Canned Fruit, Preserves, and Jellies: Household Methods of Preparation Part 5

FRUIT PUReES.

Purees 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 puree 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 quant.i.ty 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 quant.i.ties 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 ma.s.s.

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 quant.i.ties 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 quant.i.ty 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 pa.s.s 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 quant.i.ty 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 3 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 pa.s.s 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 quant.i.ty of added sugar should be a little less than the quant.i.ty 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 ma.s.s to crystallize in time.