FRUITS AND VEGETABLES FOR WINTER 359 



its use for certain non-acid vegetables, but equally satisfactory results 

 are accomplished by the one-period method, which has the^ additional 

 advantage that it saves labor and expense. 



Equipment 



The housewife can do home canning successfully by using only such 

 equipment as 'may be already on hand. When canning is done by the 

 cold-pack method the first and most essential requisite is a hot-water 

 bath, in which the cans of food may be boiled or sterilized. An ordinary 

 wash boiler can be easily converted into an efficient home canner by 

 fitting it with a false bottom made of slats, with lifting handles. Then 

 there will also be needed a suitedble table, paring and coring knives, a 

 thermometer, a few yards of cheesecloth, a wire dipping basket, wiping 

 cloths, an abundance of clean hot and cold water, a duplex fork for lifting 

 hot jars, a watch or clock to check schedule times, and a good stove or 

 other heating device. Other types of canners now on the market are 

 steam cookers, water-seal outfits, and steam-pressure outfits, but ^ the 

 home made hot-water receptacle described above will meet the necessities 

 of most individual housekeepers. 



Jars, Tin Cans and Rubbers 



Large-mouthed glass jars should be used for canning. Of many 

 kinds on the market, the types that seem %o be most generally favored are 

 those with glass covers clamped on with some metal device, those with 

 screw metal tops and those with suction seal tops. AU jars should be 

 carefully tested, washed and placed in a pan of cool water on a stove to 

 heat, keeping them there until needed for packing. Testing may be per- 

 formed by partly filling the jar with boiling water, adjusting the rubber 

 and the cover, and sealing and inverting the jar. If there is a leakage, 

 determine the cause, and if the defect cannot be remedied reserve the 

 jar for some other purpose. 



Crockery jars with rubber top and clamp spring adjustment for 

 sealing hermetically are also used for canning. Packs in crockery jars of 

 more than one quart size need an increased period of sterilization of 10 to 

 20 per cent, over glass jars of the same size. 



Plain tin cans may be successfully used for packing most foodstuffs, 

 but greens. Beets, Strawberries, Cherries, Pumpkin and Squash should be 

 put up in enameled cans, as the enamel prevents chemical action of the 

 products on the tin coating of the container. 



Care should be given to the selection of good elastic rubber rings. New 

 rubbers are required each year, as they seldom stand using a second season. 



Sirups 



In canning fruits the thickness of the sirup employed depends upon 

 the kind of fruit and the sweetness desired. For ordinary use sugar and 

 water may be combined by boiling until the sugar is dissolved in the 

 following proportions: 



Thin sirup (20 to 30 per cent, density) : 8 cupfiils of water and 3^ 

 ciipfuls of sugar. Used for Apples, Pears, Baspberries and other sweet 

 berries. 



Medium sirup (30 to 40 per cent, density) ; 8 cupfuls of water and 5^ 

 cupfuls of sugar. Used for such fruits as Currants, Blackberries, Dew- 

 berries, Baspberries, Sweet Plums and Sweet Cherries. 



