Canned Fruit, Preserves, and Jellies: Household Methods of Preparation Part 6

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 the hands and lift from the sieve; move the contents by raising one side of the cloth and then the other. After this put the cloth over another bowl. Twist the ends together and press out as much juice as possible.

This juice may be used to make a second quality of jelly.

The clear juice may be made into jelly at once, or it may be strained through a flannel bag. In any case, the method of making the jelly is the same.

Measure the juice, and put it in a clean preserving kettle. For every pint of juice add a pint of granulated sugar.

Stir until the sugar is dissolved, then place over the fire; watch closely, and when it boils up draw it back and skim; put over the fire again, and boil and skim once more; boil and skim a third time; then pour into hot gla.s.ses taken from the pan of water on the stove and set on a board. Place the board near a sunny window in a room where there is no dust. It is a great protection and advantage to have sheets of gla.s.s to lay on top of the tumblers. As soon as the jelly is set cover by one of the three methods given. (See p. 29.)

To make very transparent currant jelly, heat, crush, and strain the currants as directed in the simplest process. Put the strained juice in the flannel bag and let it drain through. Measure the juice and sugar, pint for pint, and finish as directed above.

To make currant jelly by the cold process follow the first rule for jelly as far as dissolving the sugar in the strained juice. Fill warm, sterilized gla.s.ses with this. Place the gla.s.ses on a board and put the board by a sunny window. Cover with sheets of gla.s.s and keep by the window until the jelly is set. The jelly will be more transparent if the juice is strained through the flannel bag. Jelly made by the cold process is more delicate than that made by boiling, but it does not keep quite so well.

RASPBERRY AND CURRANT JELLY.

Make the same as currant jelly, using half currants and half raspberries.

RASPBERRY JELLY.

Make the same as currant jelly.

BLACKBERRY JELLY.

Make the same as currant jelly.

STRAWBERRY JELLY.

To 10 quarts of strawberries add 2 quarts of currants and proceed as for currant jelly, but boil fifteen minutes.

RIPE-GRAPE JELLY.

An acid grape is best for this jelly. The sweet, ripe grapes contain too much sugar. Half-ripe fruit, or equal portions of nearly ripe and green grapes, will also be found satisfactory. Wild grapes make delicious jelly. Make the same as currant jelly.

GREEN-GRAPE JELLY.

Make the same as apple jelly.

PLUM JELLY.

Use an underripe acid plum. Wash the fruit and remove the stems. Put into the preserving kettle with 1 quart of water for each peck of fruit.

Cook gently until the plums are boiled to pieces. Strain the juice and proceed the same as for currant jelly.

APPLE JELLY.

Wash, stem, and wipe the apples, being careful to clean the blossom end thoroughly. Cut into quarters and put into the preserving kettle. Barely cover with cold water (about 4 quarts of water to 8 of apples) and cook gently until the apples are soft and clear. Strain the juice and proceed as for currant jelly. There should be but 3 quarts of juice from 8 quarts of apples and 4 of water.

Apples vary in the percentage of sugar and acid they contain. A fine-flavored acid apple should be employed when possible. Apple jelly may be made at any time of the year, but winter apples are best and should be used when in their prime, i. e., from the fall to December or January. When it is found necessary to make apple jelly in the spring, add the juice of one lemon to every pint of apple juice.

CIDER APPLE JELLY.

Make the same as plain apple jelly, but covering the apples with cider instead of water. The cider must be fresh from the press.

CRAB-APPLE JELLY.

Make the same as plain apple jelly.

QUINCE JELLY.

Rub the quinces with a coa.r.s.e crash towel; cut out the blossom end. Wash the fruit and pare it and cut in quarters. Cut out the cores, putting them in a dish by themselves. Have a large bowl half full of water; drop the perfect pieces of fruit into this bowl. Put the parings and imperfect parts, cut very fine, into the preserving kettle. Add a quart of water to every 2 quarts of fruit and parings. Put on the fire and cook gently for two hours. Strain and finish the same as apple jelly.

The perfect fruit may be preserved or canned.

To make quince jelly of a second quality, when the parings and fruit are put on to cook put the cores into another kettle and cover them generously with water and cook two hours. After all the juice has been drained from the parings and fruit, put what remains into the preserving kettle with the cores. Mix well and turn into the straining cloth. Press all the juice possible from this mixture. Put the juice in the preserving kettle with a pint of sugar to a pint of juice; boil ten minutes.

WILD FRUITS FOR JELLIES.

Wild raspberries, blackberries, barberries, grapes, and beach plums all make delicious jellies. The frequent failures in making barberry jelly come from the fruit not being fresh or from being overripe.

PREPARATION OF THE GLa.s.sES FOR JELLY.

Sterilize the gla.s.ses; take from the boiling water and set them in a shallow baking pan in which there is about 2 inches of boiling water.

COVERING JELLIES.

Jellies are so rich in sugar that they are protected from bacteria and yeasts, but they must be covered carefully to protect them from mold spores and evaporation. The following methods of covering jellies are all good:

Have disks of thick white paper the size of the top of the gla.s.s. When the jelly is set, brush the top over with brandy or alcohol. Dip a disk of paper in the spirits and put it on the jelly. If the gla.s.ses have covers, put them on. If there are no covers, cut disks of paper about half an inch in diameter larger than the top of the gla.s.s. Beat together the white of one egg and a tablespoonful of cold water. Wet the paper covers with this mixture and put over the gla.s.s, pressing down the sides well to make them stick to the gla.s.s; or the covers may be dipped in olive oil and be tied on the gla.s.ses, but they must be cut a little larger than when the white of egg is used.