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BULLETIN
The Agrieultural and Mechanical College
of Texas

(in cooperation with the United States Department of Agriculture)

 

JUNE 1, 1917

EXTENSION SERVICE B-38

FOOD SAVING 1N TEXAS

Drying, B-rining, Canning,
Curing

    

DRIED, BRINED, CANNED, CURED TEXAS FOODS.
Bottom. row, left to right: Corn, Snap Beans, Okra, Shredded Carrot, Peaches.

Address
CLARENCE OUSLEY
Director of Extension Service, College Station, Texas.

‘ FOREWORD

Tin cans are scarce and expensive and glass jars, now being used
for products formerly put into tin, will probably be much higher in price
before the summer is over. Housewives may improvise containers for
some foods or they may resort to other methods of preserving fruits and
vegetables.

It is the purpose of this bulletin to give simple suggestions and
recipes for conserving foods, by drying, brining, bottling, curing, and
canning, and by using certain local products as substitutes for foods

which are scarce.

F()()D SAVING IN TEXAS

By Miss Cornelia Simpson, Demonstrator in Home Economics, Extension
Service, Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas.

HQME CONSERVATIQN OF FOODS
l Drying or Evaporating.

Before "the advent of self sealing jars, many common foods were
dried in the sun and air or near the fire. This method of preservation
is merely reducing the moisture content. Moisture must be present for
the growth of organisms which cause spoiling.

In damp climates and in cases Where large quantities of foods are
to be dried, artificial heat and drying frames or evaporators are em-
ployed. There are many types of evaporators 0n the market in commer-
cial and home sizes. A few types are here shown,

Very successful evaporators can be made at home for use in the
open air or on top of a cook stove. An efficient one consists of a square
or oblong, upright frame covered with wire screening (top, bottom and
sides) and fitted with movable shelves of wire netting. A sheet of glass
placed on top of this frame, when used in the sun, intensifies the heat
below. Turning the glass over frequently prevents dripping of moisture
on the fruit or vegetables.

Sun dried fruits are darker than those artificially dried and sun
dried green vegetables are less green; but, where fuel is expensive and the
air is dry, sun drying is much more economical.

Drying Vegetables.

Dehydrating or evaporating of many food products, is done by
commercial plants for the army and navy and for arctic expeditions. Be-
fore the days of commercial and home canned vegetables, okra, green
corn, pumpkins, “garden herbs” were dried for Winter use. Farmers
who have an excess of vegetables and few cans may save much valuable
food by drying it while it is in the green state. The home evaporators
will be found useful for this work.

Dried Raw‘ Okra and Shredded Vegetables.

Cut tender okra in about three-fourths inch cross sections and
spread on boards to dry. Placing several pods parallel and using a long
knife facilitates the work. Move about with the hand once o1- twice
during drying. When apparently dry, put into thin cloth bags (flour
sacks will do) and place in the open air frequently until late summer,
when it may be closed up in tins or tight boxes.

Sweet potatoes, field pumpkins and carrots may be shredded and
dried raw. Pumpkins and potatoes may be used for pies after being soak-
ed for hours; the carrots will do for soups.

Any wholesome scraps of vegetables left from canning, pickling
or drying (in uniform sizes) may be run through a course food chopper
and dried quickly in a warm oven or evaporator. The evaporator

3

method retains the coloring matter in vegetables and fruits. Various.
combinations of vegetables suitable for soup may be ground together
and dried.

Examples:
Onion Onion Cabbage English peas
Okra Parsley Tomato Celery
Celery top Carrot Onion Carrot

Green beans Parsley Red Pepper

A thrifty woman will catch the vegetable juices dripping from
the food chopper and reduce them in a shallow enamel or earthen vessel
for bottling as grape juice is put up. Salt, pepper, and suitable herbs
may be added to this juice. Clean medicine bottles, new corks and seal-
ing-wax can be used to bottle these juices.

Use these bottled vegetable “extracts” in hash, gravies, meat

SauCeS 01' Soups.
Dried Green Corn.

Everyone who has tried to can green corn in glass jars by the hot
water process knows how difficult it is to keep in perfect condition. The
nature of the vegetable and the bacterial life found on it make perfect
sterilization tedious. The fact that secure sealing of glass jars is often
not accomplished is responsible for spoiling, even after the corn has
been Well cooked in the jars.

There is a way to save green corn for winter use, which is commonly
practiced in some sections of the United States and which is less expen-
sive than canning. When properly prepared, dried green corn is a
delicious winter dish.

Reeeipe. Plant some variety of corn suitable for table use.
When well filled out, but not too hard, boil the corn on the cob, in Water
which is slightly salted, until the milk in the grain is thick. Do not have
it too done. Drain ofi’ all water. Cut the corn from the cob and dry
as quickly as possible in the hot sun or on board or papers near a hot
stove. Better still, dry it quickly in a cook stove evaporator.

