FoodNet

A manual of home-making

1919

Page 255

Presented as published in 1919. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
Spinark. — Clood spinach is packed whole, that is, the leaves are not cut. The chopped packs lack the fresh flavor of the other and their quality is less certain. Tomatoes. — Tomatoes "hand packed*' and "cold packed" are put whole into the cans while raw and steamed, so that they are cooketl in their own juice. If any additional juice is re- quired to till the crevices, it is supposed to be tomato juice I J 450 A MANUAL OF HOME-MAKJNO Tomatoes so packed are sufjcrinr to those eookecl before the cans are filled, ami will he foiind praetii-aliy whole when the caii is opeaed. Fntita, — All larj^e fniits are more expensive in tins than are small fruits, tierause the tias are more solidly filled with the latter and more portifrns c*an l>e w^rved from a tin of j^iven sixe. Of the large fruits canned wiiole or in lialves, neither the largest nor the smallest are the most economical investment, but rather the medium mze. This is l)ecaiLse portions are made by the piece rather than the spoonful and the very large pieees are few to the tin, while the very small necessitate two or more pieces l>cing served to the portion. Large fruits l)OUght in the cut form, for example, pc;ach slices, peach chips, and pineapple chips, are most economical of all, for the same reason that small fniits are economical. Safe and unmje tin cans, **Sanitanj** cans, — Until the last few years it was the general custom to seal tin cans hy soldering. It was inevitable that some small portion of the solder should be exposed to the action of the contents of the can» ami frtKiuently drops of solder were lost among the con tenths of the can. The *' sanitary*' can is now used by the test packei-s. In this can the foo<l Is hermetically sealeil w^ithout the use of solder by a clever mechanical device which folds and compresses the overlapping edges of the top and sides of the can. Such cans are stamped ** Sanitary'* on one end, and the consumer should discriminate in their favor for his own safety and to encourage the ase of the best methods in packing. Lacqtier-lined cans, — ^To prevent the tmdesirable reaction be- tween acid fniits and vegetables and the metal of the cans, all tins employed for packing foods of strongly acid character shoulfl Ik? lacquer-linwl l\v a heat-resisting varnisli. This is especially imjwrtant since the cost of tin has advance*! and the tin covering of sheet met4tl used for the manufacture of cans has become v^vy thin. Ruskd mns. — Cans rust^ on the exterior are not evidence MARKETING FOB THE HOUSEHOLD of deterioration contents, but cans rusted on the interior may have an undesirablf! effect on the food. Experience shows that soldered cans are often so rusted at the sf>ldered end.