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Show County Demonstration Agent Offers Home Canning Hints Canning days are here again. 4 It is important that all equipment equip-ment be clean and in good working work-ing order. A pressure cooker is as safe as any other piece of equipment in the home, provided the cooker is used correctly. If the following instructions are used there need be no danger from the use of the cooker, nor from spoilage of food products, nor from food poisoning resulting from products which are processed in the pressure cooker. 1. Use a pressure cooker for canning can-ning all meats and all vegetables except tomatoes. 2. Have the pressure gauge tested test-ed each canning season. If your's has not been tested this year, consult con-sult the home demonstration agent. 3. Wash the pressure cooker thoroughly with soap and hot water after each day's use. Remove the pet cock and safety valve. If they have not been off before, notice how they are put together to-gether so that they will be replaced re-placed properly. Clean the opening open-ing into the lid with a tooth pick and cotton or gauze. Pull a piece of cloth or tape thru the petcock opening to insure thorough cleaning. Pipe cleaners are good for this purpose. Use a brush and soap suds on the threads which hold the safety valve and petcock in place. Soaking the petcock and safety-valve safety-valve in vinegar for a few minutes will help to clean off grease and hard water deposits. If these parts are not kept clean they collect odors from everything which is cooked or canned in the pressure cooker. Use a tooth pick to clean the opening into the gauge. Keep the -gauge out of water and uvuid let ting water get into the opening. Do not use any scouring material mater-ial on the inside top edge of the cooker or on the edge of the lid where the lid and kettle meet. Constant scouring of these parts may wear the surface down and prevent a tight closing. 4. Follow a reliable instruction book for the amounts of water to be used in the cooker, time schedules sched-ules and other suggestions for using the cooker. 5. When the day's use of the cooker is finished, clean it thoroughly thor-oughly and put away in a place where it will not be knocked. If there" is no danger of the gauge being broken, leave the lid right side up. Contradicting some instruction books, it has been found recently that the gauges remain re-main more nearly accurate if the lid is left right side up. Putting newspapers inside the cooker will help to absorb any moisture. If you are canning in glass jars, examine jars carefully and make sure they are free from any nicks or cracks and the top edge is straight and smooth. Wash glass jars thoroughly with a long-handled brush or dish mop in hot so-ipy water. Rinse jars in hot clear water. Sterilize by placing necks down in a pan of boiling water for 10 minutes. Use new rubber rings each season. sea-son. Sterilize rubber rings with jars and lids. Wash glass or zinc lids In hot soapy water, rinse in olear water, and sterilize by placing top side up in boiling water. Drop lids of the self-sealing type into boiling water just one minute before they are to be placed onto the jar. |