Having decided to add the accomplishment of drying to your other housewifely arts, you have given some thought and study to the subject of driers. You now know whether you prefer sun, artificial or fan drying. You have either made or bought some kind of a drier. Little other equipment is needed.
A few good paring knives, some plates, and if possible some cutting or slicing device to lighten the work of preparation are all that are necessary. A sharp kitchen knife will serve every purpose in slicing and cutting fruits for drying, if no other device is at hand. The thickness of all slices of fruit should be from an eighth to a quarter of an inch. Whether sliced or cut into strips the pieces should be small, so as to dry quickly. They should not, however, be so small as to make them hard to handle or to keep them from being used to advantage in preparing dishes for the table, such as would be prepared from fresh products. Berries are dried whole. Apples, quinces, peaches and pears dry better if cut into halves, rings or quarters.
Cleanliness is essential. A knife blade that is not bright and clean will discolor the product on which it is used.
Winter apples should be chosen for drying when possible, as sweet apples and early varieties are not so well adapted to the purpose. The Northern Spy, the Baldwin and the Ben Davis give a good-flavored dried product. Most early varieties lack sufficient firmness of texture for the best results. On the other hand, some comparatively early kinds, such as Gravenstein and Porter, are considerably prized in some sections.
To prepare them for drying, apples are peeled, cored, trimmed and sliced one quarter of an inch thick. Be sure to cut out all worm holes, decayed spots and other blemishes. Defects are easily cut out with an ordinary straight-back, sharp-pointed knife having a blade two and a half to three inches long.
To prevent discoloration, as fast as the fruit is prepared dip it into a weak salt solution—three level teaspoonfuls of salt to one gallon of water. After all the apples are prepared, remove surplus moisture and put on trays, water-bath drier or whatever device you are using.
HOW TO REGULATE THE HEAT
Start with the temperature at 110 degrees Fahrenheit, gradually raise it to 130 degrees and do the drying at that temperature. It is important to know the degree of heat in the drier, and this cannot be determined very accurately except by using a thermometer. Inexpensive oven thermometers can be bought or an ordinary thermometer can be suspended in the drier. If a thermometer is not used the greatest care should be given to the regulation of the heat. The temperature in the drier rises rather quickly and the product may scorch unless close attention is given to it.
The reason sun drying is popularly believed to give fruits and vegetables a sweeter flavor probably is that in the sun they never are scorched, whereas in the oven or over a stove scorching is likely to happen unless one is very careful. An oven or dairy thermometer is a good investment. If you do not have a thermometer test the heat by the air feeling warm to the hand. The product should never be so hot that it cannot be grasped in the hand. In order to prevent the fruit from burning where artificial heat is used and to keep it from sticking to the drier by remaining in contact with it too long, stir the fruit occasionally. To insure the most uniform drying in sun drying, the fruit also should be stirred occasionally.
Remember that if trays with metal bottoms are used for drying, they should be covered with cheesecloth to prevent acid action. Oven racks may be covered with either cheesecloth or heavy wrapping paper.
The interval between stirring varies with the type of drier used, with the condition of the fruit and with the degree of heat maintained. Make the first stirring within two hours after the drying is begun. After that examine the product from time to time and stir often enough to prevent scorching or sticking and to insure uniform drying. Use a wooden paddle for stirring. Where several trays or racks are placed one above the other, it is necessary to shift the trays from time to time, so the upper tray goes to the bottom and the bottom tray to the top.
The time necessary for drying fruit depends upon several factors: The type and construction of the drier; the depth to which the fruit is spread; the method of preparing, whether sliced, quartered or whole; the temperature maintained; and weather conditions, whether bright and sunny or cloudy and damp.
If the atmosphere is heavy and damp the drying is retarded. Under some conditions it is hardly possible thoroughly to dry fruit.
There is possibly no step in the entire drying process that requires better-trained judgment than the matter of knowing when the fruit is sufficiently dried. A little experience will soon teach this.
The fruit should be so dry that when a handful of slices is pressed together firmly into a ball the slices will be "springy" enough to separate at once upon being released from the hand. No fruit should have any visible moisture on the surface. As the dried apples, pears, peaches and apricots are handled they should feel soft and velvety to the touch and have a pliable texture. You do not want fruit so dry that it will rattle. If fruits are brittle you have dried them too much.
After the apples and all other fruits are dried they must go through another process, called "conditioning." The best way to "condition" fruits is to place them in boxes or cans and pour them from one container into another once a day for three or four successive days. By doing this you mix the fruit thoroughly and give to the whole mass an even degree of moisture. Pieces that are too dry will absorb moisture from those that are too moist.
