A manual of home-making

and odor, and this is tlue to spoilage. Foot! that, lias kept \ not have either a flat or a sour taste. Experiments in canning seem to indicate that the orgaaim kTio^;iii as botulinus may not be ilestroyed either by the ci»* tinuous or the intcrnuttcnt metho<ls of canning in hot water. When foods are catmerl at honie^ unless the presmire codker hiw been nscd» it is urpcefl that when the contents are removed fwui the can fhey )>e fjoileil for several minutes lx?fore besng eftkst If, for example, l>cans are to lie used as a salad, they i^houJd he boiled first and then cooled. Such a procedure makc^ for isftf<^. For peas, beans, corn, asparaf^us, greens, pumpkmt *id squash, the intermittent method of canning is strongly retool- mended, unless steam pre,<siu"i* is used. Many canned foocb» even non-acid ones, may keep without intermittent heating if the time of boiling is long enough, but there scorns to l^e no certainly about it. Variations in soil, moisture^ and climatic conditions from year to yciir may causr? a failun* one yaaf whe!i success has ahvays before attcndeil the one-pericx! of cooking. Even with the three jieriods of heating, tht risk of spoilage, if the first perifwi has not l>eeii long or if too long a time elapses between the first and seeonil pieric The intermittent method is as follows: After a fotKl U canned, boiled, and sealed, it Ls allowe<i to stand for twenty-four hours at room temperature. This gives time for sporen to ehait|?r to the vegetative form which they will do when warmth and food are supplietl. The canned food is then cooked a ^tcond time in order to destroy the vegetative forms, and, ^till 8i*alcdr is allowetl to stand for twenty-four hours at room tcmperatti Since all spores may not have changeil during the first twt^ti four hours, it is safer to allow a second twenty-four houis standing and a third period of cooking. The high temperatures or repeated heatings used in canning of vegetables are not only troublesome and expeE but often injurious to the fiavor and t^sCture. Experimc the University of California * have developed a ver>^ simple i certain way of sterilizing vegetables as easily as fruit. This i • Crue^, W. V. Circ. 158, Agr. Exp. Sta., Univ. of Calif. FOOD PRESEBVATION 611 sists in the addition of a little acid to the liquid in which they are canned. It was found that peas heated to 212° F. in a brine acidified by the addition of 5 ounces of lemon juice to every gallon, kept perfectly, while peas heated in the same brine with- out iemon juice spoiled* The same results were obtained wth beans, pumpkins, beets, turnipB, artichokes, and asparagus* Lai^e ciuaotitic8 of these vegetables are lost by '* spoilage*' in the eommercial canneries. The flavor of the vegetables steril- ized at the low temperature was ranch superior to that of those sterihzed under pressure. The common household practice of canning com and tomatoes together owes its efficacy to the same principle. Corn alone is very difficult to sterilize^ owing to its lack of acidity. This lack is supplied by the tomatoes and the mixture is easily preserved by ordinary heating. Doobtless other wholesome acids, such as vinegar, citric, or tartaric acid, could be used for the same por- jxjse. The amount of acid used is small and improves rather than injures the flavor.