CANNED FRUIT, PRESERVES, AND JELLIES: HOUSEHOLD METHODS OF PREPARATION TEXT

cook. It should be so tender that it may be pierced easily with a silver fork. It is best to put only one layer of fruit in the preserving kettle. While this is cooking the fruit for the next batch may be pared. PEARS. If the fruit is ripe it may be treated exactly the same as peaches. If, on the other hand, it is rather hard it must be cooked until so tender that a silver fork will pierce it readily. QUINCES. 4 quarts of pared, cored, and quartered quinces. 1½ quarts of sugar. 2 quarts of water. Rub the fruit hard with a coarse, crash towel, then wash and drain. Pare, quarter, and core; drop the pieces into cold water (see p. 13). Put the fruit in the preserving kettle with cold water to cover it generously. Heat slowly and simmer gently until tender. The pieces will not all require the same time to cook. Take each piece up as soon as it is so tender that a silver fork will pierce it readily. Drain on a platter. Strain the water in which the fruit was cooked through cheese cloth. Put two quarts of the strained liquid and the sugar into the preserving kettle; stir over the fire until the sugar is dissolved. When it boils skim well and put in the cooked fruit. Boil gently for about twenty minutes. CRAB APPLES. 6 quarts of apples. 1½ quarts of sugar. 2 quarts of water. Put the sugar and water into the preserving kettle. Stir over the fire until the sugar is dissolved. When the sirup boils skim it. Wash the fruit, rubbing the blossom end well. Put it in the boiling sirup, and cook gently until tender. It will take from twenty to fifty minutes, depending upon the kind of crab apples. PLUMS. 8 quarts of plums. 2 quarts of sugar. 1 pint of water. Nearly all kinds of plums can be cooked with the skins on. If it is desired to remove the skin of any variety, plunge them in boiling water for a few minutes. When the skins are left on, prick them thoroughly to prevent bursting. (See fruit pricker, p. 10.) Put the sugar and water into the preserving kettle and stir over the fire until the sugar is dissolved. Wash and drain the plums. Put some of the fruit in the boiling sirup. Do not crowd it. Cook five minutes; fill and seal the jars. Put more fruit in the sirup. Continue in this manner until all the fruit is done. It may be that there will not be sufficient sirup toward the latter part of the work; for this reason it is well to have a little extra sirup on the back of the stove. STEWED TOMATOES. Wash the tomatoes and plunge into boiling water for five minutes. Pare and slice, and then put into the preserving kettle; set the kettle on an iron ring. Heat the tomatoes slowly, stirring frequently from the bottom. Boil for thirty minutes, counting from the time the vegetable begins actually to boil. Put in sterilized jars and seal. WHOLE TOMATOES. 8 quarts of medium-sized tomatoes. 4 quarts of sliced tomatoes. Put the pared and sliced tomatoes into a stewpan and cook as directed for stewed tomatoes. When they have been boiling twenty minutes take from the fire and rub through a strainer. Return to the fire. While the sliced tomatoes are cooking, pare the whole tomatoes and put them in sterilized jars. Pour into the jars enough of the stewed and strained tomato to fill all the interstices. Put the uncovered jars in a moderate oven, placing them on a pad of asbestos or in shallow pans of hot water. Let the vegetable cook in the oven for half an hour. Take from the oven and fill to overflowing with boiling hot, strained tomato, then seal. If there is any of the strained tomato left, can it for sauces. CANNED FRUIT COOKED IN THE OVEN. This method of canning fruit, in the opinion of the writer, is the one to be preferred. The work is easily and quickly done, and the fruit retains its shape, color, and flavor better than when cooked in the preserving kettle. Cover the bottom of the oven with a sheet of asbestos, the kind plumbers employ in covering pipes. It is very cheap and may usually be found at plumbers' shops. If the asbestos is not available, put into the oven shallow pans in which there are about two inches of boiling water. Sterilize the jars and utensils. Make the sirup; prepare the fruit the same as for cooking in the preserving kettle. Fill the hot jars with it, and pour in enough sirup to fill the jar solidly. Run the blade of a silver-plated knife around the inside of the jar. Place the jars in the oven, either on the asbestos or in the pan of water. The oven should be moderately hot. Cook the fruit ten minutes; remove from the oven and fill the jar with boiling sirup. Wipe and seal. Place the jars on a board and out of a draft of air. If the screw covers are used tighten them after the glass has cooled. Large fruits, such as peaches, pears, quinces, crab apples, etc., will require about a pint of sirup to each quart jar of fruit. The small fruit will require a little over half a pint