You may lose a whole bag or jar of dried products if you neglect the conditioning, for if one moist piece goes into that bag all is lost. Moisture breeds mold and mold means decay.
Ask yourself these questions: "Do I ever lose any dried products? Are my dried products when soaked and cooked as near like the original fruit as possible?" If you lose products and if your dried fruits are tasteless you had better start the conditioning process. For with this one step added to your drying you need lose no dried products, and you need not dry the fruits to the brittle stage, as you must of necessity do when you put them away immediately.
After you have poured the dried products back and forth every day for three or four days as an additional precaution, reheat the dried fruit to 140 degrees just long enough—about thirty minutes—to allow the heat to penetrate throughout the product.
Two kinds of moths stand out prominently among insects that attack dried fruits and vegetables. They are much more likely to get into the fruit during the process of drying than to find their way through boxes into the stored products. This applies particularly to drying in the sun. The Indian-meal moth is the most destructive of these insects. It is about three-eighths of an inch long and has a cloaked appearance, one-third gray and the rest copper-brown. The fig moth is about the same size, but dark, neutral gray. A minute, flattened chocolate-brown beetle usually accompanies these moths and does considerable damage. Both of the moths deposit their eggs on fruit when it is on the drying racks—usually at dusk or after dark, for these insects are not fond of daylight.
It takes from three to ten days for the eggs to hatch into whitish or pinkish grublike caterpillars, and from five to ten weeks from the laying of the eggs before more moths appear to lay another lot of eggs. A number of "broods" or generations are produced yearly, so if a few of these moth eggs are stored away on dried fruits or vegetables hundreds of caterpillars are produced and many pounds of valuable material may be destroyed during the winter if the products are stored in a warm room. Dried fruits stored in warm, dark bins or in sacks offer especially favorable places for the development of these destructive moths.
It is evident that the larger the package, the greater the chance of a few eggs doing much damage. Small cartons or containers confine the injury from these moths to small quantities of material; for if the containers are closed tightly the insects cannot easily escape from them and infest other packages which may not have been infested previously.
If you are drying by sun and the products are not thoroughly dry at night, finish the process on the stove. If you desire to carry it over to the next day screen the drying racks early in the evening and fasten down the cheesecloth. With these precautions and with proper storage, no danger ordinarily need be feared from these insects. The additional precaution of heating the dried product to 140 degrees for thirty minutes sterilizes it if already infested.
Though not necessary, tin cans or glass jars make good receptacles for storage of dried fruits or vegetables. Pasteboard boxes with tight covers, stout paper bags and patented paraffin paper cartons also afford ample protection for dried products when protected from insects and rodents. The dried products must be protected from outside moisture, and will keep best in a cool, dry, well-ventilated place. These conditions, however, are difficult to obtain in the more humid regions, and there moisture-tight containers should be used. If a small amount of dried product is put in each receptacle, just enough for one or two meals, it will not be necessary to open a container, the contents of which cannot be consumed in a short time. If a paper bag is used the upper part should be twisted into a neck, bent over and tied tightly with a string. A further precaution is to place the small bags in a tin container with a tightly fitting cover, such as an ordinary lard can. All bags should bear a label.
Pears and quinces usually are prepared and dried exactly as are apples. Pears are attractive when cut lengthwise into halves, with the stem and calyx removed but the core left in. Or they may be quartered. If sliced like apples the drying period is shortened.
Peaches usually are dried unpeeled, but they are better if peeled before drying. The first step in the preparation of peaches is to split them open to remove the pit. To do this, cut completely round the peach in the line of the suture with a sharp knife. The cut must be complete, for tearing of the flesh will make the finished product less attractive. If the fruit is to be peeled the paring should be done before it is cut open to remove the pit.
To facilitate the removal of the skin, dip the peaches in a kettle of boiling water for one and a half minutes; then plunge directly into cold water, after which the skins can be easily slipped off. After the pit has been removed, lay on drier pit side up. The juice of the fruit will collect in the pit or "cup" and will add to the flavor and quality of the dried peaches. The peaches can be cut into smaller pieces if you wish to lessen the drying period.
Plums and apricots are not peeled, but are cut into halves, the pits removed and dried in the same way as peaches. Small, thin-fleshed varieties of plums are not suitable for drying.
