Every Step in Canning Part 31

Eggs preserved in water gla.s.s can be used for soft boiling or poaching up to November. Before boiling such eggs p.r.i.c.k a tiny hole in the large end of the sh.e.l.l with a needle to keep them from cracking, as the preservative seals the pores of the sh.e.l.l and prevents the escape of gases, which is possible in the strictly fresh egg.

They are satisfactory for frying until about December. From that time until the end of the usual storage period--that is until March--they can be used for omelettes, scrambled eggs, custards, cakes and general cookery. As the eggs age, the white becomes thinner and is harder to beat. The yolk membrane becomes more delicate and it is correspondingly difficult to separate the whites from the yolks.

Sometimes the white of the egg is tinged pink after very long keeping in water gla.s.s. This is due, probably, to a little iron which is in the sodium silicate, but which apparently does not injure the eggs for food purposes.

CHAPTER XVIII

HOME STORAGE OF VEGETABLES

Towards the end of the canning season most housewives have used every available gla.s.s jar and tin can and hesitate about purchasing a new supply. They have dried and brined many products and yet they feel, and rightly so, that they would like still more vegetables for winter use. There still remains another method that they may employ to provide themselves with a plentiful supply of vegetables and these vegetables can be in the fresh state too. Neither canned, dried, pickled or salted but fresh.

Canning, drying, pickling and salting are essential and necessary but they can not take the place of storage. To keep vegetables in their natural state is the easiest and simplest form of food preservation.

Of course, you must take proper precautions against freezing and decay. If you do this you can have an abundant supply of many kinds of fresh vegetables all winter, where climatic and living conditions will permit. Storage costs but little money and little effort and yet it is very satisfactory.

There are many vegetables that can be stored to good advantage. They are: Beets, Brussels Sprouts, Beans, Celery, Carrots, Chicory or Endive, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Kohl-rabi, Lima Beans, Onions, Sweet Potatoes, Squash (Winter), Salsify or Vegetable Oyster, Tomatoes, Turnips.

To get good results in any kind of storage, you must observe four things:

1. Proper ventilation.

2. Proper regulation of temperature.

3. Sufficient moisture.

4. Good condition of vegetables when stored.

There are six different ways to store vegetables. They are: cellar storage, pit storage, outdoor cellar or cave storage, attic storage, sand boxes and pantry storage.

CELLAR STORAGE

We will first of all consider cellar or bas.e.m.e.nt storage. One of the most convenient places for the storage of vegetables is a cool, well-ventilated and reasonably dry cellar underneath the house. This cellar must have windows or some method of ventilation, must not be too warm and not so cold that food will freeze. If there is proper ventilation there can be some dampness without injury to the vegetables. If your cellar or bas.e.m.e.nt floods easily or has water standing in it anywhere it should not be used for vegetable storage.

If there is a furnace in the cellar or bas.e.m.e.nt a small room as far as possible from the heating plant should be part.i.tioned off. Do not build a room in the middle of the cellar, for two sides of the room should consist of outside walls.

If possible have two outside windows for proper regulation of the temperature and for good ventilation. If you cannot have two windows have one.

A very good arrangement for constant circulation of air consists in having a stove-pipe inserted through one of the lower panes of the window to admit cold air. One of the upper panes of the window can be removed to allow for the escape of warm air. That is, of course, if the window is made of nine or twelve small panes of squares of gla.s.s.

In severely cold weather this upper pane can be replaced or the opening stuffed up in some way.

If you do not have an old stove-pipe you can make a wooden flue of old boards or old discarded boxes.

Most cellars and bas.e.m.e.nts are now made with concrete floors. The ideal floor for storage purposes is an earth floor. However, we can put two or three inches of sand on our concrete floors and get good results. Sprinkle the sand with water from time to time.

Put the vegetables that are to be stored in boxes, baskets, barrels or crates. Use containers that hold only two or three bushels apiece. If larger boxes or barrels are used there is always danger of heating and decay. Of course, proper precautions should be taken against mice.

An excellent way to prevent wilting of crops and shrinkage is to put moist leaves, oak or maple, in the containers with the vegetables.

Moist sand is sometimes used but it is much heavier to handle than the leaves. It is no difficult matter to rake the lawn when you are ready to store the vegetables.

The vegetables that are adapted for cellar storage are beets, cabbage, carrots, celery, parsnips, potatoes, salsify and turnips.

PIT STORAGE

There are two kinds of pits that may be used for storage. Those that are not frost-proof and those which are frost-proof.