of sirup. The amount of sugar in each quart of sirup should be regulated to suit the fruit with which it is to be used. The data on page 14 will be a guide. The quantities given will not make the fruit very sweet. The quantity of sugar may be increased or diminished to suit the taste. CANNED FRUIT COOKED IN A WATER BATH. Prepare the fruit and sirup as for cooking in the oven. Fill the sterilized jars and put the covers on loosely. Have a wooden rack in the bottom of a wash boiler (see p. 10). Put in enough warm water to come to about 4 inches above the rack. Place the filled jars in the boiler, but do not let them touch one another. Pack clean white cotton rags, or perhaps better, cotton rope, between and around the jars to prevent them from striking one another when the water begins to boil. Cover the boiler and let the fruit cook ten minutes from the time the water surrounding it begins to boil. Draw the boiler back and take off the cover. When the steam passes off take out one jar at a time and place in a pan of boiling water beside the boiler, fill up with boiling sirup, and seal. Put the jars on a board and do not let cold air blow upon them. If screw covers are used tighten them when the glass has cooled and contracted. PRESERVING FRUIT. In the case of most fruits, canning with a little sugar is to be preferred to preserving with a large quantity of sugar. There are, however, some fruits that are only good when preserved with a good deal of sugar. Of course, such preparations of fruit are only desirable for occasional use. The fruits best adapted for preserving are strawberries, sour cherries, sour plums, and quinces. Such rich preparations should be put up in small jars or tumblers. STRAWBERRIES. Use equal weights of sugar and strawberries. Put the strawberries in the preserving kettle in layers, sprinkling sugar over each layer. The fruit and sugar should not be more than 4 inches deep. Place the kettle on the stove and heat the fruit and sugar slowly to the boiling point. When it begins to boil skim carefully. Boil ten minutes, counting from the time the fruit begins to bubble. Pour the cooked fruit into platters, having it about 2 or 3 inches deep. Place the platters in a sunny window, in an unused room, for three or four days. In that time the fruit will grow plump and firm, and the sirup will thicken almost to a jelly. Put this preserve, cold, into jars or tumblers. WHITE CURRANTS. Select large, firm fruit, remove the stems, and proceed as for strawberries. CHERRIES. The sour cherries, such as Early Richmond and Montmorency, are best for this preserve. Remove the stems and stones from the cherries and proceed as for strawberry preserve. CHERRIES PRESERVED WITH CURRANT JUICE. 12 quarts of cherries. 3 quarts of currants. 2 quarts of sugar. Put the currants in the preserving kettle and on the fire. When they boil up crush them and strain through cheese cloth, pressing out all the juice. Stem and stone the cherries, being careful to save all the juice. Put the cherries, fruit juice, and sugar in the preserving kettle. Heat to the boiling point and skim carefully. Boil for twenty minutes. Put in sterilized jars or tumblers. This gives an acid preserve. The sugar may be doubled if richer preserves are desired. PLUM PRESERVE. 4 quarts of green gages. 2 quarts of sugar. 1 pint of water. Prick the fruit and put it in a preserving kettle. Cover generously with cold water. Heat to the boiling point and boil gently for five minutes. Drain well. Put the sugar and water in a preserving kettle and stir over the fire until the sugar is dissolved. Boil five minutes, skimming well. Put the drained green gages in this sirup and cook gently for twenty minutes. Put in sterilized jars. Other plums may be preserved in the same manner. The skins should be removed from white plums. QUINCES. 4 quarts of pared, quartered, and cored quinces. 2 quarts of sugar. 1 quart of water. Boil the fruit in clear water until it is tender, then skim out and drain. Put the 2 quarts of sugar and 1 quart of water in the preserving kettle; stir until the sugar is dissolved. Let it heat slowly to the boiling point. Skim well and boil for twenty minutes. Pour one-half of the sirup into a second kettle. Put one-half of the cooked and drained fruit into each kettle. Simmer gently for half an hour, then put in sterilized jars. The water in which the fruit was boiled can be used with the parings, cores, and gnarly fruit to make jelly. FRUIT PURÉES. Purées of fruit are in the nature of marmalades, but they are not cooked so long, and so retain more of the natural flavor of the fruit. This is a particularly nice way to preserve the small, seedy fruits, which are to be used in puddings, cake, and frozen desserts. Free the fruit from leaves, stems, and decayed portions. Peaches and plums should have the skins and stones removed. Rub the fruit through a purée sieve. To each quart of the strained