FoodNet

A manual of home-making

1919

Page 337

Presented as published in 1919. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
Some vegetables which do not contain sufficient water are better fermented by coveriog them with a weak brine. This may be done as follows; Wash the ve|i;etables, drain off the surplus water, and pack them in a keg, cmck, or other utensil until it is nearly full (within about 3 inches of the top of the vessel) . Prepare a weak brine as follows : To each gallon of water used add Jo pint of vinegar and ?4 cup of salt and stir until the salt is entirely dissolved. The amount of brine necessary^ to cover the vegetables will l>e about equal to one-half the volume of the material to be fermented* This is very easily calculatc<i by knowing the contents of the container used. For example^ if a*5-gaIlon keg is to be packed, 2X4 gallons will be needed. It is best to make up at one time all the brine needed on one day. A clean tub or barrel can be used for mixing the brine. Pour the brine over the vegetables and cover as descril^cd on page 594. Set the vessel and its contents away in a moderately warm room to ferment. When fermentation has stopped, the container should be placed in a cool cellar or storeroom and the surface of the liquid treated to prevent mold by one of the methods de- scribed above. Before adding the paraffin or cottonseed oil, any scum or mold which may ha%^c formed on the surface of the liquid should be removed by skimming. Experience has shown that the following vegetables may be presented satisfactorily l>y fermenting in brine: cucumbers, string beans, grtM^n tomatoes, Ijeets, beet tops, tui'nip tops, corn, and green peas. The general directions given above should be followed, but some mollifications are desirable in the preserving of individual vegetables by this method. Sailing without ferme^ilaliorL In this method the vegctal>les are packed with enough salt to prevent fermentation or the growth of yeasts or molds. The 598 A MANUAL OF TtOME-MAKINO following direetioos should tw foUowcxl in Milting v \Va.sh the vegetaliloii, drain off the water, and then we^ them. For each KX) pounds of vegetal>le!8 weigh out 25 (lOUDili of salt. For .smaller qoaatities use the same proportion d salt (one-fourtli of the weight of the vegetables)* S] a layer of tiie vf^getal)les alxiut 1 inch deep on the bot! of a clean keg, tub, or crock, and sprinkle heavily with of the salt. Try to distriljute ilie salt evenly among tht different layers packed so that the quantity weighed out wiD be ju8t enough to pack the vegetables. Continue adding lajfcn of vegetal>les and salt until the container is nearly full and iheo cover with the clean cloth, board, and weight, a^* in the caw of fiTnientation by tiry salting. The keg or other coiit^iiner abonU then be set aside in a cool place. If the salt and prensure of tile weight have not extracted sufficient brine to cover the vugt* tables, after 24 hours, prepare a strong brine by dissolving 1 pound of salt in 2 quarts of water and pour enough of thij Wif the vegetables tti come up to the round wcKxien cover. Tbere will be a small amount of bubbling at the start, as in the of the fernienteil vegctalilcs, but Hris will not continue bos. Just as soon :is the bubbling hai< stoppeti, the surface of the Iiqiliii should be jirotected by one of the methods described on page 505.