Huntsville gazette., 1883-06-02
Apple Jelly.

In the manufacture of jelly, or ''iell'
as it is called at the factories, the first
requisite is a good cider mill run either
by steam or water power. Of course a
horsepower will do for manufactur-
ing in small way; but, to make the
business profitable, enough cider should
be made per day to Keep an evaporator
at work, and an eighteen feet eyapora-
tor will reduce about thirty barrels of
cider to jelly in twenty-four hours, and
during the season, which is short, the
process should be carried on night and
day. All the cider which is pressed out
during the day should be evaporated
during the day and night, for the least
fermentation Of the cider renders it alb
! solHtely worthless for the manufacture
of Jelly. The cider as it is expressed
falls into a vat beneath the press. If
this vat is higher than the evaporator
the cider can be conducted from it
through small pipe to the evaporator;
but if the evaporator is higher than the
vat the liquid must be pumped up into
a holder, from which it is conveyed as
before mentioned. 1t is more conven-
lent, where practicable, to have the
building containing the eyaporatOr
stand upon lower ground than the one
containing the mill and presses, because
gravitation will then take the place of
the pump, and is much cheaper.
Apples to make good jelly must be
free from rot, and, of course, should
be clean. The cider must be filtered
through cloths while pressing; that is,
the 'fcheese = is made up of several
layers of crushed apples separated by
pieces of canvass. This removes all
the fine particles of pomace, and pre-
vents them from acting on the cider
when they are liable to generate fer
mentation. A few rotten apples will
greatly impair the flavor of the jelly
and give it sticky consistency. Fer
mentation about the crater, vats,
presses, racks, cloths, or pipes has the
same effect. Therefore everything
should be kept sweet and clean. The
flavor of the Jelly will correspond to
that of the apples used. Ii a sweet
jelly is desired, It should be made from
sweet apples; if medium, then sweet
and sour fruit should be mixed together.
If all sour apples are used the Jelly will
be very tart, though many consumers
prefer it so. The finest flavor, and one
that suits the majority of people, is
produced by mixing about one-third
very sweet with two-thirds Of very sour
apples. 1t gives a jelly that mas char
acter. 1t is like pie made from sour
apples with plenty of sugar; not liable
to that insipidity which would result
from using fruit that lacked decided
character.
The factory we visited in Vermont
last fall was a small affair run by water
power. The product of cider per day
was thirty barrels from three hundred
bushels of apples. The evaporator was
the same as those used for evaporating
sap and sorghum juice, only it was cop
per lined; it cost ninety dollars. The
help employed was man and boy to
work the mill and press, and one man
at the evaporator The price paid for
apples was ten cents per bushel, or
thirty dollars for one day supply. The
product Of jelly per day was fifteen
hundred pounds, and the price at the
factory was seven cents per pound 1t
was put up in small boxes, each hold
ing six and one-half pounds, and the
packages cost FIVE or six cents each.
We leave it for our readers to figure out
the profit of the days work, which GER
tainly ought to be very satisfactory to the
manufacturers. A jelly factory should
be centrally located in an apple region,
and if near railway it will be all the
more convenient to ship the product.
We were told at the Halifax factory
that they found no trouble in disposing
of all they could make, and that the
consumption Of the article was rapidly
increasing as its value becomes known.
1t will keep for an indefinite period ir
an open vessel. We purchased fifty
pounds at the factory for our own us i,
and the only change it has undergone
is that it is nearly used up. much to our