Since flies are so fond of green corn, a screened sunny porch is
a good place to dry it. Iron roofing covered by wire screening and placed
in the sun and wind makes a clean, hot drying pan for corn, okra and
fruits. Naturally, the corn dried quickly near a hot stove or in the evapo~
rator will be whiter than that dried more slowly by the outdoor method.
When the evaporator is used, the corn can be dried without first boiling it.

When dry enough not to stick and mildew, put into thin cloth
sacks and place in the sun every day. Keep flies away. It can be
closed up in tin cans or paper sacks when the weather gets cool.

Dried vegetables, if soaked long enough to restore their freshness,
may be cooked until tender and used as canned vegetables are used.

Dried green corn, okra or carrots, after being soaked and cooked,
in same water in which they were soaked, may be mixed with a thick
batter and fried as fritters.

Dried Pumpkins.

Pie pumpkin may be pared, sliced and slightly cooked before dry-
ing like corn. Soak in milk over night and add sugar, eggs, and spices.
Honey or perhaps molasses could take the place of sugar. If liked, a
little corn starch or rice flour could be used instead of eggs. Cooking
over hot water before adding eggs and seasoning, thickens the mixture
Pies made from this dried pumpkin are excellent.

Dried Fruits.

Ripe peaches, pears, apples, apricots and quinces may be cut into
practical pieces and dried in the sun or in an evaporator. Paring fruits
and removing seeds, not only improves the quality of the dried product,
but insures more rapid drying.

Figs. large sweet plums and cherries should be dried whole. The
evaporators mentioned in this bulletin are especially desirable in drying
these fruits. Great care must be taken when using artificial heat, if not
the quality will be impaired.

Farmers’ Bulletins Nos. 291 and 213 described in detail types of
evaporators and give valuable information for indoor drying on a large
scale.

Over-ripe, but sound, peaches, plums, and quinces may be pared,
freed from seeds, etc., then mashed with a potato masher or ricer and
spread in thin sheets, on boards, platters, glass, etc., and dried in the
sun or in a Warm oven. Store in sheets, small squares or sprinkle lightly
with sugar, roll up and slice across in 1-4 inch pieces. Peach or plum
“leather” was an old-fashioned name given this product.

Dried Preserves and Fruit Butters.

This year we may be forced to reserve jars for canned foods and
other products requiring hermetic sealing.

Preserves of all kinds and jams, marmalades and butters may be
spread and dried as “fruit leathers.” Remaining sirups may be bottled.
Dried preserves, especially watermellon rind preserves, are excellent for
plum puddings and for use as confections. Dried butters and leathers
When soaked several hours are excellent for puddings and other desserts,
or they may serve as confections.

Fruit juices and berry pulps (cooked berries freed from seeds)
cooked quickly in shallow enamel pans until thick, sweetened and perhaps
thickened with a little flour, corn starch or rice flour may be dried as
peach leather. Tomato pulp may be dried in the same way.

Bleaching.

After paring and cutting fruit it may be subjected to sulphur
fumes to bleach it. Some persons object to using sulphur in food. The
fruit may be suspended in a barrel or box which has an opening near
the bottom, to admit air. A shovel or pan of burning sulphur under the
fruit and a close cover over the top of the barrel bleaches it sufiiciently
in a short time. Commercial concerns have regular sulphur kilns for
this bleaching. '

5

_ dry.

Storing.

When fruits are dry enough to be “springy” the moisture is sufii-
ciently low to insure keeping. It is not necessary to have foods “bone
” In fact, they are not as good when too dry. p If flies and insects are
kept from the drying products there will be no eggs to hatch later.
Screening the outdoor evaporating frames or using screened porches pro-
tects the fruit. It is necessary to keep the dried products away from
flies after storing them. Cloth sacks are very good to use until all
danger of mildewing or moulding is passed, but these sacks must be kept
gfrom flies; because eggs, on the outside, hatch and the “worms” crawl
through. Try slipping the cloth sacks into pouches made of tow sacking
and hung on nails in the ceiling of store room. After they are dry enough,
store in thick paper bags with top folded down and glued. If properly
handled, dried products may be kept in perfect condition for a year. - We
have dried fruits and vegetables from July 1916 which show no signs of
weevils or mould. They were kept in old coffee and baking powder cans.

Winter Use.

Wash Well and soak over night (longer if necessary). Cook
slowly in same water in which the dried product was soaked. This pre-

vents loss of flavor, etc. Sweeten, after fruit is tender, with sugar,
honey or syrup.

Cooked, dried fruits may be mashed or served in whole pieces or
they may be made into pies, fruit rolls, puddings or whips. An endless
variety of wholesome dishes may be made from them.

Recipes.

Dried Pear Salad. Soak, stew and sweeten dried halves or ripe
pears. When tender, drain and serve on lettuce, after you have filled

the center with peanut butter. Any salad dressing suitable for fruit
salad may be poured over this salad.