When drying cherries always remove the stems. The pits may or may not be removed. The best product for later cooking or eating has the pit removed, though large quantities of juices are lost in the pitting unless you provide some way of saving and utilizing it.
A prune is simply a plum having certain qualities not possessed by all plums. All prunes are plums, but not all plums are prunes. The final test as to whether a plum is a prune is the ability to dry without fermenting with the pit still remaining in the fruit. If a plum cannot dry without fermentation unless the pit is removed, it is not a prune. Prunes for drying, like other fruits, should be fully ripe.
Prunes are merely washed and then dried without removing the pits. The fruit is dry when the skin is well shrunken. The texture should be firm but springy and pliable enough to yield readily when pressed in the hand. The drying should not be continued until the individual prunes rattle as they are brought in contact with one another in handling. Prunes must be conditioned before storing.
In drying, prunes shrink about two-thirds in weight—that is, for every three pounds of fresh fruit you get one pound of finished product.
Smaller fruits, such as red and black raspberries, blackberries, huckleberries, dewberries, strawberries and blueberries, are simply washed and then put to dry. Berries must not be dried too hard; if too much moisture is removed they will not resume their original form when soaked in water. But the material must be dried sufficiently or it will mold. Haven't you often tasted extremely seedy dried berries? They were dried until they rattled. Stop the drying as soon as the berries fail to stain the hand when pressed.
To obtain the most satisfactory results soft fruits should be only one layer deep on the drying trays.
Fruits contain about 80 to 95 per cent water and when dried sufficiently still retain from 15 to 20 per cent of water, so it is a good plan to weigh before and after drying. The product should lose from two-thirds to four-fifths of its weight.
STEPS IN FRUIT DRYING
1. Thoroughly cleanse the product.
2. Prepare the product by slicing and so on.
3. Spread on trays; put in oven or put on commercial drier.
4. Stir occasionally.
5. Shift trays.
6. Test for completeness of drying.
7. "Condition" for three or four days. Sweet fruits may contain more moisture without spoiling than those of low sugar content.
8. Heat to 140 degrees Fahrenheit for thirty minutes, to kill all insects.
9. Pack immediately in available receptacles.
10. Label and store.
FRUIT PASTES
Fruit pastes are delicious and can be dried.
1. Select, wash, prepare fruit.
2. Cook until soft; stir.
3. Add sugar to sweeten.
4. Continue cooking until very thick.
5. Spread out flat by spoonfuls on oiled paper.
6. Dry in slow oven; finish drying over kitchen range.
7. Turn from time to time like griddle cakes.
Nuts of all kinds can be dried in these cakes, which may be left whole or cut in strips with scissors.
CANDIED FRUITS AND VEGETABLES
1. Select product of uniform size and ripeness.
2. Wash; prepare in usual way.
3. Cut fruit in halves, quarters or smaller sections; cut vegetables in narrow strips two and a half inches long.
4. Drop in a sirup cooked until it spins a thread. To prepare ginger sirup, add a few roots of ginger to the sirup.
5. Cook until transparent.
6. Drain.
7. Dry in slow oven; Finish drying over kitchen range.
8. Roll in granulated sugar. (May be omitted for fruits.)
This method is recommended especially for candied apples, peaches, pears and carrots.
In a properly constructed sun drier, all fruits will dry in from 3 to 12 hours, under normal summer conditions. Time depends on dryness of atmosphere, sunshine and wind. Products dried in a sun drier, no matter how crude, are superior to those dried in the open without protection of some kind. Products dry more rapidly in high altitudes than at sea level.
Racks in oven can be used. Plates or platters can be used in oven. A stove drier hung over the stove can be used. A water-bath or other commercial drier can be used with the stove.
Vegetable drying is a little more complicated than fruit drying, just as vegetable canning is more complicated than fruit canning. Blanching is an important part of the operation. It makes vegetable drying satisfactory as well as easy and simple, just as it makes vegetable canning possible.
However, there is one difference between blanching vegetables for canning and blanching them for drying. After repeated experiments it has been found that for drying purposes it is best to blanch all vegetables in steam rather than in boiling water. In vegetable canning we blanch almost all vegetables in boiling water, usually steaming only the members of the "green" family.
So remember that for drying all vegetables are blanched in steam. To do this steaming you can use your ordinary household steamer, such as you use for steaming brown breads and suet puddings, or you can simply place a colander over boiling water in a kettle. Do not allow the colander to touch the water. If you are fortunate enough to possess a pressure cooker, steam the vegetables for drying in it.
