# Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management/Chapter XXXVI

From the nature of vegetable substances, and chiefly from their not passing so rapidly into a decomposed state as animal substances, the method of preserving them is somewhat different, although the general principles are the same. All the methods of preservation are put in practice occasionally for fruits and the various parts of vegetables, according to the nature of the species, the climate, the uses to which they are applied, etc. Some are dried, as nuts, raisins, sweet herbs, etc.; others are preserved by means of sugar, as, for example, many fruits whose delicate juices would be lost by drying; some are preserved by means of vinegar, and chiefly used as condiments or pickles; a few also by salting, as French beans; while others are preserved in spirits. We have in this place to treat of the best methods of preserving fruits. Fruit is a most important item in the daily dietary; therefore, when we cannot obtain it fresh, we must have it preserved. It has long been a desideratum to preserve fruits by some cheap method to keep them fit for the various culinary purposes, as making tarts and other similar dishes. The expense of preserving them with sugar is a serious objection. By most home methods, unless sugar is used in considerable quantities, the success is very uncertain, and sugar overpowers and destroys the sub-acid taste so desirable in many fruits; so that the tinned and bottled fresh fruits, now so common, though only introduced of recent years, are a valuable addition to our food. Fruits intended for preservation should be gathered in the morning, in dry weather, with the morning sun upon them if possible; they then have their fullest flavour, and keep in good condition longer than when gathered at any other time. Until fruit can be used, it should be placed in the dairy, an ice-house or a refrigerator. In an ice-house it will remain fresh and plump for several days. Fruit gathered in wet or foggy weather will soon mildew, and be of no service for preserves unless it is used immediately and very thoroughly boiled, when ​it may be made into preserve or jam that will keep, though of course of inferior quality. There is no mistake more common than to suppose that any half-ripe or over-ripe fruit is good enough for jam.
Sugar for Preserving.—Of the various kinds of sugar in common use, the white refined lump is generally sold for preserving, and, indeed, is the only kind admissible for the more delicate kinds of preserves. Coarse brown sugar conceals the flavour of any fruit, and the whiter moist sugar has little sweetening power. Crystallized Demerara makes good preserves, is very sweet, seldom adulterated, and is less expensive than lump sugar, so that for common household preserves it is very suitable. A well-known writer says: "Sugar-candy is the purest form of sugar; white loaf sugar comes next; then the pale, dry, large-grained crystallized sugars; while all the moist sugars are of inferior purity, invariably containing not only water and uncrystallizable sugar, but also mineral and organic compounds. They are not infrequently infested by a small insect, the sugar-mite, many thousands of which have been detected in a single pound of brown sugar." Cane-sugar and grape-sugar, otherwise known as sucrose and glucose, are obtained from various sources. Most of the cane-sugar consumed in England is actually produced from the sugar-cane, but of beet-root sugar there is much in the market, and in America sugar is produced from the maple, from maize, and from the "sugar grass." From a chemical point of view they are the same, and from a culinary one nearly so, though inference in sweetening power and in crystallization undoubtedly affect flavours. Grape-sugar abounds in grapes and in many other fruits, and it may also be manufactured. It does not crystallize as cane-sugar does, and is not nearly so sweet, so that the admixture of grape with cane-sugar is an adulteration greatly to the disadvantage of the purchaser, though in no way unwholesome. Jams made with pure cane-sugar are apt to crystallize, or become granular; to prevent this glucose is added. If only a small proportion is used, it can hardly be considered an adulterant. When a strong solution of sugar is allowed to solidify slowly and undisturbed, it deposits large crystals, such as we see in sugar-candy: if it is agitated the crystals are small, as in loaf sugar. But if the solution is heated up to a certain point it does not crystallize any more, but settles into a solid transparent mass which we know as barley sugar, so called because the old confectioners found that its return to the crystalline condition took place less quickly if boiled in barley water instead of water only. Any acid or mucilaginous matter helps forward the production of this particular form of sugar. When sugar is heated to about 400° F. it decomposes, loses its power of crystallizing and fermenting, and acquires a dark-brown colour and a bitter flavour. This form of sugar is known as caramel; when it is heated beyond this stage it becomes burnt and unfit for use.
Syrup for Preserving.—Having secured the most important contributions to the manufacture of preserves, the fruit and the sugar, the next ​consideration is the preparation of the syrup in which the fruit is to be suspended; and this requires much care. In the confectioner's art there is a great nicety in proportioning the degree of concentration of the syrup very exactly to each particular case; and they know this by signs, and express it in certain technical terms. But to distinguish these properly requires very great attention and considerable experience. The principal thing to be acquainted with is the fact that, in proportion as the syrup is longer boiled, the water contained in it will become evaporated, and its consistency thickened. Great care must be taken in the management of the fire, that the syrup does not boil over, and that the boiling is not carried to such an extent as to burn the sugar. A solution of sugar prepared by dissolving 2 parts of double-refined sugar in 1 of water, and boiling this a little, affords a syrup of the right degree of strength, which neither ferments nor crystallizes. This appears to be the degree called smooth or large thread, by the confectioners. The syrup employed should sometimes be clarified, which is done in the following manner: dissolve 2 lbs. of loaf sugar in 1 pint of water; add to this solution the white of an egg, and beat it well. Put the preserving-pan upon the fire with the solution, stir it with a wooden spatula, and, when it begins to swell and boil up, throw in some cold water to damp the boiling, for, as it rises suddenly, should it boil over it would take fire, being of a very inflammable nature. Let it boil up again; then take it off, and remove carefully the scum that has risen. Boil the solution again, throw in a little more cold water, remove the scum, and so on for 3 or 4 times successively, then strain it. It is considered to be sufficiently boiled when some taken up in a spoon pours out like oil.
