Foods and home making

2. What is meant by non-acid vegetables ? Name some 3. Why are non-acid vegetables more difficult to preserve than acid vegetables ? 4. In what utensil is it advisable to can non-acid vegetables? Why? 5. Why is it necessary thoroughly to clean vegetables that are used for canning ? 6. Is a sirup poured around vegetables when they are canned? What liquid is used ? 7. Should the liquid around canned vegetables be used as food? Why? 8. Why does fresh corn spoil readily, while dried corn does not? 9. What do gas bubbles inside a jar of food indicate? 10. At what temperature may foods be canned in a pressure cooker? Why are tomatoes more often canned successfully than other vegetables? Tomatoes, as we all know, have a sour taste. This means that they contain acid. Most vegetables do not contain much acid. We call vegetables not having a pronounced acid taste non-acid vegetables. Because tomatoes contain acid they can be canned in the same way as fruits. In fact, as stated on page 269, tomatoes are really fruits. On the dining table, however, they are used as vege- tables. For this reason we speak of tomatoes as vegetables. Bacteria which may cause food to spoil are usually killed if they are boiled in an acid substance. Pickled beets also may be canned in the ordinary hot-water 523 5^4 Food Preservation bath because vinegar (containing acid) is poured around the beets. Pimientos also are canned in the hot-water bath. TIME TABLE FOR CANNING TOMATOES, PICKLED BEETS, AND PIMIENTOS1 Vegetable Preparation for Processing Wash all vegetables very thoroughly. Time in Minutes for Processing Pint and Quart Glass Jars in Boiling Water Tomatoes . . Scald, dip in cold water, peel, core. Pack whole. Cover with hot tomato juice. Add 1 teaspoon salt to each quart 45 Or quarter, heat to boiling, pack hot 5 Pickled beets Precook, peel, and slice into jars. Add £ teaspoon salt per pint. Cover with boiling mixture of equal measures of vinegar and sugar 30 Pimientos Heat in hot fat or in the oven to loosen peel. Peel, remove stems and seed cores. Pack in pint jars. Add £ teaspoon salt per pint and no liquid 40 (Pints only) How should non-acid vegetables be canned? Six hours or more of boiling may be needed to kill certain organisms in non- acid foods.2 Because it would not be practical to cook vege- tables for six hours, it is believed best to can non-acid vegetables at a temperature higher than that of ordinary boiling water (2120 F.). Foods can be heated to a temperature higher than 2i2° F. in a pressure cooker. In this device, vegetables can be heated to 250° F. There are some kinds of bacteria which, if not destroyed, will grow in canned foods and produce poisons. The poisons caused by such bacteria are very dangerous. The bacteria which pro- duce the dangerous poisons in foods are not destroyed in a non-acid substance at boiling temperature. Therefore canning 1 Adapted from Farmers’ Bulletin No. 1762, Home Canning of Fruits, Vegetables, and Meats, United States Department of Agriculture, 1936. 2 See page 2 of Home Canning of Fruits, Vegetables, and Meats, United States Department of Agriculture Bulletin, No. 1762, 1936. Canned and Dried Vegetables 525 non-acid vegetables at a higher temperature than 2120 F. is advised by the Bureau of Home Economics, U. S. Department of Agriculture.1