Blanching is necessary for many reasons. It removes the strong flavors, objectionable to many people. Beans, cabbage, turnips and onions have too strong a flavor if dried without blanching. Furthermore, it starts the color to flowing, just as it does in canning. It removes the sticky coating round vegetables. Most vegetables have a protective covering to prevent evaporation. The removal of this covering by blanching facilitates drying. Blanching also relaxes the tissues, drives out the air and improves the capillary attraction, and as a result the drying is done in a much shorter period. Products dry less rapidly when the texture is firm and the tissue contains air.
Blanching checks the ripening processes. The ripening process is destroyed by heating and this is to be desired for drying purposes.
Blanching kills the cells and thus prevents the hay-like flavor so often noticed in unblanched products. It prevents changes after drying, which otherwise will occur unless the water content is reduced to about five per cent.
Thorough blanching makes the product absolutely sanitary; no insect eggs exist after blanching and cold-dipping.
There is one precaution that must be followed: Do not blanch too long. Blanching too long seems to break down the cell structure, so that the product cannot be restored to its original color, shape or size. Follow the blanching time-table for drying just as carefully as you follow the blanching time-table for canning.
After the blanching comes the cold-dip. For the benefit of new canning and drying enthusiasts, let me explain that by "cold-dip" we mean plunging the product immediately into a pan of very cold water or holding it under the cold-water faucet until the product is thoroughly cooled. Do not let the product stand in cold water, as it would then lose more food value and absorb too much water.
You can cold-dip the product without removing it from the colander, strainer or steamer in which it is steamed. Plunge the vessel containing the product into the cold water.
The cold-dipping checks the cooking, sets the coloring matter which was started to flowing in the blanching process, and it makes the product much easier to handle.
Let us now see just exactly what we must do when we want to dry sweet corn, more of which is dried than of any other vegetable. All other vegetables are dried in the same way as is corn, the only difference being in the length of the blanching and drying period.
All vegetables are prepared for drying just as they are prepared for table use. When drying corn select ears that are young and tender, and if possible freshly gathered. Products for drying should be in the same perfect condition as you have them for table use. If wilted and old it is not worth while drying them.
Remove the husks and the silk, and steam—on the cob—for fifteen minutes. This sets the milk, besides doing many other things which blanching by steam always does. After the steaming, cold-dip the corn, and then cut it from the cob, using a very sharp and flexible knife. Cut the grains fine, but only halfway down to the cob; scrape out the remainder of the grains, being careful not to scrape off any of the chaff next to the cob.
When field corn is used, the good, plump cooking stage is the proper degree of ripeness for satisfactory drying.
The corn should be thoroughly drained as this facilitates drying. You can easily remove all surface moisture by placing the corn between two towels and patting them.
It is now ready for drying. The corn may be dried in the sun, but if so, it is advisable first to dry it in the oven for ten or fifteen minutes and then finish the drying in the sun. Never attempt sun drying in moist weather. The corn may be dried by artificial heat, either on top of the stove or in the oven, using either plates, oven-racks properly covered, or any commercial dryer.
Work quickly after the blanching and cold-dipping and get the corn heated as quickly as possible in order to prevent souring. You get "flat-sour" often when canning if you do not work quickly enough, and you will get sour vegetables in drying if you work too slowly.
Where artificial heat is used begin at a lower temperature and gradually increase it. As the corn is drying, stir it from time to time and readjust the trays if necessary.
After the drying comes the test to determine whether or not the corn is sufficiently dry. Vegetables at this point differ from fruits. Fruits are dried only until leathery, whereas vegetables are dried until they are bone-dry. They must crackle and snap.
This test is sometimes used to see if the product is sufficiently dry: Put some of it in a covered glass jar with a crisp soda cracker and keep them there for a few hours. If the cracker loses its crispness and becomes soft and damp there is still too much moisture in the product and it should be dried a little longer to obtain the degree of dryness required.
After the corn is bone-dry it should, like all other vegetables and fruits, be conditioned. This means to pour them from one bag or box to another, once a day for three or four days. This enables you to notice any moisture that may be left in the dried food. Foods that show any traces of moisture should be returned to the drying tray for a short time.
Notice Lima beans particularly, as they require a longer conditioning period than most vegetables.
After the conditioning, in order to kill all insects and destroy all eggs, it is advisable to place the vegetables on trays and heat them in an oven for half an hour at a temperature of 140 degrees Fahrenheit. Store directly from the oven.
