318 
THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 
July, 1917 
jars as they will not break in transit and they 
are cheaper. Of course, you will have to learn 
to cap and tip properly with the outfit that you 
can purchase. To do it properly and solder 
smoothly requires a little practise; and of 
course tin cans cannot be used over and over 
again. 
Acid fruits and vegetables are affected by 
tin, so rhubarb or other extremely acid fruits 
must be put in glass jars anyway to be on the 
safe side. 
Wire basket useful in handling fruit for 
scalding 
Left, position of spring during sterilization; right, spring 
tightened after sterilization is done 
not injure them. A colander, a basket for 
dipping the things in water, saucepans, spoons, 
paring knives of silver if possible, and all 
other articles needed should be sterilized be- 
fore being used. All your ordinary kitchen 
pots and pans can be used if you wish in- 
stead of getting new, only provide yourself 
with plenty of clean cloths. 
KILL THE BACTERIA 
The great thing in canning is to kill bacteria 
as it is the cause of fermentation and spoiling. 
Bacteria or germs are all about us, in the very 
air we breathe, in the water we drink and the 
food we eat. It used to be thought necessary 
in order to kill these germs to use what was 
called the intermittent process, that is, boil up 
the things three separate times — once to kill 
the germs, then to kill the spores or seeds 
Wire sieve, a handy utensil in gathering fruit, 
etc., in preparation for canning 
YOUR CANNING OUTFIT 
TIME TABLE 
There are several processes of 
sterilizing, by hot water bath, steam 
water canner or steam pressure 
canner, also by the oven method. 
I use the hot water bath which is 
efficient and easy to manage. If 
you intend to do much canning it 
would pay you to buy the little 
outfit. The whole thing costs only 
about $10.00 and really is a good 
investment, as well as being a con- 
venience in having the correct and 
complete outfit always ready for 
use, and available at any time with- 
out using the utensils needed in 
your ordinary kitchen w r ork. The 
washboiler makes a good canner, 
but it is not always convenient to 
get your canning and your washing 
days to separate themselves. You 
can also take the bought canner 
out-of-doors as the heating appa- 
ratus is with it, all under one and 
it would be nice to work out-doors 
on hot summer days instead of in 
the warm kitchen if you are not 
afraid of mosquitoes. I use my 
nice cool cellar which is screened. 
A HOME-MADE CANNER 
Do not give up in despair because 
you can’t afford a real canner. 
I'he washboiler or even a large 
garbage can are good as they have 
flat bottoms and straight sides 
with close fitting lids. You must 
get the handy man or boy of the 
house to make you a rack of flat 
pieces of wood nailed crosswise to 
stand the jars on so that they will 
not break. The washboiler will 
hold about ten or a dozen jars and 
the garbage can five or six. 
OTHER UTENSILS DESIRABLE 
All utensils used ought to be 
either earthen-ware or porcelain 
or enamelled ware or some metal 
that will not discolor your fruits or 
other foods and whose action will 
For Scalding, Blanching, and Sterilizing of Fruits and Vege- 
tables by one-period cold-pack method , 
Time schedule given is based upon the one quart pack and upon fresh picked 
products 
PRODUCTS 
SCALD OR 
BLANCH 
HOT 
WATER 
BATH 
OUTFITS 
AT 212° 
WATER 
SEAL 
OUTFITS 
214° 
STEAM 
PRESSURE 
5 to 10 
LBS. 
PRESSURE 
COOKER 
10 to 15 
LBS. 
Fruits of all kinds 
Minutes 
Minutes 
Minutes 
Minutes 
Minutes 
Apricots 
1 to 2 
16 
12 
10 
5 
Blackberries 
no 
16 
12 
10 
5 
Blueberries 1 . . . . 