Dried Peach Whip. Press cooked, dried peaches through a sieve
or potato ricer and fold into well beaten whites of eggs. The peaches
must be cold and well sweetened. A little dissolved gelatine gives more

“body” to this dessert. Serve with boiled custard made with the yolks
of the eggs, skimmed milk and sugar.

Dried Apple Turnover Pie. Chop O1‘ mash dried apples, which
have been washed, soaked and well cooked. Sweeten and Season with
cinnamon or other spice. Cook down if too moist. Make a good pastry,
divide‘ it into uniform lumps (each about the size of a large egg). Roll
thin, keeping them round, and place a generous heap of the cooked apple
on one half of this circle of pastry. Moisten the edge with water and
fold the unfilled half over the apple. Press edges together and crimp.
Prlck top to allow steam to escape. Bake slowly until crust is light

brown, or fry in deep fat. This 01d fashioned favorite may be made of
any dried fruit.

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AVERAGE CQMPOSITION 6F FRESH AND DRIED FRUITS.
(From U. S. D. A. Bulletin 293.)

FRESH FRUITS.

 

   

KIND i Water > Protein  Ether Extract icarbohydratesi Ash Calories Per Ll).
1 a 1  W»
Apples . . . .  84.4; 1' 0.4 1| 0.5 1' 14.2 1| 0.3 1| 290
Figs . . . . . .  79.1  1.5  1 1.8.8 1 .6 1 380
Pears . . . . . .  80.9  1.0 1 0.5 17.2 .4 163
Apricots .. . .1 85.0 1 1.1 1 13.4 .5 270
DRIED FRUITS.
KIND 1 Water 1 Protein Ether Extract Carbohclyratesi Ash Carlories Prep’d
1 1
1 1 . .
Apples . . . . .  26.1 ,1 1.6 z 2.2 68.1 2.0 1,350
Figs . . . . . . .  1.8.8  4.3 1 .3 74.2 2.4 1,475
Pears . . . . . . . 16.5 1 2.8 1 5.4 72.9 2.4 1,635
1 1
Apricots . . . . .1 29.4 1 4.7 1 k1‘) 62.§_ fl__2.4_h 

BRINING OR PICKLING

Meats and vegetables may be kept for long periods if covered in
brine (a solution of salt and water). Stone crockery or wooden ves-
sels and weights must be used. They must be clean. Pure salt and
pure soft water are necessary for best results. A cool storage room or-
cellar must be used in hot weather and the brine must be closely watched
for “ropiness” which should not appear. Saltpeter, which is not whole--
some, is often put in brine for meats. It gives red color.

Brining veg etables——General Directions.

Snap beans, peppers, cauliflower, cabbage, cucumbers, green corn,
okra, peas and carrote may be easily kept, especially if put down in brine-
(or pickle) in the late summer or fall, after hot weather is passed.

Scald crock or keg and the cover which must fit inside of vessel...
Stone or concrete Weights should also be sterilized. Wash vegetables,
discarding bruised and over-ripe pieces, and pack into stone jar or keg-
Boil water and dissolve salt (1 pound salt to 1 gallon Water). Cool and
pour the brine over vegetables, weight down and leave in cellar. Skim.
brine with skimmer as film rises every few days. If brine seems “ropy”
it should be poured off and boiled or new brine may be put on the vege-.
tables. Always keep vegetables well under the brine. To do so may
require adding a little brine as evaporation or slight leakage lowers it.
Some people add a little baking soda to the brine in hot weather.

If brined vegetables are to stand for months it is best to pour

8

off the brine after six weeks and repack vegetables in a clean vessel with
fresh brine or pickle.

Green corn, turnips and other very juicy vegetables may be cut
and packed tightly in layers as sauer kraut is packed and Weighted. A
ripening or curing process renders the vegetable fiber tender and de-
velops a pleasant flavor. The liquid should rise well above the surface
of the vegetables. If very thick layers of salt are put between the lay-
ers of vegetables, much water or juice is drawn out and the fibre is
tough. Vegetables so packed will keep but they are not of best quality.

To freshen brined vegetables, soak in fresh water, changing sev-
eral times if necessary, until excess of salt is removed before cooking.

For instructions on the brining or pickling of pork or corning
of beef see U. S. D. A. Farmers’ Bulletin 183.

CANNING

The underlying principles in the canning of all foods are: steriliz-
ing With heat (food and container) and hermetic sealing. Sugar, salt
and other seasoning are added to the foods to be canned or to the liquids
which, in most cases cover them, but they are not essential.

The time for sterilizing or cooking a given product depends upon
the nature of the product, the size and kind of container and the method
to be used.

Methods.

A Open Kettle (cooking in kettle and sealing in hot jar).
“Cold Pack”, in glass and tin——Hot Water Canner.
“Cold Pack”, in glass and tin-—Steam Pressure Canner.