Dried vegetables are stored just as are dried fruits—in cans, cracked jars that cannot be used for canning, fiber containers, cheesecloth, paper bags or paraffin containers.
In storing your dried products keep in mind these things: Protection from moisture, insects, rats, mice, dust and light. If you observe all these things it is unnecessary to have air-tight containers.
All varieties of string beans can be dried, but only those fit for table use should be used. Old, stringy, tough beans will remain the same kind of beans when dried. There are two ways of preparing string, wax or snap beans for drying:
1. Wash; remove stem, tip and string. Cut or break into pieces one-half to one inch long; blanch three to ten minutes, according to age and freshness, in steam; cold-dip. Place on trays or dryer. If you have a vegetable slicer it can be used for slicing the beans.
2. Prepare as above, then blanch the whole beans. After cold-dipping, thread them on coarse, strong thread, making long "necklaces" of them; hang them above the stove or out of doors until dry.
Lima beans should be shelled from the pod and then blanched two to five minutes if young and tender. If larger and more mature blanch five to ten minutes.
Okra is blanched for three minutes. If the pods are young and small, dry them whole. Older pods should be cut into quarter-inch slices. Small tender pods are sometimes strung on stout thread and hung up to dry.
Peppers may be dried by splitting on one side, removing the seed, drying in the air, and finishing the drying in the dryer at 130 degrees Fahrenheit. A more satisfactory method is to place peppers in a biscuit pan in the oven and heat until the skins blister; or to steam them until the skin softens, peel, split in half, take out seed, and dry at 110 to 130 degrees. In drying thick-fleshed peppers like the pimento, do not increase heat too quickly, but dry slowly and evenly.
Small varieties of red peppers may be spread in the sun until wilted and the drying finished in the dryer, or they may be dried entirely in the sun.
Peppers often are dried whole. If large they can be strung on thread; if small the whole plant can be hung up to dry.
Shell full-grown peas and blanch three to five minutes; cold-dip and then spread in a single layer on trays to dry.
When drying the very tender young sugar peas, use the pod also. Wash and cut in quarter-inch pieces. Blanch six minutes, cold-dip and remove surplus moisture before drying. When drying beets always select young, quickly grown, tender beets. Steam twenty to thirty minutes, or until the skin cracks. Dip in cold water, peel and slice into one-eighth to one-quarter inch slices. Then dry.
Carrots having a large, woody core should not be dried. Blanch six minutes; cold-dip. Carrots are often sliced lengthwise into pieces about one-eighth inch thick. Parsnips, kohl-rabi, celeriac and salsify are prepared in the same way as are carrots.
Onions should be held under water while peeling and slicing to avoid smarting of the eyes. They should be sliced into one-eighth to one-quarter inch slices. Blanch five minutes, cold-dip, remove superfluous moisture and dry. Leeks are handled as are onions.
Select well-developed heads of cabbage and remove all loose outside leaves. Split the cabbage, remove the hard, woody core and slice the remainder of the head with a kraut slicer or cutter or with a large, sharp knife. Blanch five to ten minutes and cold-dip; dry.
Spinach and parsley should be carefully washed. Steam, cold-dip and dry. If the spinach is sliced the drying will be greatly facilitated. Beet tops, Swiss chard and celery are prepared like spinach.
Select sound, well-matured Irish potatoes. Wash and boil or steam until nearly done. Peel and pass through a meat grinder or a potato ricer. Collect the shred in layers on a tray and dry until brittle. If toasted slightly in an oven when dry, the flavor is improved somewhat; or boil or steam until nearly done, peel, cut into quarter-inch slices, spread on trays, and dry until brittle. Peeling may be omitted, but the product will be very much inferior in flavor. Irish potatoes cannot be satisfactorily dried unless they are first cooked; otherwise they will discolor.
All root vegetables must be thoroughly cleaned, otherwise an earthy flavor may cling to them. One decayed root may seriously affect several pots of vegetable soup.
GENERAL SUGGESTIONS
1. All vegetables should be completely dried in from two to twenty-four hours.
2. Materials should be turned or stirred several times to secure a uniform product.
3. If heat is used guard against scorching. The door is left open if an oven is used; the temperature should be about 110 degrees at the beginning and usually should not exceed 130 degrees. Onions, string beans and peas will yellow at more than 140 degrees.
4. A thermometer is essential to successful drying by artificial heat.
5. It is impossible to give definite lengths of times for the completion of sun drying, as this varies not only with different products but with the weather. A sultry, rainy day is the worst for drying.
