BROOKLYN BOTANIC GARDEN 
LEAFLETS 
THE BROOKLYN INSTITUTE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES 
Series V Brooklyn, N. Y., June 27, 1917. No. 9 
THE ONE-PERIOD COLD-PACK METHOD 
OF CANNING* 
Can surplus food. But use jars wisely; do not can anything 
that can be kept just as well dried or preserved in other ways. 
Further, in canning, concentrate the products so that each jar 
holds as much food and as little water as possible. 
1. The Cooker. — For the “hot-water bath” cooker, use a wash- 
boiler or vessel or pail, fitted with a false bottom of coarse wire 
or wood lattice. Glass vessels should be up about 1 inch from the 
bottom. Steam-pressure cookers shorten considerably the time 
of canning but may be difficult to obtain as well as expensive. 
Fill the cooker with clean water, so that the boiling water will 
cover the tops of the jars or cans. (If the “Economy” or similar 
type of jar is used, fill the boiler only to the necks of the jars.) 
Begin heating the water so that it will be boiling violently by 
the time the containers are packed. 
2. Jars or containers. — Glass-topped jars, closed with a spring, 
are preferable to the old-fashioned screw-topped kind. Any type 
of glass jar may, however, be made to serve. Tin cans are not so 
desirable for ordinary household use, as tin is more or less 
soluble and, further it requires soldering. 
Vegetables, meats and fish require hermetically sealed con- 
tainers. Fruits, such as jams, jellies and preserves, which are put 
up with heavy sirups, can, on the other hand, be kept in wide 
mouthed bottles or glasses under cork and paraffine seal. 
Clean the jars or cans thoroughly and scald just before filling. 
Use new ( never old) rubber rings and scald just before putting 
on jars. 
3. Start with clean hands, clean utensils, and clean, sound, 
fresh products. Bacteria and the spores of molds are practically 
everywhere; on the hands and clothing, in the dust of the kitchen, 
etc. The process of canning is designed to kill them. 
4. Throw out all unsound or overripe fruits or vegetables. 
Wash thoroughly. If possible use only fruits and vegetables 
^Adapted largely from United States Department of Agriculture sources, especially 
from “Weekly News Letter”, Vol. 4, p. 6, and Farmers’ Bulletin 839, June, 1917. 