Note: “Cold Pack” means filling jars or cans with “blanched”
or raw product and cooking in jar or can. Products retain their flavor,
color and shape With the “cold pack” method and they are more likely
to “keep.”

Containers.
Tin cans (regulation packers and sanitary).

l Screw top
Glass Jars . . . . . . . .  Vacumn top
l Spring Seal top

Bottles (corks or caps).

United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C., is-
sues the following free bulletins which will be found useful in home
canning: _

Farmers Bulletin 52l-—Canning Tomatoes at Home and in Club
Work. A

Farmers Bulletin 426——Canning Peaches on the Farm.

Farmers Bulletin 359—-Canning Vegetables in the Home.

Extension Service, A. and M. College, College Station, Texas, has
a free bulletin (No. 13-26) “Canning, Preserving, Pickling.

Texas University, Austin, Texas, has Bulletin No. 48—-—“Care and
Preservation of Food in the Home.”

9

DEFINITIONS OF CANNING TERMS

(Adapted from U. S .D. A. Farmers’ Bulletin 521.)

The following definitions" will enable the beginner to know the
ordinary terms used in canning:

Scalding.—To dip fruit in boiling hot water in order to remove
the skin. "

Blanching.-—To boil quickly in water by placing the vegetables
in a cloth bag, which is to be lowered entirely under Water. This is done
in order to eliminate acids and bitter substances from the fruit or vege-
tables, also to shrink or reduce bulk to insure a full pack after cooking.

Exhausting.-—(Tin cans). To boil fruit or vegetables for a few

.minutes in order to drive out of the fruit and container all gases and

surplus air and permit expansion before sealing the venthole. Exhaust-
ing is not practiced by all canners, but the writer considers it important,
and safer with the many kinds and qualities of fruit and vegetables can-
ned, especially when using the hot-water bath outfits at home.

Exhausting causes most fruit to shrink, but swells corn and some
vegetables.

Sterilizing.——TO boil fruit or vegetables for a certain period after
tin container has been completely sealed. This is sometimes called
“processing” or “boiling.”

Tinning the steel.—-—TO put the hot steel used for capping cans in
sal ammoniac and solder, turning the steel several times until smooth
and bright, and then dipping it in soldering “flux.”

Capping.—Soldering the little solder-hemmed tops on the cans
with the capping steel.

Tipping.-—Closing or sealing the little air hole or vent in the cen-
ter of the tin cap, just between the exhaust and sterilization periods.

Processing.-—(Used for “sterilization,” “cooking,” or “boiling.”
These expressions all mean the same thing.) To completely destroy all
bacteria, spores, germs, etc., in hermetically sealed cans and packages
by hot water, steam, or steam pressure.

Fluxr-Soldering flux is prepared by adding to muriatic acid as
much zinc as will be dissolved, and then adding water equal in amount
t0 the acid. This fluid is used to clean your steel and for Wiping all sur-
faces to be soldered. By the addition of zinc to the acid, zinc chlorid
is formed, and this when applied to the tins adds a coating of zinc, to
which the solder will readily adhere.

The flux should be applied carefully and none of it allowed to get-

inside of the can.
The solder will not adhere to tin Without this flhx or a similar
substitute, such as rosin.
A commercial flux can be secured at a drug store.

Hot Water Method.

Glass jars should be packed with “blanched” fruits or vegetables
and, except in the case of tomatoes, liquid added to overflowing. Tops
are then screwed half on and jars are placed on false bottom in canner
in cool or cold water and brought slowly to the boiling point when the
timing should begin- Jars can be refilled (if necessary) and rubbers

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added just before sealing. (See precautions for canning tomatoes and.
soft fruits, etc). Tin cans are packed with food and (in most cases)
liquid and capped, exhausted and tipped and lowered into boiling water
in canner. i

Such vegetables as corn, peas, greens, okra, beans (string and
lima) and soup mixtures must be cooked or processed from 1 to 4 hours.
(continuous), or one hour each day for three consecutive days. This.
is known as intermittent or fractional processing.

Beets, carrots, and sweet potatoes should be cooked three-fourths.
done and skinned before canning. Sweet potatoes are packed in tin cans
dry and sealed. Beets are put in enamel-lined or lacquered tin cans or"
in glass.

Steam Pressure Method.

A set of time tables for foods processed in steam pressure can--
ners is furnished with these canners, but care and good judgment must
be exercised in cooking products which are very young and tender and
those which are well matured. Glass jars are often processed in steam
canning machines when care is taken not to break them. Raise and
lower heat gradually and do not let cold air strike very hot jars. Glass
jars can never be tightly sealed before cooking. The liquid is always
low in those processed by steam pressure. Refill carefully (from tea--
kettle) with boiling water, adjust rubbers and tops and seal.

Tomatoes.

Tomatoes, once grown as ornamental plants and known as “love
apples” are not as nutritious as some other vegetable foods, but they are»
very valuable for the acid and mineral matter which they contain. They
are almost universally grown and are liked by nearly everybody.