6. Vegetables should be stone dry.
7. Succulent vegetables and fruits contain from 80 to 95 per cent of water, and when dried sufficiently still retain from 15 to 20 per cent; so it is a good plan to weigh before and after drying as a check. The product should lose from two-thirds to four-fifths of its weight.
8. Work rapidly to prevent souring of vegetables.
9. Small vegetables, mature beans and peas and small onions may be dried whole. Larger vegetables should be cut up so as to expose more surface for drying.
10. The slicing, cutting and shredding should be done before blanching, with the exception of corn, which is cut from the cob after blanching.
[1] Till skin cracks.
In a properly constructed sun drier vegetables will dry in from 3 to 12 hours under normal summer conditions. Products dried in a sun drier are superior to those dried in the open without any protection. Products dry more quickly in high altitudes than at sea level.
We have learned how to preserve fruit and vegetables by canning and drying and now we are going to learn another method to preserve foods, in which salt is used. We use this salt method for vegetables. It is not adapted to fruits. We may pickle apples, pears and peaches, but we ferment, brine and dry-salt only vegetables.
This salt method is not a substitute for drying or canning, but just an additional method we may employ. Every thrifty housewife of to-day wants her shelves of canned foods, her boxes of dried foods and her crocks of salted foods. Each kind has its proper function to perform in the household. One cannot take the place of the other.
For women on the farm salting is a salvation. In busy seasons when canning and drying seem an impossibility, a great many vegetables can be saved by this method in a very short time. The labor required is very small, as no cooking is necessary. A good supply of salt is the one necessity.
Besides the saving of time, salting saves jars, which are absolutely necessary in canning. Old containers can be used if they are thoroughly cleansed. The vegetables can be put in any container, so long as it holds water and is not made of metal. Metal containers should not be used. Old kegs, butter and lard tubs if water-tight, stoneware jars or crocks, chipped preserve jars, glass jars with missing covers and covered enamel buckets can all be utilized. Avoid using tubs made of pitch or soft pine unless coated with melted paraffin, as they impart a flavor to the vegetables. Maple is the best.
THREE METHODS OF SALTING FOOD
There are three ways of preserving food by salting: First, fermentation with dry salting; second, fermentation in brine or brining; and third, salting without fermentation, or dry salting.
Dry Salting.Fermentation with dry salting consists in packing the material with a small amount of salt. No water is used, for the salt will extract the water from the vegetables and this forms a brine. This is the simplest process of all three and is used mostly for cabbage. To make sauerkraut proceed as follows: The outside green leaves of the cabbage should be removed, just as in preparing the head for boiling. Never use any decayed or bruised leaves. Quarter the heads and shred the cabbage very finely. There are shredding machines on the market, but if one is not available use a slaw cutter or a large sharp knife.
After the cabbage is shredded pack at once into a clean barrel, keg or tub, or into an earthenware crock holding four or five gallons. The smaller containers are recommended for household use. When packing distribute the salt as uniformly as possible, using one pound of salt to forty pounds of cabbage. Sprinkle a little salt in the container and put in a layer of three or four inches of shredded cabbage, then pack down with a wooden utensil like a potato masher. Repeat with salt, cabbage and packing until the container is full or the shredded cabbage is all used.
Press the cabbage down as tightly as possible and apply a cloth, and then a glazed plate or a board cover which will go inside the holder. If using a wooden cover select wood free from pitch, such as basswood. On top of this cover place stone, bricks or other weights—use flint or granite; avoid the use of limestone, sandstone or marble. These weights serve to keep vegetables beneath the surface of the liquid. The proportion of salt to food when fermenting with dry salt is a quarter pound of salt to ten pounds of food. Do not use more, for the product will taste too salty.
Allow fermentation to proceed for ten days or two weeks, if the room is warm. In a cellar or other cool place three to five weeks may be required. Skim off the film which forms when fermentation starts and repeat this daily if necessary to keep this film from becoming a scum. When gas bubbles cease to rise when you strike the side of the container, fermentation is complete. If there is a scum it should be removed.
As a final step pour very hot melted paraffin over the brine until it forms a layer from a quarter to a half-inch thick, to prevent the formation of the scum which occurs if the weather is warm or the storage place is not well cooled. The cabbage may be used as soon as the bubbles cease to rise. If scum forms and remains the cabbage will spoil. You may can the cabbage as soon as bubbles cease to rise and fermentation is complete. To can, fill jars, adjust rubbers and partly seal. Sterilize 120 minutes in hot-water bath, or 60 minutes in steam-pressure outfit at five to ten pounds pressure.
