Formerly Associate Professor of Home Economics, Iowa State College 1920...

It was six years ago that I first heard of the One Period, Cold-Pack Method of canning. A little circular was put in my hand one day at a federated club meeting announcing the fact that in a few weeks there would be a cold-pack demonstration about fifty miles away. Immediately I announced that I was going to the demonstrations. So leaving my small daughter with my mother, I went to the Normal School at DeKalb, Illinois, and heard and saw for the first time cold-pack canning. It is sufficient to

Before the World War, housewives had lost the good habit of canning, preserving and pickling. It was easier to buy California fruits by the case and canned vegetables by the dozen or half dozen cans, according to the size of the family. There is no doubt it was cheaper and decidedly easier to purchase canned fruits, vegetables, greens, soups and meats than to take time and strength in the very hottest season of the year to do our own canning. But what was true then is not true now. The war taugh

Having 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 ea

PINEAPPLES The object of canning citrus fruits is, first, to save the surplus and by-products; second, to furnish wholesome fruits at reasonable cost to more of our people; third, to help the producer to transform by-products into net profits. Almost every one likes canned pineapple, but some housewives stopped canning this fruit because they found that when cooked in sirup it seemed to get tough and less palatable. Vegetable and fruit fibers are toughened when cooked with sugar for any length o

It is practical to can all vegetables, even such difficult ones as corn, peas and beans, by the cold-pack method of canning without using any preservatives, if you will follow all directions, instructions and the time-table accurately. Vegetable canning is a little more complicated than fruit canning. TOMATOES Every one likes canned tomatoes. In many homes more tomatoes are canned than any other product. The housewife uses them for soups, for sauces and for seasoning many meat dishes. Some women

After one has learned how to can fruits and vegetables successfully, the next thing to attempt is the canning of soups. Soups may be canned with or without meat. We make one variety which is a pure vegetable soup. We use no stock or meat, and can it in its own juice or liquor, thus using no water. When we wish to use it we dilute it three or four times and serve it as a vegetable soup or, more frequently, when we have chicken bones or any meat bones on hand, we add a can of this concentrated veg

For jelly making select firm, slightly underripe fruit that is fairly acid and contains a large amount of pectin. Fruit that is just a little underripe contains more pectin than the mature or overripe fruits. Pectin is the substance that makes jelly harden. This fundamental jelly-making quality does not exist in all fruits. Such fruits as currants, crab apples and grapes contain much pectin and are, therefore, considered excellent jelly-making fruits. The white inner skin of grapefruit is also a

Canned meat adds variety to the diet in the winter-time and makes a pleasant change from the cured and smoked meats. You put meat into jars in the raw state and extend the sterilizing period or you can cook the meat partially or completely and then sterilize for a shorter period of time. Of course a reliable method of canning meat must be used, such as the cold-pack process, where the sterilizing is done in the tin or jar in either boiling water or steam under pressure. We usually recommend the

People in some sections of the country are interested in canning mountain trout and others live where there is an abundant supply of either fresh-water fish or salt-water fish. Heretofore we have been wasteful and lax about the fish supply. But as we have learned to can vegetables and meats so we are going to learn to can fish. Fish is really canned the same in every step after preparation as peas and corn are canned. In order to have a good product, fish must be fresh when canned. No time shoul

If the proper sanitary requirements are provided and instructions of the cold-pack method of canning are followed, it is entirely safe and practical to use tin cans for all kinds of fruits, vegetables and other food products. Food poisoning—commonly called ptomaine poisoning—and the effects ascribed to "salts of tin" result from improper handling and improper preparation of the product before packing, or from allowing the product to stand in the tin after it has been opened. The raw food product

In some parts of the United States, particularly in the South, such vegetables as corn, beans, peas, squash, spinach, pumpkin, etc., are canned by what is known as the fractional sterilization, or the so-called Three Days Process. Southern canning experts have had trouble with certain vegetables, such as those named, when they canned these vegetables in the wash boiler by the cold-pack or one period method. They say that the climatic conditions are so different in the South that what is possible

Every day brings letters to my desk saying, "Why did my jars of vegetables lose water?" or, "When I looked into my canner I saw all the beautiful dark sirup in the bottom of the canner instead of in the jars," or, "What shall I do, my beets are all white?" etc., etc. In this chapter I am going to try and tell you a few things you must and must not do. A few "Do's" and "Don'ts" may help you a little in your canning and food preserving. I want to say right here that if you have failures do not bla

For various reasons women have not taken so kindly to drying fruits and vegetables as they have to canning these foods. One woman said to me: "I like the canning because I can come to a demonstration and see the whole process carried through from start to finish. The drying of strawberries cannot be completed in sixteen minutes as the canning is." And another woman said: "What I do not like about drying is having the stuff standing round the house somewhere for so many hours. I like to get thing

Having decided to add the accomplishment of drying to your other housewifely arts, you have given some thought and study to the subject of driers. You now know whether you prefer sun, artificial or fan drying. You have either made or bought some kind of a drier. Little other equipment is needed. A few good paring knives, some plates, and if possible some cutting or slicing device to lighten the work of preparation are all that are necessary. A sharp kitchen knife will serve every purpose in slic

Vegetable drying is a little more complicated than fruit drying, just as vegetable canning is more complicated than fruit canning. Blanching is an important part of the operation. It makes vegetable drying satisfactory as well as easy and simple, just as it makes vegetable canning possible. However, there is one difference between blanching vegetables for canning and blanching them for drying. After repeated experiments it has been found that for drying purposes it is best to blanch all vegetabl

We have learned how to preserve fruit and vegetables by canning and drying and now we are going to learn another method to preserve foods, in which salt is used. We use this salt method for vegetables. It is not adapted to fruits. We may pickle apples, pears and peaches, but we ferment, brine and dry-salt only vegetables. This salt method is not a substitute for drying or canning, but just an additional method we may employ. Every thrifty housewife of to-day wants her shelves of canned foods, he

Many farmers seem to have more trouble with the curing of meats than with the slaughtering. This part of the work is indeed very important as it determines whether one will have good tasting cured meat or meat that is too salty or possibly that is far removed from the original taste of the raw product. It is worth every farmer or farmerette's attention to spend some time on this problem as it pays so well in the resulting, good tasting meat. Why not have a superior grade of home-cured meat as ea

As one-half of the yearly egg crop is produced in March, April, May and June consumers would do well to store enough at that time to use when production is light. Fifty dozen eggs should be stored for a family of five to use during the months of October, November, December and January, at which time the market price of eggs is at the highest. When canning them the eggs must be fresh , preferably not more than two or three days old. This is the reason why it is much more satisfactory to put away

Towards the end of the canning season most housewives have used every available glass jar and tin can and hesitate about purchasing a new supply. They have dried and brined many products and yet they feel, and rightly so, that they would like still more vegetables for winter use. There still remains another method that they may employ to provide themselves with a plentiful supply of vegetables and these vegetables can be in the fresh state too. Neither canned, dried, pickled or salted but fresh.

You have some delicious jellies, jams, canned fruits and vegetables that you wish to sell and you do not know just how to go about it. There are at your disposal several means of selling: 1. Through advertising. 2. Through personal letters to desirable shops, delicatessens, boarding-houses, colleges, etc. 3. By direct salesmanship; that is, by making personal visits to the buyers, either homes or stores. 4. Through jobbers to whom you pay a commission on all sales. 5. Through coöperative selling