26 THE CANMNO OF PEAS. 



it unsafe. The majority are processing from thirty to thirty- five 

 minutes for jreshly thrashed, tender peas ; .from thirty-five to forty 

 minutes for peas allowed to stand overnight in the vines, and forty- 

 iive minutes at 245 for very old hard peas. As peas are unlike corn 

 and pastv products, and the heat penetrates easily and quickly, it 

 would seem as though these periods give a large margin of safety. 

 The writer processed good peas for ten minutes and for fifteen 

 minutes at 240 for the purpose of getting spoilage, but got none. 

 Poor peas were processed at 240 for twenty, twenty-five, thirty, 

 thirty-five, fifty, and fifty-five minutes with a like result. Although 

 the-e experiments in getting spoilage gave only negative results, no 

 t;: toi v is advised to use such a short process. 



There was an incidental factor brought out in these experiments 

 which is of some importance to the canners ; that is, the effect of length 

 <>t' process upon the liquor content of a can. The peas used in this 

 experiment were of rather poor grade, hard, and starchy, but not 

 worse than may be seen in thousands of cans of standard peas upon 

 the market. The effect of long processing is to cause a gradual de- 

 crease in the amount of free liquor in the can and to cause the peas 

 to become sticky and adherent. This effect is shown in the following 

 table : 



Effect of rnridtioii in time of itrorntxinu on llqunr content of ctin. 



Grams of liquor in cans proressi'd for 



The peas were sufficiently cooked in twenty-five minutes, and at 

 each succeeding step they became thicker and stickier. The contents 

 of the cans processed for fifty and fifty-five minutes adhered so 

 closely that only part would fall from the inverted can. The time 

 given to processing should be sufficient only to sterilize, and the 

 processor should use judgment in every case, giving the shortest time 

 which will be safe and cause the least injury to the goods. The bet- 

 ter grade of peas will suffer less injury from long or high process 

 than the poorer grades. 



There is some controversy among pea packers as to the best form 

 of heat for obtaining the most attractive product. Some process in 

 dry steam, some in water given the desired temperature, and others 

 in the calcium bath. The advocates of the water process claim that 

 they secure a clearer liquor and a brighter can. Experiments were 

 made to determine this point, but it was impossible to distinguish 

 cans processed in dry steam slowly heated in the retort from those 