Of all the vegetables canned in the home, tomatoes are the eas-
iest to keep. They may be canned whole, in large pieces, as paste for-
soups, sauces, etc., or they may be made (ripe and green) into relishes.
When canned with other vegetables like okra, corn, beans, etc., for soup
mixtures, tomatoes “keep” or preserve the other vegetables. This year
we must get as much solid tomato into our jars or cans as possible. Con-
tainers are scarce.

To Peel Tomatoes.

Plunge ripe tomatoes into boiling water and leave for one min-
ute, remove and dip into cold water, remove core and skin, chill at once
if the tomato is to be eaten raw. Some prefer hand peeling but the
cold bath after scalding renders them firm.

Canning Tomatoes in Glass.

Select red, ripe, but not over-ripe tomatoes, peel and core as de-
scribed above. Drop the tomatoes as nearly whole as possible into the)
jars, pack until the jar is full being careful not to break seed cells. Do
not use water. Add salt (1 teaspoon to 1 quart). Put on top and screw
loosely. Place the filled jars on a board or other false bottom in cold
or tepid Water and boil. Count from time when water begins to boil

12

and cook 20 minutes for pints, 8O minutes for quarts. Take out, put on
rubber which has been dipped in boiling Water, and screw top on air-
tight.

Caution: D0 not allow cold air to strike hot jar and do not put

’ finger or unsterilized fork or spoon inside of jar top or jar.

In case juice in the jar is low, add boiling water to fill before re-
placing top.

In putting up a fancy pack of tomatoes, where it is desired to have
the tomatoes come out whole, they are carefully packed adn juice from
another lot of small or broken tomatoes is obtained by heating and put-
ting through a sieve. The juice in then poured over the whole tomatoes.

Fine brands of tomatoes have a mixture of sugar and salt added.
Mix this in proportion of one-third salt to two-thirds sugar and put 2
level teaspoonsful in each quart jar of tomatoes and 1 teaspoonful in each
pint jar. This may be used for peas and corn also.

Canning Tomatoes in Tin.

'Be sure that canner, capping steel, and tipping copper are in good
Working order. Have cans and tops thoroughly washed and scalded and
placed where convenient before canning is started. Scald, core, chill,
and peel tomatoes as for canning in glass. A knife with a sharp narrow
blade held at a slight angle will remove the whole stem and core with-
out breaking the seed cells. All spots and green portions must be re-
moved carefully. _

Caution: Over-scalding or long standing after peeling is respon-
sible for many cases of “swells.” -

Pack cans solidly with whole or large pieces of tomatoes. If
cans are to be sold.

No. 2 cans must not contain less than 20 ozs. tomatoes.

No. 3 cans must not contain less than 33 ozs. tomatoes.

Press down contents of can so that neither fruit nor juice touches
the top. Wipe top of can and place on cap. Use a small brush, feather,
or a piece of cloth mop to apply the flux or soldering fluid to the grove
around the cap. With a smooth hot capping steel seal the cans.

Exhausting.——PlaC6 the cans which have tops or small hole in the
center of caps open in trays and lower into boiling water which must
come well around the cans. Usually 3 minutes is enough to drive out the
air. Frequently exhausting is done at 180 degrees F.

Tipping.--As soon as cans are exhausted remove from boiling
Water, wipe off top, and apply flux to edge of small hole. With hot
tipping copper and Wire solder, put a very small drop of solder over the
hole.

Processing.—After cans have been exhausted and tipped, place
in hot water and boil:

No. 2 cans l5 to 2O minutes.

No. 3 cans 22 to 30 minutes.

(For steam pressure canning different time is used). Count time
when water first boils after cans are put in. Lower can slowly into boil-
ing water and watch for showers of bubbles from cans. These showers
show leaks and such cans must be re-soldered.

13

Cooling.-—To stop the cooking, cool cans as quickly as possible.
D0 not stack close together while hot.
Labeling.-—After 8 to 1O days put labels on cans with the sealed

end of the can down.
SOFT FRUITS, BLACKBERRIES AND DEWBPZRRIES.

Slip skins from soft peaches and remove stones, puncture soft
plum skins with darning needle before putting them into jars.

Gather berries in shallow boxes or trays to prevent mashing.
Wash quickly in a tub full of water—the sand settles. Put soft peaches
in a wire basket and plunge into hot water for one minute or less, then
into cold water. Slip off skins, remove stones.

Canning.

