Every Step in Canning: The Cold-Pack Method
aving decided on your canning outfit, whether you are going to can in
boiling water, in a condensed steam cooker, or in steam under pressure;
having gathered together the necessary tools, such as spoons, knives and a
funnel; having raided the storeroom and collected some jars, you are now
ready for the actual work of canning.
It is rather unfortunate that strawberries should be one of the very hardest
products to can with good results. The canning itself is simple-all berries are
quickly and easily canned-but strawberries always shrink, are apt to turn a
little brown, and, what distresses us most of all, they float to the top of the
jar.
The berry's tendency to shrink is responsible for loss of color as well as its
floating qualities. However, if you will be exceedingly careful to remove the
berries from the canner the minute the clock says the sterilizing period is
over, youwill have a fairly good product. Two minutes too longwill produce
a very dark, shrunken berry. So be careful of the cooking time. Another
thing that makes a good-looking jar is to pack a quart of berries-all kinds of
3 GRACE VIALL GRAY
berries, not merely strawberries-into a pint jar. If you will get that many in
you will have a much better-looking jar, with very little liquid at the bottom.
It does not hurt the berries at all to gently press down on them with a silver
spoon while you are packing them into the jar.
We know we are going to get a quart of berries into every pint jar, so we know
just how many quarts of berries we will need to fill the necessary jars for the
next winter's use.
The first thing to do is to test each jar to see that there are no cracks, no rough
edges to cut the rubber, and to see whether the cover and clamp fit tightly, if
a clamp type of jar is used. The bail that clamps down the glass tops should
go down with a good spring. If it does not, remove the bail and bend it
into shape by taking it in both hands and pressing down in the middle with
both thumbs. Do not bend it too hard, for if it goes down with too much
of a snap it will break the jar. This testing of the bails should be done every
year. The bails on new jars are sometimes too tight, in which case remove
the bail and spread it out. After the bail has been readjusted, test it again.
The chances are it will be just right. Of course all this testing takes time, but
it pays.
If you are using some old Mason jars put a rubber on each jar, fill the jar
with hot water, and then put the cover on tight and invert. This is a sure
test for leakage. Never use a Mason cap twice unless the cover and collar
are separate so that both can be completely sterilized. Fortunately the old-
fashioned Mason jar metal cover to which a porcelain cap is fastened is going
out of style.
If you still have some of these old covers it will be economy to throw them
away. You will be money ahead in the end. After these tops have been used
once it is impossible to make a fastening between the porcelain and the metal
Customer Reviews
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