Making Food Last Longer: Pickling and Preserving
Vegetables
People turned cucumbers into pickles by preserving them in vinegar or a brine of salt and water, which was concentrated enough to float an egg. Sauerkraut (pickled cabbage) was another popular way to enjoy the harvest well into winter.
Fruits
Homemakers made preserves by cooking fruit together with sugar, and storing it as jam or canned fruit using glass or earthenware jars. They could also make jelly by boiling fruit juice with sugar. When fruit came into season, it was preserved as jam. A copper pot was ideal, because it spread the heat out, rather than allowing it to concentrate in one spot, burning the contents.
Rural families who did a great deal of preserving bought sugar in large sacks. Sugar serves as a preservative when making jams and jellies.
Likewise, pickling was a traditional means of preserving food. In many Eastern European homes, 'sauerkraut' was a common food. Shredded cabbage was put in a crock with salt and mashed with the large pestle.
Curing Meat
People often dried and smoked meat and fish over a fire. Salting raw meat extends the length of time it can be stored safely. Either dry salt, or wet salt in brine, effectively inhibits the growth of certain harmful bacteria.
Canning and Pressure Cooking
There were two basic ways to can food at home: cooking the food in a saucepan and transferring it to sterilized jars; or cooking the food after placing it in jars. Unfortunately, home canning did not always kill the bacteria associated with botulism, especially in non acid foods such as vegetables, meat, and fish.
Glass companies produced many sizes of canning jars. Before the advent of frozen foods, home canning was the main way to preserve fruits and vegetables for winter and spring enjoyment.
During the 1930s, some families began to use canning machines. When the crank was turned, a bead of metal formed, sealing the lid to the sides of the can. Most families, however, continued to use glass jars.
A length of cleaned pig intestine is tied over the nozzle of the stuffer. A mixture of ground meat and spices is forced into the casing. The sausage skin serves as a barrier to contamination, and the meat has been salted to delay spoilage. The sausages were either cooked and eaten right away, or smoked for longer storage.
By raising the boiling point of water, pressure cookers increased the food's temperature, cooking it more quickly. A safety valve released steam when the pressure became too great.
Source: (© 2007- 2012 Canada Agriculture Museum. All rights reserved).