62 
House & Garden 
A Survey of All the Necessary Tools and How 
To Use Them 
ETHEL R. PEYSER 
O get the best results in canning and pre¬ 
serving fruits and vegetables (disregard¬ 
ing, of course, the necessity of good recipes, 
for this is not a cooking article in any sense 
of the word) one must use the best set of 
utensils. 
It has now been proven that the process of 
packing fruits and vegetables into containers, 
and sterilizing them after packing, is a better 
method than the old way of cooking in an open 
kettle, transferring hot to the jar, and sealing 
without further sterilization. Therefore, one 
must know what utensils 
to use for the process 
(that is, the final applica¬ 
tion of heat to the steril¬ 
ized product) as well as 
for the packing. 
There are canners made 
for the express purpose of 
doing this work and they 
must be chosen for the 
amount of work necessary 
to be done. The small, hot- 
water canner is the least 
expensive for home use 
and is good for fruits and 
Ajter the processing is 
over, the canned prod¬ 
ucts are taken from the 
jar by a lifter 
tomatoes. These two are canned in this safely 
at the boiling point, and are often better than 
products processed at higher temperature in 
other canners. If you have not got a water- 
seal canner or a cast-iron, steam-pressure can¬ 
ner, or a small, portable hot-water canner 
(water bath canner), you can use a wash 
boiler or bucket or an aluminum or enamel 
combination roaster-canner, or an enamel or 
aluminum boiler, if you place the bottles of 
fruit during the processing on a false bottom 
and put on a tiglit cover. 
The false bottom,, of 
course, is best made of 
strips of wood and keeps 
the glass jars from con¬ 
tact with the metal con¬ 
tainer, which is danger¬ 
ously near the flame. 
This, of course, is to pre¬ 
vent breakage. We can 
use wire netting and gal¬ 
vanized trays, which must 
be raised 1" to 2" above 
the vessel floor to permit 
circulation of water under¬ 
neath the jars. 
White e ft a m el ware 
bordered in blue re¬ 
duces some of th" ter¬ 
rors of preserving 
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In filling bottles from the preserving kettle 
one requires a good ladle, a flat aluminum 
tray and, of course, glass jars, the five types 
of which are described in the text 
A very simple steam-canner is on the mar¬ 
ket now, made of copper or copper covered 
with nickel. 
The Processes of Canning 
The processes of canning are well known— 
the cleansing of fruits and containers, the 
scalding or blanching, cold dipping, packing, 
processing, air releasing and sealing. For 
these processes the following articles are used: 
Colander; steamer for blanching; preserving 
kettle when preserving; ladle; measuring cup; 
funnel; canner, or aluminum or enamel roaster- 
canner; strainer; dipper; silver knife; shallow 
trays; pans; vegetable brushes for cleaning; 
sieve; squares of cheese cloth also for blanch¬ 
ing; wire basket; teaspoon; spatula (a most 
convenient pliable blade to use 
like a paddle to let air out of 
the jars before sealing); scales; 
and saccharometer if accurate 
work is necessary in preserving. 
Y'ooden spoons and saucepans 
are necessary if the product to 
be packed is to be cooked. Also 
the indispensable handle with 
which to lift the jar from the 
hot processing utensil. 
In using the aluminum roast¬ 
er and canner with rack, fill 
half the lower pan with hot 
water. Place the rack in posi¬ 
tion, and set the jars on the 
rack. Place the caps on the jars 
lightly — do not screw them 
down tight. Place the cover on 
the canner, being sure that the 
ventilator is closed tight in or¬ 
der to confine all the steam. 
Only one burner is neces¬ 
sary in case a gas, gasoline or 
oil stove is used. After the 
water begins to boil, the flame 
may be turned down one-third 
to one-half—just keep the water 
boiling nicely for the proper 
length of time as per schedule. 
When the time necessary for 
sterilization has elapsed, remove 
the cover from the canner, and 
the jars can be taken out with¬ 
out difficulty. 
Then come the mechanical 
parers, hullers for strawberries, 
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