4.  Put them whole into the boiling water.  The Commission gives a time-table for blanching.  After the water begins to boil, begin to count the blanching time; this varies from one to twenty minutes, according to the vegetable or fruit.

5.  When the blanching is complete, remove the vegetables or fruits from the boiling water and plunge them a number of times into cold water, to harden the pulp and check the flow of coloring matter.  Do not leave them in cold water.

6.  The containers must be thoroughly clean.  It is not necessary to sterilize them in steam or boiling water before filling them, as in the cold-pack process both the insides of containers and the contents are sterilized.  The jars should be heated before being filled, in order to avoid breakage.

7.  Pack the product into the containers, leaving about a quarter of an inch of space at the top.

8.  With vegetables add one level teaspoonful of salt to each quart container and fill with boiling water.  With fruits use syrups.

9.  With glass jars always use a good rubber.  Test the rubber by stretching or turning inside out.  Fit on the rubber and put the lid in place.  If the container has a screw top do not screw up as hard as possible, but use only the thumb and little finger in tightening it.  This makes it possible for the steam to escape and prevents breakage.  If a glass top jar is used, snap the top bail only, leaving the lower bail loose during sterilization.  Tin cans should be completely sealed.

10.  Place the filled and capped containers on the rack in the sterilizer.  If the homemade or commercial hot-water bath outfit is used, enough water should be in the boiler to come at least one inch above the tops of the containers, and the water, in boiling out, should never be allowed to drop to the level of these tops.  Begin to count processing time when the water begins to boil.

At the end of the sterilizing period remove the containers from the sterilizer.  Fasten covers on tightly at once, turn the containers upside down to test for leakage, leave in this position until cold, and then store in a cool, dry place.  Be sure that no draft is allowed to blow on glass jars, as it may cause breakage.

11.  If jars are to be stored where there is strong light, wrap them in paper, preferably brown, as light will fade the color of products canned in glass jars, and sometimes deteriorate the food value.

That’s the whole trick.

CHAPTER XXVII

RETAIL COOPERATION

COOPERATION in buying supplies at wholesale, in standardizing and shipping crops, in keeping grain in elevators, and fruit and some meats and poultry in cold storage has reached a high development among the farmers largely in the Northwest, much ahead of us “city folks.”