Fill jars full, shaking down to get in a full pack. Set jars on a
folded cloth in a biscuit pan which has about one-half inch of Water.
Place in oven and heat gradually until berries or peaches settle a little.
While jars are in the oven, boil sugar and water (one-fourth cup sugar to
one cup water, or better, juice and sugar), and pour it very hot into jars.
Then seal and set jars in fireless cooker or a box of sawdust, or cover
Well with something to keep in heat for some time. If berries or fruits
settle much in oven, refill from one jar by pouring. Do not try to dip
them with spoon or other utensil. Do not touch the rims of the jars, or
the inside of the tops. The rubbers, if new, may be left on in the oven.
Fill jars full of juice, and if it is necessary to put on rubbers after jars
come from the oven, overflow the hot juice to rinse off. Later boiling
will sterilize this overflow juice. More sugar may be used if you desire.
Some people use less. Small quantities of sugar allow the natural fruit
flavor to be retained. Cooking in the jar also retains flavor, color and
shape. White cotton gloves which have been boiled are useful to wear
while putting on rubbers. They protect the hands and keep the jar
mouth sterile.

Jam.

Mash berries or soft fruit with potato masher; add three-fourths
measure of sugar (light brown will do) and cook, stirring frequently to
prevent scorching, until the jam is rich and thick. Seal in hot jars.
Seedless jam is delicious, but troublesome. Spices may be added to fruit
jams, or they may be flavored with orange peel. Nuts are often cooked
with fruit jam. i

_ If you have your own honey, try cooking fresh, whole berries, or
uniform pieces of fruit, in strained honey, covering for a short time and
then sealing up 1n hot jars. Tart fruits like currents are often prepared
in this way.

The first efforts at canning were made when the French govern-
ment offered a bounty of 12,000 francs for the discovery of a method
which would better preserve foods for military and naval use. In 1810
an expert confectioner, distiller and chef won the bounty. This man was
Nicholas Appert, and his discovery consisted in packing products into
glass bottles, covering them with Water and cooking the food (in the
bottle) in a hot water bath. Corks were used to seal the bottles.

14

BDTTLED JUICES

Sweetened fruit and berry juices, fruit tomato pulps and vege-
table juices may be boiled down until thick and rich and poured into
sterilized bottles. When filled, these bottles should be placed in cold
water on a piece of wire screening or board, to prevent breaking, and
boiled twenty minutes (time from boiling point). New corks which have

been soaked in boiling water should be pressed into the bottles and held.

down by standing bottles upside down or by placing a heavy board on
several bottles. When bottles are cold, trim corks, if necessary, and
cover with sealing wax or parafiin. Store in a dark place or Wrap bottles
in brown paper to prevent fading of juice.

Verjuice, an old-time condiment, was the extracted and seasoned
juice of green apples, crap apples or any unripe fruit, bottled for use on
meats, fish or game. Lemons were once scarce and may be so again.

Shrub, made from berry juices, sweetened and flavored with a
small quantity of cider vinegar, was bottled and used by our grand~
mothers as we serve grape juice today.

Bottles with metal caps may be bought for home use. Hand
machines for sealing them may be had at moderate expense.

Note: Vegetable juice may be seasoned with salt and pepper and
various herbs. v

U. S. Farmers’ Bulletin No. 644 gives valuable advice on home-
made grape juice. Texas wild grapes make good bottled juice. Any
bottle which can be cleaned, sterilized and fitted with a new cork may be
used to bottle juices for home use.

Uses.

Fruit and berry juices may be diluted with cold water or cracked
ice and used as a beverage. They may be stiffened with gelatine or
corn starch and served as a desert with Whipped cream or boiled custard.
Fruit and berry pulps may be used as pudding sauces or in making
sherberts and fruit punches. Served at breakfast as orange juice is
served they are very good,

CANNED GREENS

Turnip greens, mustard, spinach, or any cultivated or wild greens
may be canned for winter use.

Use only fresh tender, greens; wash and blanch (heat in small
amounts of water until they shrink), usually 2O minutes is suflicient to
reduce them in bulk. Steaming them is better. A wire basket set in a.
large kettle which has just enough water to furnish steam, makes a good
steamer, if covered. Small turnips may be blanched and canned with
turnip greens.

Season greens with salt ( 1 teaspoon to each quart), pepper, and
fat meat, or bacon drippings, if liked.

Pack into jars or tin cans and process (or cook).

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In Steam Pressure Canning Machines
Process Spinach
N0. 2 tin cans, 20 minutes at 10 pounds pressure.
No. 3 tin cans, 25 minutes at 10 pounds pressure.
One-quart glass jars, same as No. 3 tin cans.
In Steam Pressure Canner
Process Mustard and Turnip Greens.
No. 2 tin cans 45 minutes at 8 pounds pressure.
No. 3 tin cans 55 minutes at 8 pounds pressure.
Spinach and other Greens in Hot Water Bath.
One hour each day for three days, or three to five hours contin-
uous cooking.
Green snap beans and okra should be “blanched” until soft enough
to bend, then plunged into cold Water and canned as turnip greens.

CURING FOOD

Sweet potatoes are cured in special houses built for the purpose.
Onions, Irish potatoes, garlics, pumpkins, dried beans and peas, also
cushaw, should be matured in field or garden, then stored in cool, dry
shelves, racks or floors.

