if no thermometer is available, heat just to boiling), pour into the hot, sterilized containers, and seal. If work is carried on quickly no further heating is necessary. Otherwise, process in boiling water 5 minutes. If tins are used, heat juice to 180' F. to 1901 F., pour into cans, seal and process 5 minutes at boiling. Do not leave headspace in either glass or tin containers. Cool tins in running water. Store in cool, dark place. It is especially important to keep tomato juice in glass protected from light to preserve color, flavor and vitamin content.
The lower the temperature used, the better the flavor. Juice can be sterilized at a much lower temperature and in a shorter time than is used for canned tomatoes because it has no solid pieces to prevent rapid heat penetration and may be sterilized at 175' to 180' F., as against the boiling temperature (2120 F.) needed in canning whole tomatoes.
Give tomato juice to babies at the physician's direction in the quantities he may advise. For adults tomato juice may be served hot or ice cold, adding salt to taste, as a drink by itself or seasoned to make a delicious tomato juice cocktail, or a healthful, colorful party puncb. It makes an excellent pick-up drink for breakfast or a before dinner appetizer, or it may be served du.in-- the day as a refreshing, healthful drink. In cooking it can be used in many ways, being excellent for tomato bouillon or as a delightful base for gelatin or aspic salad.
Tomato Puree and Hot Sauce.-Tomato puree or sauce is very convenient for flavoring many dishes, such as stews, soups and macaroni. Cook until soft. Run through fruit press or silver.
Can Surplus Fruits and Vegetables
Concentrate the puree by boiling to at least one-half its original volume. Season. Pack boiling hot into jays or cans and process. If a hot sauce is desired add chopped onions and hot peppers to tomatoes before cooking and straining.
VEGETABLES FOR SOUP
Any desired mixture of vegetables may be canned for home use. The 4-H product consists of 1 quart concentrated tomato pulp, 1 pint young, tender corn or tiny butter beans, and I pint okra with 4 teaspoons salt and sugar seasoning, 1 small onion, chopped, and 1/2 cup chopped sweet red pepper. Cook the tomatoes, pepper and onions and put through silver or fruit press to remove seed (this is optional), then cook to the consistency of ketchup. Measure, add the corn or beans and okra, which have been prepared as for canning, add seasoning, and cook all together for 10 minutes. Pack boiling hot into hot jars or cans,, seal, and process immediately.
If all of the vegetables recommended are not available, others may be substituted. Celery makes a valuable addition to the mixture.
STANDARDS AND GRADES FOR CANNED VEGETABLES
Grades for the more commonly canned vegetables have been developed by the United States Bureau of Agricultural Economics in cooperation with the canning trade. New grades are tried out for a number of years and then adopted with modifications, if advisable, as official grades.
Common vegetable grades are Extra Fancy, Fancy, Extra Standard and Standard. After the United States standard for vegetables is accepted and printed on the labels, the contents are considered misbranded if not up to the standard specified. Detailed information as to these grades may be secured from the United States Department of Agriculture and will be of great value to the home canner who is interested in putting up superior products as well as to the homemaker concerned with buying canned goods intelligently.
Before placing canned goods upon the market it is advisable first to establish a high grade of home canner's products and to maintain a uniform quality. If uniformity is obtained, both the process of growing the product as well as the packing (canning) must be carefully controlled. The product must be brought to certain definite and predetermined standards for splendid quality and pleasing appearance. It is well, therefore,
Florida Cooperative Extension
to know what standards and prices have been set by the commercial canning trade with whom the home canner competes.5
QUALITY STANDARDS FOR FANCY CANNED VEGETABLES
Lima beans are classified as tiny, fancy, medium, standard and mammoth. The smallest sizes are most tender, sweetest, green in color and the most desirable. These may be termed Grade A or Fancy.
Snap beans should be of a deep green color, crisp, tender, fleshy and free from fiber and strings; they are substantially whole when of the highest grade.
Ladyfinger peas should be tender and sweet, with young snaps free of fiber or string if used. Pork should be in one piece, show strips of lean meat and clear, firm fat.
Beets for canning must be of small size, of uniform deep red color, tender and of good flavor.
Sauerkraut must be of normal acid flavor, uniform cut, of light straw or golden color and crisp.
Sweet corn varieties are suitable for canning. The kernels should be sweet and tender, of good flavor and cooking quality. Most commercial canned corn is packed in No. 2 cans. Fancy canned sweet corn is produced from young, tender corn of superior flavor and of such degree of maturity that the kernels are milky or creamy.
Canned tomatoes are prepared from sound, ripe, fresh tomatoes. Fancy tomatoes are canned whole, are of uniform red color, free from pieces of skin or core. Tomatoes are canned usually with a level teaspoon of sugar and salt mixture added to improve the flavor.