Although sugar passes so easily into the state of fermentation, and is, in fact, the only substance capable of undergoing the vinous stage of that process, yet it will not ferment at all if the quantity be sufficient to constitute a very strong syrup; hence, syrups are used to preserve fruits and other vegetable substances from the changes they would undergo if left to themselves. Before sugar was in use, honey was employed to preserve many vegetable productions, but this substance has now given way to the juice of the sugar-cane.
The fruits that are the most fit for preservation in syrup are apricots, peaches, nectarines, apples, greengages, plums of all kinds, and pears. As an example, take some apricots, not too ripe, make a small slit at the stem end, withdraw the stone, simmer them in water until about half cooked, and afterwards throw them into cold water. When they have cooled, take them out and drain them. Put the apricots into the preserving-pan with sufficient syrup to cover them; boil up 3 or 4 times, and then skim well; remove them from the fire, pour them into an earthen pan, and let them cool till next day. Boil them up 3 days successively, skimming each time, and they will soon be finished and in a state fit to be put into pots for use. After each boiling the ​consistency of the syrup should be noted; if too thin, it will bear additional boiling; if too thick, it may be lowered with more syrup of the usual standard. The reason why the fruit is emptied out of the preserving-pan into an earthen pan is, that the acid of the fruit acts upon the copper of which the preserving-pans are usually made. From this example the process of preserving fruits by syrup will be easily comprehended. The first object is to soften the fruit by blanching or boiling it in water, in order that the syrup by which it is preserved may penetrate through its substance.
Fruits Preserved in Syrup.—Any of the fruits that have been preserved in syrup may be converted into dry preserves, by first draining them from the syrup and then drying them in a stove or very moderate oven, adding to them a quantity of powdered loaf sugar, which will gradually penetrate the fruit, while the fluid parts of the syrup gently evaporate. They should be dried in the stove or oven on a sieve, and turned every 6 or 8 hours, fresh powdered sugar being sifted over them each time they are turned. Currants and cherries may be preserved whole in this manner in bunches. Orange and lemon chips are thus preserved. After being thoroughly dried they should be stored in air-tight tins in a cool dry place.
Marmalades and Jams differ little from each other: they are preserves of half liquid consistency, made by boiling the pulp of fruits, and sometimes part of the rinds, with sugar. The term marmalade is applied to those confitures which are composed of the firmer fruits, as pineapples or the rinds of oranges; whereas jams are made of the more juicy berries, such as strawberries, raspberries, currants, mulberries, etc. Jams require the same care and attention in the boiling as marmalade; the slightest degree of burning communicates a disagreeable empyreumatic taste, and if they are not boiled properly they will not keep. Marmalades and jams are now so cheap that they are within reach of the poorest. They can also be bought so good that there is little inducement to make them at home if the fruit has to be bought or is dear. Nevertheless, it must be confessed that they are seldom both cheap and good, so that housekeepers who desire both quality and economy, and are not over-anxious to spare their own trouble, usually prefer them home-made. To make them successfully a properly constructed preserving pan or maslin-kettle is necessary. Formerly these were composed of solid brass or copper, and formed one of the careful housewife's most cherished possessions. They may now be obtained at a comparatively trifling cost in enamelled iron, but the objection to their use is that the syrup boils over more quickly than in a preserving pan made of copper or brass, and moreover it is more apt to burn and stick to the bottom of the pan. A long wooden spoon or stick is necessary. The end to be attained is to boil the juice of the fruit to such a consistency that it will neither ferment nor mildew. Some persons add a little water, others put only the fruit in with the sugar. From ¾ of a lb. ​to 1 lb. of sugar for each lb. of fruit is the usual amount, but ½ a lb. is sometimes enough to preserve the fruit, and if this quantity is sufficient no more should be used, as jam is often unpleasantly sweet with very little flavour of the fruit left. The methods employed vary considerably; sometimes the fruit is boiled a long time and slowly, and the sugar added towards the end of the process; but more frequently the sugar is boiled first with a little water, and the fruit added afterwards and boiled from 20 to 60 minutes.
The latter method is commonly employed in manufactories where time is money, and it certainly preserves the shape, colour, and flavour of the fruit better than the former, which, however, has advantages for some fruits that require long stewing, and for those persons who find it difficult with the means at their disposal to make the jam boil as thoroughly and completely as it readily does in the manufacturer's pans, heated by steam coil or gas to the exact temperature required.
