OCR Text |
Show GREEN PEPPERS ARE GOOD WHEN PICKLED Keg or Stone Jar It Quite Satisfactory for Brining. (rnptnt br the United StatM Department t Acrloultura.) "Peter Piper" may have "picked a peck of peppers," but they could not very well have been "pickled" until after they were "picked." If he had an abundance of green peppers, however, how-ever, he might very well have cared for them first by brining and then pickling them, says the United States Department of Agriculture, The method recommended Is as follows: fol-lows: First, wash the peppers, then cap and core thent with, a sharp kitchen kitch-en knife, making a circular incision around the stem, so that the core can be twisted out Any seeds remaining should be scraped away. The cap Is replaced and the pepper Is placed in 80 per cent brine, made by using a proportion of one pound of salt to four pints of wster. - As the brine must be maintained at the same strength throughout the entire en-tire process of curing, and as juices which dilute the brine are drawn out of all products, It Is necessary to add salt from time to time. A sallnometer, which Is a simple, Inexpensive piece of apparatus. Is (he best means of determining deter-mining when the brine Is of the required re-quired strength. Its use Is recommended recommend-ed wherever possible, especially If any quantity Is being handled. A keg or stone jar Is satisfactory for brining. Kegs must be well washed with hot water, and soaked overnight with fresh water, to be sure they are watertight Hound board covers, coated coat-ed with hot paraffin, are used to keep the vegetable submerged In the brine. Clean bricks are used as weights. Another An-other large round wood cover over the top of each keg Is necessary to keep out dirt and dust. At frequent Intervals It is necessary to remove, with a large wooden spoon, or other sultshle appliance, the scum which forms on the surface. This contains con-tains wild yeast molds snd various organisms. Covers and weights should be washed and the strength of the brine tested whenever the scum Is being be-ing cared for. For use, peppers prepared In this way are first soaked In cold water to freshen. They are then stnffod with chopped cabbage or some form of relish rel-ish and the raps replaced and fastened with a few stitches or wooden toothpicks. tooth-picks. They should then be packed loosely In Jars, covered with spiced vinegar and processed. |