The vital factor in preserving the material by this method is the lactic acid which develops in fermentation.
If the vegetables are covered with a very strong brine or are packed with a fairly large amount of salt, lactic acid fermentation and also the growth of other forms of bacteria and molds are prevented. This method of preservation is especially applicable to those vegetables which contain so little sugar that sufficient lactic acid cannot be formed by bacterial action to insure their preservation.
In the well-known method of vinegar pickling the acetic acid of the vinegar acts as a preservative like the lactic acid produced by fermentation. Sometimes brining precedes pickling in vinegar, and often the pickling is modified by the addition of sugar and spices, which add flavor as well as helping to preserve the fruit or vegetables. In some cases olive oil or some other table oil is added to the vinegar, as in the making of oil cucumber pickles.
Besides sauerkraut, string beans, beet tops, turnip tops, greens, kale and dandelions are adapted for fermentation with dry salting. String beans should be young, tender and not overgrown. Remove the tip ends and strings; cut or break into pieces about two inches long. Wash the beet and turnip tops as well as all greens, in order to remove dirt and grit. Weigh all products that are to be salted.
For salting, a supply of ordinary fine salt, which can be purchased in bulk for about two cents a pound, is most satisfactory for general use. Table salt will do very well, but it is rather expensive if large quantities of vegetables are to be preserved. The rather coarse salt—known in the trade as "ground alum salt"—which is used in freezing ice cream can be used. Rock salt because of its coarseness and impurities should not be used.
A weight must be used. The size of the weight depends on the quantity of material being preserved. For a five-gallon keg a weight of ten pounds will be sufficient, but if a larger barrel is used a heavier weight will be needed. The weight should be sufficient to extract the juices to form a brine, which will cover the top in about twenty-four hours. If a brine does not form it may be necessary to add more stones after the material has stood a while.
There always will be more or less bubbling and foaming of the brine during the first stages of fermentation. After this ceases a thin film will appear which will rapidly spread over the whole surface and quickly develop into a heavy, folded membrane. This scum is a growth of yeast-like organisms which feed upon the acid formed by fermentation. If allowed to grow undisturbed it will eventually destroy all the acid and the fermented material will spoil. To prevent mold from forming it is necessary to exclude the air from the surface of the brine.
Perhaps the best method is to cover the surface—over the board and round the weight—with very hot, melted paraffin. If the paraffin is hot enough to make the brine boil when poured in, the paraffin will form a smooth, even layer before hardening. Upon solidifying, it forms an air-tight seal. Oils, such as cottonseed oil or the tasteless liquid petroleum, may also be used for this purpose. As a measure of safety with crocks, it is advisable to cover the top with a cloth soaked in melted paraffin. Put the cover in place before the paraffin hardens.
After sealing with paraffin the containers should be set where they will not be disturbed until the contents are to be used. Any attempt to remove them from one place to another may break the paraffin seal and necessitate resealing.
Some vegetables which do not contain sufficient water are better fermented by covering them with a weak brine. Those which are the most satisfactory when fermented in this way are cucumbers, string beans, green tomatoes, beets, beet tops, turnip tops, corn and green peas. The general directions for this brining are as follows:
Wash the vegetables, drain off the surplus water and pack them in a keg, crock, or other utensil until it is nearly full—within about three inches of the top of the vessel. Prepare a weak brine as follows: To each gallon of water used add one-half pint of vinegar and three-fourths of a cup of salt and stir until the salt is entirely dissolved. The vinegar is used primarily to keep down the growth of injurious bacteria until the lactic-acid ferment starts, but it also adds to the flavor. Spices may be added if desired.
The amount of brine necessary to cover the vegetables will be equal to about one-half the volume of the material to be fermented. For example, if a five-gallon keg is to be packed, two and one-half gallons will be needed. It is best to make up at one time all the brine needed on one day. A clean tub or barrel can be used for mixing the brine. Pour the brine over the vegetables and cover. Set the vessel and its contents away in a moderately warm room to ferment.
When fermentation ceases, the container should be placed in a cool cellar or storeroom and the surface of the liquid treated to prevent mold. Before adding the paraffin or cottonseed oil, any scum or mold which may have formed on the surface of the liquid should be removed by skimming.
These general directions can always be followed with successful results, but some modifications are desirable for certain vegetables.
