65. Only the small, young, and tender vegetables included in the third
group lend themselves readily to canning. As a rule, such vegetables are
allowed to mature, when they can be stored for winter use without
canning them. However, many housewives like to can some of them for the
variety they offer in the preparation and planning of meals.
66. BEETS.--For canning, select small, young beets. Prepare them by
cutting off the tops, which may be cooked as greens or canned
separately, and all but about an inch of the stems and an inch of the
roots. Scrub the trimmed beets well, and then blanch them in boiling
water for 5 to 15 minutes or until the skins may be easily scraped off
with a knife. Plunge them quickly into cold water and draw them out
again. Then scrape off the skins and remove the roots and stems. The
roots and stems are left on during the blanching and cold-dipping to
prevent them from bleeding, or losing color. When thus prepared, pack
the beets into jars, add 1 teaspoonful of salt to each jarful, and fill
the jars with boiling water. Then adjust the jar tops and proceed to
sterilize and cook the jars of beets according to the directions for any
preferred method. In the water bath, cook them for 1-1/2 hours; in the
pressure cooker, cook them for 1 hour at a pressure of 5 pounds or for
40 minutes at a pressure of 10 pounds.
67. CARROTS, PARSNIPS, AND TURNIPS.--Young parsnips and turnips are
canned in exactly the same way as young carrots. Therefore, directions
for the canning of carrots will suffice for all three of these
vegetables. Prepare the carrots for canning by cutting off the tops and
the roots and scrubbing them well. Blanch them for 10 to 15 minutes in
boiling water, so that the skins may be easily removed, and cold-dip
them. Then remove the skins by scraping, pack the carrots into the jars,
add 1 teaspoonful of salt to each jarful, and fill the jars with boiling
water. Adjust the jar tops next, and proceed to sterilize and cook the
jars of carrots according to the method selected. In the water bath,
cook for 1-1/2 hours; in the pressure cooker, cook for 1 hour at a
pressure of 5 pounds or for 40 minutes at a pressure of 10 pounds.