Some vegetables are not injured by being held in a frozen condition during the winter months. Cabbage is not injured by moderate frost.

Cabbage and parsnips will stand freezing and a little thawing, so they can be put in pits or better still, boxes or barrels set into the ground may be used. Make the pit mound shaped. If the earth is mounded around the box, barrel or pit, surface water cannot run in.

If using this kind of storage do not store the products until both the ground and the products are frozen solid. The idea is to keep the vegetables frozen or to have very few freezings and thawings, and those few should be gradual.

After the pit has been made or the box or barrel has been set into the ground and filled with vegetables, it should be covered first with a piece of burlap or carpet, then with a mouse-proof board cover and finally with straw or similar material. When taken from the pit, the vegetables can be thawed out over night in cold water, after which they can be kept in the cellar for a short length of time.

The pits for keeping vegetables free from frost must be carefully and thoughtfully made, but they are cheap and are very useful and practical when caves or cellars are not convenient.

The frost-proof pit for storing vegetables should always be placed in as well-drained a place as possible. A shallow excavation should be made from one to two feet deep, four feet wide and as long as desired. Line the pit with straw, hay or leaves, then place the vegetables in a conical pile on the straw. Cover the vegetables with six inches of the material used in making the lining. This is covered with three or four inches of earth. The straw is allowed to extend up through the earth at the top of the pile, thus a.s.suring ventilation.

When it becomes colder add more covering to the pit by another layer of straw and a layer of earth. In very cold climates a layer of manure or corn stalks will afford protection against frost.

It is well to make several small pits rather than one larger one for the reason that when a pit has once been opened it is difficult to protect the remaining vegetables from frost.

It is advisable to store several varieties of vegetables in one pit so that when each pit is opened you have a variety of vegetables. If you follow this plan separate the various crops by using straw or leaves.

Pits are entered by chopping a hole through the frozen earth at one end, large enough to reach into or crawl into. After the vegetables have been obtained keep the hole stuffed and covered most carefully and deeply with old sacks and straw.

If the smaller pits are used, a decidedly better arrangement, take out all the vegetables in the pit and those that are not needed for immediate consumption can be placed in the cellar storage room, or other cool place, until needed. Do not use those pits if you live where winter rains are abundant as the pits will become water soaked and the vegetables will suffer more or less decay.

OUTDOOR CELLAR STORAGE

Outdoor cellars or caves may be cheaply built for more or less temporary use or they may be very expensively built of concrete, brick, or clay blocks. Of course, the latter are permanent storing places and offer perfect storage for potatoes, carrots, cabbages, parsnips, beets, turnips and salsify.

The objectionable features of indoor cellar storage is that such storage does not furnish ideal conditions for keeping the vegetables fresh for any great length of time.

The objectionable feature to the pit storage is the inaccessibility to these pits during severe weather.

The outdoor cellar or cave overcomes both these objections. The outdoor cellar or cave is an underground structure, preferably built in a hillside and fully covered with earth except at one end only where the entrance is located. If there are doors at both ends it is almost impossible to prevent freezing in very cold weather. The cave door should fit perfectly and there should be a hatchway or door over the steps leading down to the cave door.

A very satisfactory inexpensive cellar can be made by digging an excavation about 5 ft. deep and in this erecting a frame by setting posts in rows near the dirt walls. Saw these posts off at uniform height and place plates on their tops. On these plates place rafters.

Board up completely with the exception of the entrance. Cover the whole with dirt or sod and in cold climates add a layer of straw or fodder.

A ventilation must be provided in the roof at the back end. A sewer tile with the bell end up makes a very good flue. A dirt floor is satisfactory as it contains moisture. If there is any seepage use a drain tile to carry it off.

The more pretentious permanent cellars are provided with air s.p.a.ces to furnish insulation; are provided with large ventilation shafts through the roof and cold air intakes under the floor. Thorough drainage is obtained by placing a line of tile around the outside wall and also by having the air intake serve as a drain for surplus water that might get into the cave. The floor is cement or concrete. Such a cave is expensive but is a permanent structure and a good addition to any farm or estate. If properly made it is possible to maintain a temperature of 34 to 38 degrees without much fluctuation during the winter months.

This kind of storage is not only adapted for vegetables but apples as well. It is better adapted to the Northern, Eastern and Western States than to the Southern States, where it is likely to be warm at the time the vegetables are ready for storage. When making the cave, have it as near as possible to the kitchen door. Sometimes caves are made so that they can be entered from the house, cellar or porch.

ATTIC STORAGE