A water-bath canner may be improvised in the home. A wash boiler, new garbage pail, lard pail, tall pail and cover, and tireless cooker pails are some of the things that may be used.

In the bottom of the pail fit a rack made of wood or wire. The rack should provide for three-fourths of an inch of space under it for the circulation of the water. Wire racks may often be purchased to fit the container. Excelsior, towels or newspapers do not make a satisfactory rack.

The Canner should have a tight-fitting cover, to economize in the use of fuel.

Failures are recorded in the use of the water-bath outfit because some housewives do not keep the water boiling. When the bubbles stick to the bottom of the pan the temperature is around 160 degrees. When the bubbles let loose and rise to the top the temperature is around 180 degrees. When the water moves slowly about the pan the temperature is around 200 degrees, and when it jumps and tries to get out of the pan it is around 211 and 212 degrees at sea level.

As the altitude increases, the boiling point decreases. At Washington, D. C, water boils at about 212 degrees.

At St. Paul, Minnesota, water boils at about 210 degrees; at Denver, Colo., at 203 degrees, and at Laramie, Wyoming, 199 degrees. It will be readily understood that it requires a longer time to sterilize organisms at Denver or Laramie than it would at St. Paul, or Washington, D. C.

The rule: Increase the time for sterilizing in the water-bath one-tenth for each five hundred feet; after one thousand feet of altitude.

Table

0 to 1000 feet

Follow Schedule

1000 to 1500 "

Add 1/10 to table

1500 to 2000 "

" 1/5 ,,

2000 to 2500 "

" 3/10 ,,

2500 to 3000 "

" 2/5 ,,

3000 to 3500 "

" 1/2 ,,

3500 to 4000 "

" 3/5 ,,

4000 to 4500 "

,, 7/10 ,,

4500 to 5000 "

" 4/5 ,,

5000 to 5500 "

" 9/10 "

5500 to 6000 "

Double the table

Precautions

The time element is one of the most important phases to be taken into consideration in Cold Pack canning. Blanching and Cold Dipping are two of the most important steps. No time should be lost in the interval between blanching, cold-dipping, packing and processing. Get them into sterilizer as quickly as possible. Non-acid products such as corn, peas, beans, and asparagus, if allowed to stand, especially in a hot room, are attacked by bacteria which cause spoilage known as "flat-sour." No amount of processing will change this condition. Special care should be taken to work as quickly as possible. It is safer to prepare three or four quarts at a time.