no 
16 
12 
10 
5 
Cherries (sweet) 
no 
16 
12 
10 
5 
Dewberries 
no 
16 
12 
10 
5 
Grapes 
no 
16 
12 
10 
5 
Peaches 
1 to 2 
16 
12 
10 
5 
Plums 
no 
16 
12 
10 
5 
Raspberries 
no 
16 
12 
10 
5 
Strawberries 
no 
16 
12 
10 
5 
Citcus fruits 
Is 
12 
8 
6 
4 
Cherries (sour) 
no 
16 
12 
10 
5 
Cranberries 
no 
16 
12 
10 
5 
Currants 
no 
16 
12 
10 
5 
Gooseberries 
Rhubarb (blanch before 
no 
16 
12 
10 
5 
paring) 
1 to 2 
16 
12 
10 
5 
Apples 
li 
20 
12 
8 
6 
Pears 
20 
12 
8 
6 
Figs 
15 
40 
30 
25 
20 
Pineapple 
10 
30 
25 
25 
18 
Quince 
Special Vegetables 
and Combinations 
6 
40 
30 
25 
20 
Tomatoes. . . 
1 to 3 
22 
18 
15 
10 
Tomatoes and corn 
T. 2, C. 10 
90 
75 
60 
45 
Eggplant 
3 
60 
45 
45 
30 
Corn on cob or cut off . 
5 
180 
90 
60 
45 
Pumpkin 
5 
90 
50 
40 
35 
Squash 
5 
90 
50 
40 
35 
Hominy 
5 
120 
90 
60 
40 
Cabbage or Sauerkraut. 
5 
90 
75 
60 
35 
Greens or Pot Herbs 
35 
Asparagus 
5 
120 
90 
50 
Brussels sprouts 
5 
120 
90 
50 
35 
Cauliflower 
5 
120 
90 
50 
35 
Pepper cress 
Lamb’s-quarters 
15 
120 
90 
50 
35 
15 
120 
90 
50 
35 
Sour dock 
15 
120 
90 
50 
35 
Smartweed sprouts 
Purslane or "pusley ” . 
15 
120 
90 
50 
35 
15 
120 
90 
50 
35 
Pokeweed 
15 
120 
90 
50 
35 
Dandelion 
15 
120 
90 
50 
35 
Marsh marigold 
15 
120 
90 
50 
35 
Wild mustard 
Milkweed (tender sprouts 
15 
120 
90 
50 
35 
and young leaves) .... 
15 
120 
90 
50 
35 
Pod vegetables 
60 
40 
Beans (lima or string) . 
5 • 
120 
90 
Okra 
5 
120 
IX) 
60 
40 
Peas 
5 
120 
90 
60 
40 
Roots and tubers 
Beets 
6 
90 
75 
60 
35 
Carrots 
6 
90 
75 
60 
35 
Sweet potatoes 
6 
90 
75 
60 
35 
Other roots and tubers [ 
as parsnips or turnips f 
6 
’ 90 
75 
60 
35 
which were left and had become 
germs in their turn in twenty-four 
hours, and then again for luck or 
safety. This made a long and 
tedious business of canning. 
THE COLD-PACK METHOD 
Now there is a new method of 
preparing the food before it is ster- 
ilized that acts on the bacteria and 
makes three-times cooking un- 
necessary and even undesirable. 
Once is enough. This method 
which is called the cold pack method 
in technical terms is the one chosen 
from all others by canning clubs 
and housekeepers as the best, as 
practically every kind of fruit and 
vegetable can be preserved by it, 
allowing, of course, certain varia- 
tions in the time required for the 
different processes. This being such 
a satisfactory method is the one I 
use myself and have found entirely 
successful and will describe the 
process with assurances that suc- 
cess will follow. The cold pack 
method does not mean that the 
foods are not cooked but simply 
that they are packed cold into 
the jars and then cooked. 
Having selected your fruit or 
vegetable, prepare it and then 
blanch it. Blanching and scalding 
are two distinct processes in can- 
ning and must not be confused. 
Scalding means to dip the article 
in boiling water for one minute and 
then into cold when skins of hard 
fruits or vegetables, etc., can be 
easily peeled off. Blanching means 
to plunge the article, whether fruit 
or vegetable into boiling water, boil 
fast for from one minute to fifteen 
or even twenty minutes, according 
to the texture and composition of 
the article, then immediately plunge 
it into cold water to harden the 
surface again which is called cold- 
dipping it. This method has been 
found to kill bacteria effectively. 
