storeroom and collected
some jars, you are now ready for the actual work of canning.

It is rather unfortunate that strawberries should be one of the very
hardest products to can with good results. The canning itself is
simple--all berries are quickly and easily canned--but strawberries
always shrink, are apt to turn a little brown, and, what distresses us
most of all, they float to the top of the jar.

The berry's tendency to shrink is responsible for loss of color as
well as its floating qualities. However, if you will be exceedingly
careful to remove the berries from the canner the minute the clock
says the sterilizing period is over, you will have a fairly good
product. Two minutes too long will produce a very dark, shrunken
berry. So be careful of the cooking time. Another thing that makes a
good-looking jar is to pack a quart of berries--all kinds of berries,
not merely strawberries--into a pint jar. If you will get that many in
you will have a much better-looking jar, with very little liquid at
the bottom. It does not hurt the berries at all to gently press down
on them with a silver spoon while you are packing them into the jar.

We know we are going to get a quart of berries into every pint jar,
so we know just how many quarts of berries we will need to fill the
necessary jars for the next winter's use.

The first thing to do is to test each jar to see that there are no
cracks, no rough edges to cut the rubber, and to see whether the cover
and clamp fit tightly, if a clamp type of jar is used. The bail that
clamps down the glass tops should go down with a good spring. If it
does not, remove the bail and bend it into shape by taking it in both
hands and pressing down in the middle with both thumbs. Do not bend it
too hard, for if it goes down with too much of a snap it will break
the jar. This testing of the bails should be done every year. The
bails on new jars are sometimes too tight, in which case remove the
bail and spread it out. After the bail has been readjusted, test it
again. The chances are it will be just right. Of course all this
testing takes time, but it pays.

If you are using some old Mason jars put a rubber on each jar, fill
the jar with hot water, and then put the cover on tight and invert.
This is a sure test for leakage. Never use a Mason cap twice unless
the cover and collar are separate so that both can be completely
sterilized. Fortunately the old-fashioned Mason jar metal cover to
w