Standard pack tomatoes consist of small ones, those of imperfect color, not soft ones and those trimmed reasonably free from under-colored or green parts and from pieces of skin and core.
Addition of water in tomatoes is never necessary or desirable and constitutes an adulteration under the law.
"The following table will assist in determining the price to place upon home canned produces, after figuring the production cost: Cost per quart of fruit (total cost divided by total qts.) -------- - $ -------- ---------Cost per quart of vegetables (total cost divided by total qts.) --------- -------Profit per hour (not profit divided by total hours) _ ----------------- -------------------Labor returns per hour (add 10 cents to above) ----------------- ----- --------------- - ---
TABLE 1.-CONDENSED DIRECTIONS FOR CANNING FRUITS AND TOMATOES.
Fruit
Berries,
All Varieties Cherries,
Surinam Figs Fruit for Salad Grapefruit Grapes,
Muscadine Guavas Loquats Mangos
Preparation Before Processing
Pick over, wash, hull or stem, drain. Pack in containers, fill with hot thin or medium syrup or hot berry juice. For strawberries see special directions, page 21.
Use fine, ripe fruit. Pre-cook 1 to 2 minutes. Pack
hot in light or medium syrup.
Sort, wash, firm ripe figs. Pre-cook 2 to 6 minutes.
Pack hot in medium or heavy syrup.
Use fruit perfect in form and fruit color. Trim carefully. Cook each separately in light syrup.
Use only thoroughly ripened fruit. Peel, separate
hearts from all tag or membrane. Add 1 teaspoonful heavy syrup or 14 teaspoonful salt. Process at
1800 F. (below boiling).
Select firm, ripe grapes. Prepare by removing pulps
or keep whole. See special directions, page 25.
Pare, pack whole or cut and remove seed. Pre-cook 2
to 5 minutes. Use thin or medium syrup; or put
through dilver, cook thick and pack hot as sauce. Remove stem, blossom end and seed, unless almond
flavor is desired. Use light or medium syrup.
Peel, slice, pre-cook in syrup. Pack hot in heavy syrup.
Processing Period
Minutes to Process in Water
Bath at 2120 F.
Qt. Jars Minutes
12 20
30
Below rumering m 10 mains.
2 hours
16-20
20
16-20
sir
Fro to
No. 2-3 Tins
Minutes
Type of Can Recommended
7-15 R-Enamel. Glass
for Blueberries
11 R-Enamel
115 Plain
Plain
25
Below Plain
simmering From 10 mins. to 2 hours R-Enamel 11-15 Plain
15 Plain
11-15 Plain
Drop tins immediately in cold water when removed from water bath. Glass pints require the minimum cook listed above.
TABLE 1.-CONDENSED DIRECTIONS FOR CANNING FRUITS AND TOMATOES- (Co)cluded).
Preparation Before Processing
Fruit 7a
.es
Is
pples
s
le
toes Juices Juices Syrups
Processing Period
Minutes to Process in Water
Bath at 2120 F.
Qt. Jars No. 2-3 Tins
Minutes Minutes
16-20 16-20 Pints 30
10-15 12-15 8-12
15-25
Type of Can Recommended
11-15 Plain
11-15 Plain
5-10 Plain
7-10 Plain
See special directions.
Use firm, ripe peaches. Scald, cold dip, peel, pit. Precook. Pack in thin or medium syrup. Pare, leave whole or cut as preferred. Boil in syrup
or bake as for serving. Add medium syrup. Pack hot. Use fresh pecans. Hull, sort. Keep unbroken halves for fancy pack. Heat containers and nuts in oven. Pack hot in dry jars. Seal hot.
Wash well, slice, peel and core. Pre-cook. Pack in
medium syrup._Select firm, ripe but not over-ripe, fruit. Prick. Let stand
in hot syrup until cool. Pack hot in medium syrup. Use roselle just at maturity. Add equal measure of water to prepared calyces. Cook until tender. Pack hot. Scald, cold dip, peel and core. Pack whole or cut in
pieces. Pack solid in jars. Add salt and sugar
mixture.
Boil fruit until soft, press, strain juice. Can hot. Add
no sugar. (Tins not recommended for fruit juices.)
Peel, crush or press fruit. Heat slowly to simmering
point. Strain. Add 1 cup sugar to one gallon juice.
Can hot. Seal. Process below boiling.
Papaya Peach Pears Pecan Pinea Plum Rosel Toma Jelly
Fruit
and
15 at Simmering 180' F.
Pasteurize at 165� F. Process at 180'F. for 30 m., or bring to boiling, cut off heat and leave in bath until cold.
Drop tins immediately in cold water when removed from water bath. Glass pints require the minimum cook listed above.