Cucumbers—Dill Style.To pickle cucumbers wash the cucumbers and pack into a clean, water-tight barrel, keg or crock. On the bottom of the barrel place a layer of dill weed and a handful of mixed spice. Add another layer of dill and another handful of spice when the barrel is half full, and when almost full, add a third layer. If a keg or crock is used, the amount of dill and spice can be reduced in proportion to the size of the receptacle. When the container has been filled to within a few inches of the top, add a layer of covering material—beet leaves or grape leaves—about an inch thick. If any spoilage should occur on the surface, this layer will protect the vegetables beneath. Press down with a clean board weighted with bricks or stone.
Make the brine as given in the general rules. Add sufficient brine to cover the material and allow it to stand twenty-four hours. Then make air-tight. The time necessary for complete fermentation to occur depends upon the temperature. In a warm place five days to a week may suffice; in a cool cellar three to four weeks.
The dill and spices may be omitted, in which case we then have plain cucumbers.
String Beans.Remove the ends and strings from the beans and cut into pieces about two inches long; pack in the container; cover with brine and ferment.
Green Tomatoes.Green tomatoes should be packed whole and prepared as cucumbers. The dill and spice may be added if desired.
Beets.Beets must be scrubbed thoroughly and packed whole. If peeled or sliced before being fermented the beets lose considerable color and flavor.
Beet Tops and Turnip Tops.These should be washed thoroughly and packed into the container without being cut up.
Peas.Green peas should be shelled and packed in the same way as string beans. It is advisable to use fairly small containers for peas, so that the quantity opened up will be used before it has a chance to spoil.
Corn.Husk and clean the silk from the corn; wash and place the ears on end in the jar, packing the jar nearly full. Pour the brine over the ears; add cover and weights. Fermented corn has a sour taste, which may not be relished if the corn is eaten alone. For this reason it will be preferable in most cases to preserve corn by canning, drying or by salting without fermentation. Fermented corn, however, may be used in the preparation of some dishes, such as chowders, omelets, and so forth, where its flavor will be masked to some extent by the other ingredients. To some people this peculiar acid taste of fermented corn is not at all objectionable.
Salting Without Fermentation.In this method the vegetables are packed with enough salt to prevent fermentation or the growth of yeasts or molds. The vegetables preserved most satisfactorily by this method are dandelions, beet tops, turnip tops, spinach, kale, chard, cabbage, cauliflower, string beans, green peas and corn. The following directions should be followed:
The vegetables should be washed, drained and weighed. The amount of salt needed will be a quarter of the weight of the vegetables. Kegs or crocks make satisfactory containers. Put a layer of vegetables about an inch thick on the bottom of the container. Cover this with salt. Continue making alternate layers of vegetables and salt until the container is almost filled. The salt should be evenly distributed so that it will not be necessary to use more salt than the quantity required in proportion to the weights of the vegetables that are used.
Cover the surface with a cloth, and a board of glazed plate. Place a weight on these and set aside in a cool place. If sufficient liquor to cover the vegetables has not been extracted pour in enough strong brine—one pound of salt to two quarts of water—to cover the surface round the corner.
The top layer of vegetables should be kept under the brine to prevent molding. There will be some bubbling at first. As soon as this stops, set the container where it will not be disturbed until ready for use. Seal by pouring very hot paraffin over the surface.
String beans should be cut in two-inch pieces. Peas should be shelled. Cabbage should be shredded in the same way as for sauerkraut. Corn, however, requires somewhat different treatment, and the directions for salting it are as follows:
Salted Corn.Husk the ears of corn and remove the silk. Cook in boiling water for about ten minutes to set the milk. Cut off the corn from the cob with a sharp knife. Weigh the corn and pack in layers with a quarter its weight of fine salt, as described above.
Some experts insist on blanching and cold-dipping all vegetables for dry-salting without fermentation. They say that, though it is not necessary, it makes the tissues softer and consequently they are more easily penetrated by the salt. Furthermore, when preparing these products for the table the salt soaks out more readily and the products cook much more quickly if they have been blanched. So where there is time it seems advisable to blanch for five minutes for dry-salting.
If properly prepared and stored, fermented, brined and dry-salted products will keep for a long time. It is absolutely necessary to prevent mold from growing on the surface of the brine of fermented vegetables, by the addition of paraffin or in some other way. Protection of the surface of dry-salted vegetables is desirable, but not necessary if the containers are covered to prevent the evaporation of the brine. Most trouble with the fermented or salted products may be traced to carelessness in protecting the surface of the brine.