As good cheese (cheddar process) as has ever been seen in the
state was made and cured in the Panhandle of Texas. Many farmers
in the state cure their own meat every year. ‘

_ DRIED GREEN BEANS.
Left: Dried Beans. Right: Same After Soaking.

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Q

Sauer Kraut.

Sauer kraut is not only popular, but it is a very wholesome food
when properly made, cured, and stored.

Scald crockery jar, cement tank, wooden keg or barrel to be used
for curing vat.

Shred firm, hard cabbage head with kraut cutter, or long knife.
Do not chop. Remove outside leaves and split cores.

Place shredded cabbage in layers from two to three inches deep,
sprinkle lightly with salt, about two and one-half pounds best dairy salt
to each 100 pounds of cabbage. Each layer should be well packed.

Scald stone or Wooden cover, which is fitted to inside of vessel,
and place on cabbage. Weight down with heavy weight of rocks or con-
crete block. Do not use metal. Liquid will rise above cabbage. Leave
to ripen until proper flavor develops. This takes from ten clays to two
weeks in warm weather; longer in cool weather.

As soon as “cured” store in cool place, or can. Pack into No. 3,
or No. 10 tin cans, or in glass jars and cook (in jar) three to five hours,
depending on size of jars, if hot water bath is used. A steam pressure
canner is better for this product. By this method, process (or cook).

No. 3 cans 40 minutes at 5 pounds pressure. A

No. 10 cans 6O minutes at 5 pounds pressure.

Note: Turnips are sometimes mixed with the cabbage.

HOME VINEGAR MAKING

It has not been may years since vinegar was as much a home-
made product as bread was in those same times.

Everybody in Texas who produces fruits, or who can buy them at
moderate prices, will certainly put them up as first, second or lower grade
products. Canning, preserving and drying will be employed by frugal
housewives to use every “scrap” of food.

Parings, trimmings and cores may be used by those who feel like
using the necessary sugar, in jelly making; but excellent vinegar may
be had from these waste materials.

GENERAL DIRECTIONS.

Clean and scald a Wooden, stone or glass vessel which has a wide
mouth. Vinegar must have air. Into this, place raw fruit juice, or
parings, etc., free from decayed spots. Pour on them enough pure, soft
water to almost cover them. With a pestle or similar instrument mash
or bruise them until the fruit juices are pressed out. Apple cider makes
the best vinegar.

Add molasses, sugar or honey o1- a mixture of them. Some use
washings from honey and molasses cans. Leave standing in a tempera-
ture from 70 to 90 degrees F. and allow to ferment. A piece of
cloth should be tied securely over the opening to keep out gnats and to
allow plenty of air to enter. A small piece of yeast cake added to the
liquid will hasten fermentation. ,

Agarita berries, green grapes, and even yellow tomatoes make
excellent vinegar.

For more detailed information on vinegar making see Farmers’
Bulletin No. 233, on Vinegar Making.

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SUBSTITUTE FOODS FOR WHEAT AND MEAT

To meet a very probable shortage of wheat flour, food experts
are turning to other grains and vegetable products for flours and meals,
from which nourishing, palatable breads may be made.

Corn has long been a staple in the South, but corn meal is lacking
in a certain “body building” substance found in wheat. This substance
is known as “protein” and is found in milk and cheese, in eggs, nuts and
dried peas, and beans, al;o in lean of meat. Hulled corn or lye hominy,
made with home-made lye and cooked thoroughly in a fireless cooker,
should be made by every family on a farm next winter. Potash has
gone up in price since the war began and it is now thought that commer-
cial lye and soap will be very scarce.

Flour from sorghum grains, (feterita, milo maize, kafir corn,
Shallu or Egyptian wheat) and flour made from rice are being used for
quick breads, cakes and for yeast breads when some wheat flour is added.

Soy beans are ground in hand mills and made into nourishing,
deliciotig breads and cakes. Soy beans take the place of meat in the diet
as well as serving as a bread. '

Other dried “legumes” which replace meat in the diet are navy
beans, lima beans, frijoles, field peas (all varieties), garden peas, lentils
andspeanuts (not a true nut).

With plenty of these foods, a good cow and some chickens, a fam-
ily may have a varied and nourishing diet if every means and transpor~
tation were suddenly stopped.

Note: Recipes and directions for dishes made of meat and wheat
substitutes will be offered later.

SUMMARY OF METHODS OF SAVING FOODS

Food saved, like the proverbial penny, is food made. Tons of
foods are produced annually only to go to waste. The time has come to
revive the almost forgotten arts of saving many perishable products on
Texas farms. It seems strange that present conditions are forcing us
back to homely methods used by our grandmothers in the days before food
factories were known. i

The following list suggests a few Texas fruits and vegetables and
their possibilities for home preservations:

TOMATOES_——can, paste, soup mixtures, relishes.
OKRA—-dry, can, soup mixtures.

GREEN BEANS-brine, can, soup mixtures, relishes.
ENGLISH PEAS-—dry, soup mixtures, brine.

