is first exhausted, and then the tin is hermetically sealed. The mode of
-doing this is very simple. We will take the case of any tin containing
meat, fruit, or vegetables, as the process in all cases is the same. The
tin is first filled, the lid fastened down and hermetically sealed. This
tin is now placed in what may be called a huge bath of water that is very
nearly boiling. Were the water absolutely boiling, of course the contents
of the tin would be heated to a similar point, and the force of the steam
would probably burst the tin. Consequently the temperature is kept at
somewhat less than that of boiling water. After a certain period the tin
is taken out, and a rather heavy weight is placed on the top. A workman
then pierces a small hole in the top of the tin. Exactly at the finish of
the rush of heated air and steam which ensues, a dab of solder is placed
on the hole, and the contents of the tin are now good to last for any
number of years. In fact, what previously contained air is now a
vacuum, as the steam condenses on cooling. On opening any tin of pre-
served food the sound of the rush of air into the vacuum is amply
sufficient proof that the contents of the tin are in perfectly sound order
and condition.
Although, throughout, the manufacture of the different articles I
have described has of course been on the wholesale scale, yet I have
endeavoured in every case in giving receipts for the use of these articles
to adapt the receipts to the requirements of small private establishments.
In each case I have attempted to explain the various uses of the goods,
and I have every reason to believe that the present book will be as useful
to the retail dealers as to the buyers of the goods themselves. Of late
years there has been a large increase in the different kinds of preserved
meats, fruits, pickles, vegetables, sauces, etc., and I have myself, on
various occasions, asked the grocers in whose windows the goods have
been displayed the uses of such and such an article, and have failed to
obtain any satisfactory reply. Indeed, it was this which to a great
extent originally caused me to think of the want of the present work.
In the following pages will be found a description of almost every
article supplied by Messrs. Crosse and Blackwell, and in it the grocer
will find not only a guide to the housekeeper but to himself, and I have
no hesitation in saying that a reference to these different descriptions
will be the means of his selling a far greater amount of these tinned
goods than he now does. I know by experience how many house-
keepers there are who are simply afraid to spend their money in what
they fear may turn out useless, solely on the ground of not knowing how
to go to work in using it. Again, many goods are displayed in shop
windows for sale without in themselves conveying any idea of their
nature to the purchaser.
Page 3
Presented as published in 1880. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
is first exhausted, and then the tin is hermetically sealed. The mode of doing this is very simple. We will take the case of any tin containing meat, fruit, or vegetables, as the process in all cases is the same. The tin is first filled, the lid fastened down and hermetically sealed. This tin is now placed in what may be called a huge bath of water that is very nearly boiling. Were the water absolutely boiling, of course the contents of the tin would be heated to a similar point, and the force of the steam would probably burst the tin. Consequently the temperature is kept at somewhat less than that of boiling water. After a certain period the tin is taken out, and a rather heavy weight is placed on the top. A workman then pierces a small hole in the top of the tin. Exactly at the finish of the rush of heated air and steam which ensues, a dab of solder is placed on the hole, and the contents of the tin are now good to last for any number of years. In fact, what previously contained air is now a vacuum, as the steam condenses on cooling. On opening any tin of preserved food the sound of the rush of air into the vacuum is amply sufficient proof that the contents of the tin are in perfectly sound order and condition.
Although, throughout, the manufacture of the different articles I have described has of course been on the wholesale scale, yet I have endeavoured in every case in giving receipts for the use of these articles to adapt the receipts to the requirements of small private establishments. In each case I have attempted to explain the various uses of the goods, and I have every reason to believe that the present book will be as useful to the retail dealers as to the buyers of the goods themselves. Of late years there has been a large increase in the different kikinds of preserved meats, fruits, pickles, vegetables, sauces, etc.and I have myself, on various occasions, asked the grocers in whose windows the goods have been displayed the uses of such and such an article, and have failed to obtain any satisfactory reply. Indeed, it was this which to a great extent originally caused me to think of the want of the present work.
In the following pages will be found a description of almost every article supplied by Messrs. Crosse and Blackwell, and in it the grocer will find not only a guide to the housekeeper but to himself, and I have no hesitation in saying that a reference to these different descriptions will be the means of his selling a far greater amount of these tinned goods than he now does. I know by experience how many housekeepers there are who are simply afraid to spend their money in what they fear may turn out useless, solely on the ground of not knowing how to go to work in using it. Again, many goods are displayed in shop windows for sale without in themselves conveying any idea of their nature to the purchaser.