The pots in which the jam is put must be perfectly dry and the cupboard in which they stand neither so warm that the jam ferments, nor damp so that it becomes mouldy. The housekeeper will do well to remember that mould is a plant sowing itself by multitudes of seeds, so small that they penetrate the tiniest crack. It spreads, therefore, readily from one thing to another, and may sometimes lurk unsuspected on the shelves of a cupboard that is not well cleansed and aired. Formerly jam was allowed to become quite cold before being covered, under the erroneous belief that the steam arising from it would, if confined, produce mould. Now jams, jellies, and marmalades of every description are covered as speedily as possible, before the escaping steam loses its power to exclude the air. If air is allowed to enter it may carry with it bacteria which quickly develop into mould, more particularly so when the preserved substances happen to be stored in a warm damp place favourable to the growth of such organisms.
Fruit jellies are compounds of the juice of fruit and sugar, concentrated by boiling to such a consistency that the liquid upon cooling assumes the form of a jelly. But notwithstanding the resemblance in appearance and in name, this jelly, which is known as pectin, is from a chemical and nutritive standpoint entirely different from gelatine. It is closely allied to gum, and has about the same food value as the sugar with which it is boiled.
Candied or Glace and Crystallized Fruits.—Before fruit can be subjected to the final processes by which it is preserved for use in these two forms, it must first be boiled in syrup. The fruit to be candied or iced is dried before the fire or in a cool oven, the syrup in which it was cooked being meanwhile boiled to the "large blow" degree (see p. 1070). When the syrup has cooled a little, the fruit should be dipped into it until thoroughly coated, and then dried, when they will have a transparent coating. Fruit to be crystallized should, immediately on its removal from the syrup, be rolled in crushed loaf sugar and ​afterwards dried. Flowers, such as violets, orange and rose petals, and primroses, may be preserved in this way.
Fruit Pastes consist of the pulp of fruits, first evaporated to a proper consistency, and afterwards boiled with sugar. The mixture is then poured into a mould, or spread on sheets of tin, and subsequently dried in the oven or stove until it has acquired the consistency of a paste. From a sheet of this paste, strips may be cut and formed into any shape that may be desired, as knots, rings, etc. They are now somewhat out of date.
Pickles.—Pickles may now be purchased in such variety and so cheaply that very few, save those who grow vegetables they cannot utilize in any other way, think of preparing them at home. Pickles consist of vegetables and fruits steeped in vinegar previously boiled with spices, to which is frequently added salt and sugar, in quantities varied according to individual taste. The chief pickles are cabbage, cauliflower, chillies, gherkins, onions, and walnuts. Any or all of these, except cabbage, may be mixed; one variety of mixed pickles, highly seasoned with mustard, is well known, and often usefully employed as a dressing for devilled bones, re-heating pork, etc. Indian pickles form a class by themselves; they are generally thick and highly spiced, mangoes forming a general base.
Damsons are more frequently preserved by means of vinegar than other kinds of fruit, but the method is equally applicable to any unripe stone-fruit.
To make pickles successfully, the vegetables or fruit must be perfectly dry, fresh, and not over-ripe.
Adulteration in Pickles.—Sulphuric acid is often present in vinegar in larger amount than the law allows, i.e., 1 part in 1,000, and it is very injurious to health even in small amount. Good vinegar and unadulterated pickles have considerable dietetic value, especially in large towns and in those houses where fresh fruit and vegetables are not obtainable all the year round. Pickles sometimes contain copper, added in order to fix the chlorophyll, or green colouring matter, in the vegetables. Most authorities consider it poisonous; its presence may be detected by a coppery tinge imparted to the silver with which it comes in contact. If available, vinegar should be boiled in an enamelled pan, or, failing this, a stewjar placed in a saucepan of boiling water. If a metal pan must of necessity be used, one made of iron produces the least injurious effects. Fatal results have followed the use of copper vessels for pickling purposes.
Vinegar.—The active principle of vinegar is an acid produced by the secondary fermentation of liquids of vegetable origin. Thus we have vinegar from malt liquors, from wine, cider, date juice, etc. Commercially, the three chief vinegars are derived from malt, wine and wood.
Malt vinegar is obtained by brewing weak wort. To 100 gallons of ​this at 70° F. 4 gallons of yeast are added, and stirred for about 10 minutes. It is then allowed to stand for 2 days, and afterwards put into tubs, covered with canvas and placed in a dark room, which is maintained at a warm even temperature by means of a stove or stoves. The tubs are left thus until the wort is converted into vinegar, the process being usually completed in about 3 weeks, although it can be hastened by adding a small quantity of grape skins or crushed raisins. Vinegar is also produced by inducing long fermentation in poor qualities of wines. Cider can also be converted into vinegar by admitting air into the barrels containing it, and inducing prolonged fermentation. The acid developed during fermentation is known as "acetic," except that derived from the distillation of wood, which is "pyroligenous acid." This latter variety is somewhat deficient in flavour, but it is perfectly wholesome, and being cheap is largely employed by those who make pickles in large quantities.
Store Sauces may be broadly divided into two classes. The first series comprise such well-known liquid sauces as Worcester, ketchup, etc., which have a basis of vinegar and water, while the second class includes tomato, anchovy and other thick sauces.