fruit add a pint of sugar. Pack in sterilized jars. Put the covers loosely on the jars. Place the jars on the rack in the boiler. Pour in enough cold water to come half way up the sides of the jars. Heat gradually to the boiling point and boil thirty minutes, counting from the time when the water begins to bubble. Have some boiling sirup ready. As each jar is taken from the boiler put it in a pan of hot water and fill up with the hot sirup. Seal at once. MARMALADES. Marmalades require great care while cooking because no moisture is added to the fruit and sugar. If the marmalade is made from berries the fruit should be rubbed through a sieve to remove the seeds. If large fruit is used have it washed, pared, cored, and quartered. Measure the fruit and sugar, allowing one pint of sugar to each quart of fruit. Rinse the preserving kettle with cold water that there may be a slight coat of moisture on the sides and bottom. Put alternate layers of fruit and sugar in the kettle, having the first layer fruit. Heat slowly, stirring frequently. While stirring, break up the fruit as much as possible. Cook about two hours, then put in small sterilized jars. FRUIT PRESERVED IN GRAPE JUICE. Any kind of fruit can be preserved by this method, but it is particularly good for apples, pears, and sweet plums. No sugar need be used in this process. Boil 6 quarts of grape juice in an open preserving kettle, until it is reduced to 4 quarts. Have the fruit washed and pared, and, if apples or pears, quartered and cored. Put the prepared fruit in a preserving kettle and cover generously with the boiled grape juice. Boil gently until the fruit is clear and tender, then put in sterilized jars. BOILED CIDER. When the apple crop is abundant and a large quantity of cider is made, the housekeeper will find it to her advantage to put up a generous supply of boiled cider. Such cider greatly improves mince-meat, and can be used at any time of the year to make cider apple sauce. It is also a good selling article. The cider for boiling must be perfectly fresh and sweet. Put it in a large, open preserving kettle and boil until it is reduced one-half. Skim frequently while boiling. Do not have the kettle more than two-thirds full. Put in bottles or stone jugs. CIDER APPLE SAUCE. 5 quarts of boiled cider. 8 quarts of pared, quartered, and cored sweet apples. Put the fruit in a large preserving kettle and cover with the boiled cider. Cook slowly until the apples are clear and tender. To prevent burning, place the kettle on an iron tripod or ring. It will require from two to three hours to cook the apples. If you find it necessary to stir the sauce be careful to break the apples as little as possible. When the sauce is cooked, put in sterilized jars. In the late spring, when cooking apples have lost much of their flavor and acidity, an appetizing sauce may be made by stewing them with diluted boiled cider, using 1 cupful of cider to 3 of water. CIDER PEAR SAUCE. Cooking pears may be preserved in boiled cider the same as sweet apples. If one prefers the sauce less sour, 1 pint of sugar may be added to each quart of boiled cider. METHODS OF MAKING JELLY. In no department of preserving does the housekeeper feel less sure of the result than in jelly making. The rule that works perfectly one time fails another time. Why this is so the average housekeeper does not know; so there is nearly always an element of uncertainty as to the result of the work. These two questions are being constantly asked: "Why does not my jelly harden?" "What causes my jelly to candy?" It is an easy matter to say that there is something in the condition of the fruit, or that the fruit juice and sugar were cooked too short or too long a time. These explanations are often true; but they do not help the inquirer, since at other times just that proportion of sugar and time of cooking have given perfect jelly. In the following pages an attempt is made to give a clear explanation of the principles underlying the process of jelly making. It is believed that the women who study this carefully will find the key to unvarying success in this branch of preserving. PECTIN, PECTOSE, PECTASE. In all fruits, when ripe or nearly so, there is found pectin, a carbohydrate somewhat similar in its properties to starch. It is because of this substance in the fruit juice that we are able to make jelly. When equal quantities of sugar and fruit juice are combined and the mixture is heated to the boiling point for a short time, the pectin in the fruit gelatinizes the mass. It is important that the jelly maker should understand when this gelatinizing agent is at its best. Pectose and pectase always exist in the unripe fruit. As the fruit ripens the pectase acts upon the pectose, which is insoluble in water, converting it into pectin, which is soluble. Pectin is at its best when the fruit is just ripe or a little before. If the juice ferments, or the cooking