FIELD PEAS—mature, can, (green) soup mixtures, brine.
GREEN CORN——dry, can, soup mixtures, relishes, brine.
SPINACH—can.

SQUASH-wan.

CABBAGE—kraut, can, soup mixture, relishes, brine.
GARLIC and ONIONS——cure, soup mixture, relishes.
PUMPKINS—mature, dry, can. , _
CARROTS—bank, can, soup mixtures, relishes, brine.

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SWEET POTATOES——cure, can.

IRISH POTATOES—cure.

TURNIPS—bank, brine as kraut.
RUTABAGA——bank.

TURNIP GREEN S—can.

MUSTARD GREENS—can.'

BUTTER BEAS—mature, can (green), brine.
NAVY AND OTHER DRY BEANS—mature.

l CAULIFLOWER-—can, soup mixture, relishes, brine.

BEETS—can, relishes.

CUSHAW—mature, can.

APPLIES——dry, ca_n, bottled juice, preserve, marmalade, jelly,
vinegar. _ j

PEACHES—dry, can, bottled juice, preserve, marmalade, jelly,
vinegar.

PEARS—-can dry, (ripe), preserve and marmalade, vinegar.

PLUMS—can, preserves, marmalades and jelly.

GRAPES-—bottled juice, can jelly, preserves, marmalade.

' FIGS-dry, preserves, marmalade. A
BERRIES——can, bottled juice, jelly, preserves and jam.
QUINCES-preserve and marmalade, jelly.
CHERRIES-can, preserve.

APRICOTS--dry, can, preserve and marmalade.
MELON RINDS—~preserve.

WINTER GARDENS AND HOT BEDS.

Collards Parsley
Green Onions Radishes
Leeks Late Cabbage
_ Turnips
Spinach (South, Tex.) Salsify
Lettuce _ pal-Snips

FARMERS’ BULLETINS ON FOOD CONSERVATION SUBJECTS.

United States Department of Agriculture.
Washington, D. C.

(These bulletins may be had by Writing your congressman).

Farmers’ Bulletin No. 121—Beans, Peas, and other Legumes as Food.
Farmers’ Bulletin No. 128—Eggs and their uses as Food, 5c.

Farmers’ Bulletin No. 142——Principles of Nutrition and Nutritive Value

of Food.

Farmers’ Bulletin No. l69—The Food Value of Beans——5c.°

Farmers’ Bulletin No. 182—Poultry as Food.

Farmers’ Bulletin No. 183—-Meat on the Farm-Butchering", Curing and

Keeping.

Farmers’ Bulletin No. 203—Canned_ Fruits, Preserves and Jellies.
Farmers’ Bulletin No. 291—Evaporation of Apples.

Farmers’ Bulletin No. 293——Use of Fruit as Food.

Farmers’ Bulletin No. 295—-Potatoes and Other Root Crops as Food.
Farmers’ Bulletin No. 298—Food Value of Corn and Corn Products.

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Farmers’ Bulletin No.
Farmers’ Bulletin N0.
Farmers’ Bulletin No.
Farmers’ Bulletin No.
Farmers’ Bulletin No.
Farmers’ Bulletin No.
Farmers’ Bulletin No.
Farmers’ Bulletin No.
Farmers’ Bulletin No.
Farmers’ Bulletin No.
Farmers’ Bulletin No.

Farmers’ Bulletin No.

Farmers’ Bulletin No.
Farmers’ Bulletin No.
Farmers’ Bulletin No.
Farmers’ Bulletin No.

Grape Juice.

Farmers’ Bulletin No.
Farmers’ Bulletin No.
Farmers’ Bulletin No.
Farmers’ Bulletin N0..
Farmers’ Bulletin No.
Farmers’ Bulletin No.
Farmers’ Bulletin No.
Farmers’ Bulletin No.

332—Nuts and Their Uses as Food—-5c. 
342—Cooking Beans and Other Vegetables—5c. ‘ '
359—~Canning Vegetables in the Home.

363—The Use of Milk as Foods.

375—Care of Food in the Home.

388—Jelly and Jelly-making—5c.

391—Economical Use of Meat in the Home.
42'6—Canning Peaches on the Farm. .
486—The Utilization of Dairy By-products as Food.
487—Cheese and Its Economical Uses in the Diet.
517—Uses of the Sweet Potato—-5c.
521—Canning Tomatoes at Home and in Club Work.
526—-—Mutton and Its Value in the Diet.

559—Use of Corn, Kafir, and Cowpeas in the Home.
565——Corn Meal as Food and Ways of Using It.
644—Home Manufacture and Use of Unfermented

653—Honey and Its Uses in the Home.
685—The Native Persimmon.

233—Vinegar Making.

276——Honey Vinegar.

503—Comb Honey.

758—Muscadine Grape Syrup.

807-—Bread and Bread Making in the Home.
808—H0W to Select Food.

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