17 
In any case, sliminess clue to bacterial action should be carefully 
avoided, and thorough cleansing and prompt handling will obviate 
any difficulty in this respect. 
It is held by many canners that scalding in boiling water is the 
only way to thoroughly cleanse peas for canning, but further study 
may alter this view. 
CLARITY OF THE LIQUOR IN CANNING PEAS. 
In the literature, one of the reasons given for scalding is that the 
liquor in the scalded product is freer from cloudiness than in the un- 
treated. With fresh green peas, this was not found to be the case, 
for the liquor in the untreated peas was as free from sediment and 
cloudiness as it was in the case of the scalded peas. Determinations 
of the total solids in the liquor, both when the peas were not scalded 
and when they were scalded (for 4 minutes) , showed a slightly higher 
percentage of solids in the former, but this was due to the going 
into solutions of sugars and other nutrient substances and not to 
suspended material. 
A large quantity of unshelled peas which were held overnight in a 
warm room, and which by morning had begun to heat somewhat, 
yielded a product the liquor of which was turbid and unattractive 
when the peas were not scalded. Peas of this same lot which were 
given a preliminary scalding showed a somewhat clearer liquor. 
Like results were noted with a large quantity of shelled peas that 
were held overnight in a large basket in a warm room. 
Cloudiness was also observed in the liquor of peas that were al- 
lowed to stand in water for some hours before canning. 
In one experiment, in which some peas from a given lot were 
canned fresh and others canned at intervals of 24 hours over a period 
of three days, there was a progressive increase in the turbidity of the 
liquor of the peas held for these intervals, the liquid becoming so 
thick in the oldest samples that it could scarcely be poured from the 
can. Scalding in water improved the condition somewhat in the 
younger samples, but this did not overcome the difficulty entirely. 
In the older samples scalding seemed to be of no particular value. 
In another experiment, peas were allowed to remain on the vines 
in the field until they were fully mature but not yet beginning to dry. 
These peas were, of course, low in sugar and poor in flavor. The 
liquor of these peas when canned was heavy, and in some cases too 
thick to pour from the can. This was probably due in part to the 
fact that with peas in this condition it was difficult to determine the 
proper fill, and the swelling which took place caused bursting of 
some of the peas. No particular advantage resulted from scalding 
peas at this age so far as clarity of liquor was concerned. 
Where thorough washing has not been done, scalding in boiling 
water helps to clean the peas, and a clearer liquor may be obtained ; 
but with fresh material shelled by hand no difficulty was experienced 
by the writers in getting satisfactory clarity of liquor with no 
scalding. 
RELATION OF SCALDING PEAS TO PRESSURE AND VACUUM. 
In a previous publication the writers (38) called attention to the 
great internal pressure developed in cans of peas during processing 
91941°— 24- — 3 