3-7
10-20
R-Enamel Plain
Be Be Be Ca Ce Ch Co
Vegetables ans, Butter ans, Snap ets
rrots and Other Roots lery hayote and Summer Squash
)rn:
Cream Style Whole Grain
TABLE 2.-CONDENSED DIRECTIONS FOR CANNING
Preparation Before Processing
Use only young, tender, freshly harvested beans. Wash,
she!l. Pre-cook. Add salt and sugar mixture.
Wash, string, cut; pre-cook in water below boiling to
cover. Add salt. Use liquid beans are cooked in to
fil jar.
Use only baby beets. Do not break root or cut top
too close. Pre-cook, peel, pack. Add salt. Fill container with boiling water.
Use only very young and tender, freshly harvested
roots. Clean, scrape, pre-cook. Pack, add salt and
sugar mixture. Process at once.
Prepare carefully. Pre-cook. Pack boiling hot in container, using liquor to cover; salt.
Use only young, tender, freshly picked vegetables.
Wash, cut into halves or cubes. Steam pack into
jars. Salt. Add boiling water to cover.
Use when in milky stage. Gather only as immediately
ready to use in small lots. Prepare, add liquid, precook thoroughly, add salt and sugar mixture. Pack
hot.
Use when in milk stage. Gather as specified above.
Prepare, cut whole grains. Add liquid, pre-cook
thoroughly, season. Pack hot, seal and process.
25 Plain
25 Plain
25 R-Enamel
:30 Plain
30 Plain
Pints only
75
Plain or CEnamel if obtainable
55 Plain or CEnamel
1. Corn or butter beans should not be canned in No. 3 cans or quart jar. because of difficulty of heat pentration.
2. Place jars or cans in hot canner as soon as filled.
NoN-AcID VEGETABLES.
trocessmg Period
Pressure Canner at 10 lbs.
Pressure or 240' F.
Qt. Jars No. 2-3 Tins
Minutes Minutes
Pints only
50 50
Type of Can Recommended
Plain or CEnamel if obtainable
TABLE 2.-CONDENSED DIRECTIONS FOR CANNING NON-ACID VEGETABLES-(Concluded).
Vegetables
Eggplant Lye Hominy
All Greens Broccoli Okra
Peas, Blackeyed
and English Pimiento
Potato, Sweet Pumpkin or
Winter Squash Sauerkraut )
Vegetables
for Soup
Preparation Before Processing
Pare, cut in pieces, soak in brine. Steam. Pack hot. Wash thoroughly, cook tender. Pack boiling hot. Add boiling wa'er and salt. Seal boiling hot. Cool quickly. Trim, wash, pre-cook at below boiling temperature.
Pack in container steaming hot. Salt. Cover with boiling liquid. Process at once. Use only young, tender pods, not longer than 11/2 inches. Wash, trim, steam, pack hot. Gather in early morning, do not let stand. Grade, shell,
pre-cook. Add seasoning. Pack hot.
Roast in hot oven. Skin, cut out stemin, remove seed,
pack dry in flattened layers in pints or half pints. Storage rather than canning recommended.
Steam until tender. Pack hot. Process immediately. Bring to boil, pack hot and process immediately below
boi ing 16 minutes.
See special directions. page 45.
Pre Qt. Mi
Pin
Processng Period ssure Canner at 10 lbs. Type o Pressure or 2400 F. Recomm
Jars No. 2-3 Tins
nutes Minutes
50 55 Plain
35 40 C-Enam
55 50 Plain
35 30 Plain
ts only Plain or
55 50 Enam
Plain or
35 30 Ename
55 50 R-Enam
Plain or
R-Ena
35 30
f Can ended
el
C
el R
el
el
mel
Place jars or cans in hot canner as soon as filled.
Can Surplus Fruits and Vegetables
TABLE 3.-APPROXIMATE YIELDS OF CANNED PRODUCTS FROM GIVEN
QUANTITIES OF FRESH FRUITS AND VEGETABLES.
Name of Product
Beans (snap) . Beans (lima in
hull) .
B eets . Berries (not
strawberries)
Carrots -- ---
Corn . . .
Greens . . ,
Peas (in hull) .
Peaches . .
Pears . . Pumpkin or
squash .
Tomatoes . Tomato puree
concentrated
for soup
mixture - . i
I
Amount of fresh product needed to can
1 quart 212 lbs. 3-4 lbs.
2 -3 lbs. 1' lbs. 2'2 lbs. 10-12 ears
2-3 lbs.
4 lbs. 2-3 lbs. 2-3 lbs.
4 lbs. in shell
3 lbs.
7-10 lbs.
No. of lbs. per bu. of
fresh products
28-30
28 50
48-64
50
12-30
30
50 50 40
50-60
50-60
No. 2 cans No. 3 cans or pint jars or qt. jars canned from canned from
1 bushel 1 bushel
25-30 14-18 30-34 50
30-34 16
10-13
12-16 28-32 38-45 20
22-26
9-12
14-20 8-10
17-20 30
17 20
7-10 16-24 20-25
14-18
|