The Weekly Kansas chief. [volume] (Troy, Kan.) 1872-1918, 1880-08-05
Msefal aud Curious.
ON MAKING PRESERVES.
Tho Modern Method-Care 20 be Taken I'm
Placing Preserves I'm Jars.

To modern invention is entirely due the ease
with which fruits can be preserved 1t does not
at all lie as much with the method of preparation
as with the character of the jars. If the recep-
taele in which the most delicate fruits is kept
eau ONLY be made air-tight, then the method OF
preserving food, whether it be fruit or meal, is
accomplished. So true is this that, providing
there be only a small quantity of some antiseptle
substance-sugar or salt-placed with perishable
material, and there be perfect vacuum IN the
vessel containing it, and no possible contact with
the outer air, such material Theoretically, ought
10 keep decOmposed forever. Those OF us who
remember how the preserves of our mothers were
made can recall the trouble they gave, and how
uncertain were the results. Fruit always requl-
red very large, quantity of sugar and had to be
cooked for q long time. Then came the hlnng
into jars, the layer of brown paper on top soaked
IN brandy, and finally the last cover OF strong
paper tied on top. Mons GroRs change tout celia.
Still, the preparation of fruit requires some care.
The use of a porcelain kettle for preserving pur-
poses should always be preferred With very
sweet fruit a copper or bell-metal vessel may be
used; but if the fruit is acid-and there is always
malie and citric acid present-there is invariably
some slight solution Of copper in preserves,
which, though possibly harmless, may as well be
omitted. The utmost care should be exercised
in the selection of the fruit. 1t is often said by
housekeepers, ''when berries are very cheap then
i viii put them up' but the cheapest are by no
means the best Bruised fruit can never yield
the fragrance which perfect berries or fruit alone
can give. As a general rule, with the admirable
coDtriyances in the way of jars which can DE had
anywhere, il is better to have the fruit as near
as possible in its natural cOnditiOn-or IN other
words, not 10 cook it too much OF course, with
jams, IL is different: they may be subjected TO
thorough cooking, but when strawberries or
raspberries are to be preserved whole, II proper
care be taken, the chance of their spelling, even
when hardly cooked at al is very slight over
sugaring is quite great defect as Overlooking
Pound for pound of sugar to fruit is hardly
good rule to go by, because fruit differs 80 en-
N nprlane.
currants, for almost all other fruits the preserve
made by the pound-for-pOund proportion be-
comes cloying. In large factories, where
business is made Of preserving fruits and where,
in hrst-elass establishments, admirable products
are turned out, the quantity of sugar used is
very small. There is, in fact, no art at all in
making n sugary mess which has no flavor of
fruit. A fair rule in preserving sliced or whole
fruit is to make syrup of one and one-half
pounds of sugar to one of water, which in volume
should he about once and half more than that
OF the fruit. Some very good authorities give
two pounds Of sugar to one pound Of water, but
from experiment the quantity we state has been
found quite sufficient. When fruit which is
white and clear in color is wanted as preserve,
such as ounces or pears, the whole operation
mnst be carried on as rapidly possible. Every
thing must be ready. Just soon as the fruit
is pared or sliced it must at once be cooked. The
reasons are quite manifest If an apple or pOta-
to is sliced and exposed TO the air il darkens, a
real process of oxidation going on, and the nat
bpoutu
To place preserve properly in glass jar (of
course We mean those with the most improved
tops, which preclude the air from entering) re-
quires a little Judgment. A great many pres
eryes are lost every year from want of this knOwl
edge. The whole principle of preserving food
depends upon creating q vacuum in the vessel
not that the vacuum does anything, but because
a vacuum being produced we are absolutely GER
tain that a minimum of air is present, and that
the germs of fermentation are not present. Mold
is q fungoid growth, and Pasteur explains how
it is one of the elements which produce fermen-
tation. For this reason, the contents put in a
jar can not be too hot. A very easy method of do
ing this is to place the clean jars when empty, in
n vessel of water, which is kept on the full boil
while the fruit is introduced into these jars from
the preserving kettle To take the hot fruit from
one vessel to the other without this precaution
is to run the risk. Take out the jars from the
boiling water containing the preserve just as
rapidly as possibly, and when it is piping hot
screw on the lid. A kind of wooden longs COW
cred with cork, and sold in shops, may be found
useful. In some books the statement is made
that n ernst of mold found on the top of a pre-
serve does no harm, as it can be removed. MOldy
preserves are not always ruined, it is true, but it
is the sign of q defective process, mostly giving
more or less of a bad taste to the fruit As to
the economy of putting up preserves at home,
which question has been asked us, we should re-
ply that to those who live in cities, the cost of
homemade preserves may be greater than when
they are bought; but home preserves are gener-
ally much better than those purchased in the
shops. Of late years there can be no doubt that
a great deal of glucose cutters into the manufac-
ture of the second-class preseryes.-N. 7. Times.