of the jelly is continued too long, the pectin undergoes a change and loses its power of gelatinizing. It is, therefore, of the greatest importance that the fruit should be fresh, just ripe or a little underripe, and that the boiling of the sugar and juice should not be continued too long. Fruits vary as to the quantities of sugar, acid, pectin, and gums in their composition. Some of the sour fruits contain more sugar than do some of the milder-flavored fruits. Currants, for example, often contain four or five times as much sugar as the peach. The peach does not contain so much free acid and it does contain a great deal of pectin bodies, which mask the acid; hence, the comparative sweetness of the ripe fruit. SELECTION AND HANDLING OF FRUIT FOR JELLY MAKING. An acid fruit is the most suitable for jelly making, though in some of the acid fruits, the strawberry, for example, the quantity of the jelly-making pectin is so small that it is difficult to make jelly with this fruit. If, however, some currant juice be added to the strawberry juice a pleasant jelly will be the result; yet, of course, the flavor of the strawberry will be modified. Here is a list of the most desirable fruits for jelly making. The very best are given first: Currant, crab apple, apple, quince, grape, blackberry, raspberry, peach. Apples make a very mild jelly, and it may be flavored with fruits, flowers, or spices. If the apples are acid it is not advisable to use any flavor. Juicy fruits, such as currants, raspberries, etc., should not be gathered after a rain, for they will have absorbed so much water as to make it difficult, without excessive boiling, to get the juice to jelly. If berries are sandy or dusty it will be necessary to wash them, but the work should be done very quickly so that the fruit may not absorb much water. (See washing fruit, p. 13.) Large fruits, such as apples, peaches, and pears, must be boiled in water until soft. The strained liquid will contain the flavoring matter and pectin. It requires more work and skill to make jellies from the fruits to which water must be added than from the juicy fruits. If the juicy fruits are gathered at the proper time one may be nearly sure that they contain the right proportion of water. If gathered after a rain the fruit must be boiled a little longer that the superfluous water may pass off in steam. In the case of the large fruits a fair estimate is 3 quarts of strained juice from 8 quarts of fruit and about 4 quarts of water. If the quantity of juice is greater than this it should be boiled down to 3 quarts. Apples will always require 4 quarts of water to 8 quarts of fruit, but juicy peaches and plums will require only 3 or 3½ quarts. The jelly will be clearer and finer if the fruit is simmered gently and not stirred during the cooking. It is always best to strain the juice first through cheese cloth and without pressure. If the cloth is double the juice will be quite clear. When a very clear jelly is desired the strained juice should pass through a flannel or felt bag. The juice may be pressed from the fruit left in the strainer and used in marmalade or for a second-quality jelly. To make jelly that will not crystallize (candy) the right proportion of sugar must be added to the fruit juice. If the fruit contains a high percentage of sugar, the quantity of added sugar should be a little less than the quantity of fruit juice. That is to say, in a season when there has been a great deal of heat and sunshine there will be more sugar in the fruit than in a cold, wet season; consequently, 1 pint of currant juice will require but three-quarters of a pint of sugar. But in a cold, wet season the pint of sugar for the pint of juice must be measured generously. Another cause of the jelly crystallizing is hard boiling. When the sirup boils so rapidly that particles of it are thrown on the upper part of the sides of the preserving kettle they often form crystals. If these crystals are stirred into the sirup they are apt to cause the mass to crystallize in time. The use of the sirup gauge and care not to boil the sirup too violently would do away with all uncertainty in jelly making. The sirup gauge should register 25°, no matter what kind of fruit is used. (See p. 15.) Jellies should be covered closely and kept in a cool, dry, dark place. CURRANT JELLY. The simplest method of making currant jelly is perhaps the following: Free the currants from leaves and large stems. Put them in the preserving kettle; crush a few with a wooden vegetable masher or spoon; heat slowly, stirring frequently. When the currants are hot, crush them with the vegetable masher. Put a hair sieve or strainer over a large bowl; over this spread a double square of cheese cloth. Turn the crushed fruit and juice into the cheese cloth, and let it drain as long as it drips, but do not use pressure. To hasten the process take the corners of the straining cloth firmly in