Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1892-07-02
PRESERVING BY SUN HEAT.

There is probably no fruit which sub
mits SO well to the canning and preserv
ing processes rs the cherry, which does
not lose its delicious flavor by cooking,
says a household authority. The straw.
berry, of course, is best raw, and Is in its
greatest perfection when freshly picked
and eaten at once. Sill there are many
ways in which it can be cooked and pre-.
served, and If the result gives us some.
thing different from the original frcsh
fruit in flavor 1t is yet very delicious. Ii
you have never tried sun preserving oil
strawberries and cherries it will pay yol
to experiment with it this year, and, II
properly done, you will find 1t one OF
the most delightful ways of putting up
these fruits. 1t preserves them quite as
effectually as cooking over the hre, AMI
much more dellcately, for it gives uone
OF the ranknesS whicl 10 apt to follow
cooking in a heavy syrup. The manner
OF preserving in the sun is as follows;
Stone some of the cherries and put
them on platters or in flat dishes. To
each pint of cherries put a scaut pint OF
graduated susa'. Mix them well BY
putting in first the pint of cherries and
sprinkling the sugar over. Let them
stand over night, and by morning the
sugar will have extracted much of the
juice. If they seem not to be very juicy
in the morning set each platter in tho
oven for a few minutes only, or on
warm place above the stove, until the
juice has com out freely. Then set the
platter in the suu-in the hottest place
you can finland put either glass OF
some sort Of very thin netting over them.
In from a day aud a half TO two days the
syrup will thicken and the fruit will be.
come semi-transparent. Put cold into
jars aud close them and the cherries are
ready for winter use. No heating i.
necessary, but it is n little better to put
into self,sealing jars than into open ones,
merely to keep the fruit from drying.
Sun-preserved strawberrie; are done in
exactly the same manner, and is by far
the best way to preserve the flavor of the
berry.
For canning cherries the best way is
to sweeten them but Slightly, cook for a
few minutes and then put them IN air.
tight jars. They are very easily kept,
and the flavor is retained better If only a
little sugar is put in. When the cans
arc opened in the winter they can be
sweetenei to taste. Strawberries are
more difficult to keep and require more
sugar. The proportion for canning
should be half as much sugar as berries.
They should be cooked only until they
are thoroughly heated through, then put
into the jars as carefully as possible.
They will lose their shape, in spite OF
care, but will retain their color if mol
cooked too much.
Another way to treat strawberries,
which is somewhat more Troublesome,
but has good results. is to put the Der.
rics and sugar in the jars, set them in
cold water and heat gradually until they
are heated through. Then seal the Jars.
This way takes more time, but the
shape OF the berry is retained better than
when they are cooked III a preserving
kettle. Still another excellent way is
to stem the berries, put the sugar on
them aud let them stand over night. In
the morning pour OFT the Juice and
melted su gar, boi, it down a little, and,
while boiling, drop the berries in just
long enough to heat them. Then put
them in Jars aud seal. This gives a
very pretty transparency to the berries.
New YORK Recorder.