COMMERCIAL CANNING OF FOODS. 67 



the green should have been left in the field; the only way to reduce this waste to a 

 minimum is to employ a system of dockage. 



The first step in manufactiu-e should be proper sorting. This can be done better 

 by a few persons than by the many peelers. Tomatoes which are green should be 

 taken out and held in crates for one or two days, as may be necessary, but small green 

 spots may be cut out by the peelers. The tomatoes with rot should be discarded. 

 Tomatoes which are small, rough, misshapen, and sound, but which will not peel 

 well, can be set aside for pulp. Such a separation will lessen the work and waste in 

 the factory and in the end be economical. The sorting is best done upon a conveyer 

 table, the tomatoes which are passed being fed directly into the washer. 



The washing should be thorough and done without bruising or crushing the fruit. 

 It is preferable that the fruit be dropped into a tank of water and rolled over and over 

 gently, either by actually turning the tomato or by strongly agitating the water, and 

 then sprajdng under a strong pressure as they emerge from the water. This latter 

 operation is of greater importance than is generally supposed. As before stated, a 

 comparatively large volume of water without force behind it is far less efficacious 

 than a much smaller volume having force. The latter cuts off the dirt and organisms, 

 the former only wets the skin and makes it look bright. Allowing tomatoes to dry 

 in the sun after washing by each method vnll clearly demonstrate the difference. 

 The water in the tank should be changed continuously by the addition of the water 

 used in the spray, an overflow being provided for the tank. The majority of tomato- 

 washing machines are inefiicient. 



The tomatoes are scalded, while passing slowly through a tank or steam chamber, 

 by the continuous action of hot water or steam. The scalding is only sufficient to 

 loosen the skin and not to heat or soften the tomato. As the tomato emerges from the 

 ecalder it is sprayed with cold water, which causes the skin to split and arrests the 

 heating of the fruits. 



The clean-scalded tomatoes are delivered to the peelers in various ways, in pails 

 and pans by carriers or belts, or by moving table tops, or they are delivered to the 

 tables directly upon belts. Various devices have been used to carry the tomatoes 

 to and from the peelers and to care for the waste, the object being to secure cleanli- 

 ness and careful handling of the fruit. The bucket system is an old one and is in 

 general use at small factories. The bucket is filled with scalded tomatoes and the 

 peeler works from one bucket into another, dropping the refuse into a third bucket 

 or into a trough under the table. The objection to the bucket is that the fruit on the 

 bottom Ls mashed more or less before being reached by the peeler, and the same is 

 true of the peeled fruit. Wide .shallow pans have an advantage over the bucket in 

 this respect. In peeling from the special tables, the tendency is to heap the bowls 

 too full, which produces the samcj disadvantages found in using the bucket. Some 

 paint the buckets different colors to indicate whether they are to be used for scalded 

 t^jmatoes, peeled t<^jmatoes, or refu.se. All Vjuckets or pans should be washed each 

 time they are u.«ed, no matter how many times a day that may be. All tables and 

 o^^nveyers should be washed each time the plant stops, and oftener when needed. 



Tlie peelers hold the tomatoes with the stem toward the palm of the hand, pull 

 the Hkin back from the blo.s.som end, and close the operation by removing the core 

 with the pfjint of the knife, keeping it well directed toward the center so as not to 

 open the seed cells. This is not only the quickest way to pcnl tlic tfimnlo, but keeps it 

 whole. Green and undcMirable spots are cut out. 



The fans are filled either by hand or by machine. The .saiiilary or ofxMi-top cans 

 an; filled by hand, uh it gives a bett«!r appearance to the finisluKi jjrodnct. In this 

 cla«H the cans are weighed l.o in.siin; the denired fill. If (iilc-fl too full, whicli may 

 easily happen, "npringerH" or "MipfxrrH" may result, and tin; product bo unsalable 

 thouj,'h ]nTii;<:\\y wholei+onie. "SpringorH" or "flippers," as Ix^fonr «'Xplain('(l, have 

 the app«;uran<:e of a Mw<fll, but ur<r not, dm- to fcrtnenlation. SoUh-r-loppcd cans 



