Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1897-09-09
HOW TO CAN FRUIT.
As Easy to Preserve Natural Fnavo.

as to Produce Waterx Stew.
Although canning is the commonest
and easiest method of putting up fruit
for winter use, there is great need of
John-the-Baptist sort of reform to
show the majority of housewives how
little of it comes anywhere near being
as good as it might be, or as that which
| is put up at first class factories.
Now, there isn't any mystery about
canning fruit. 1t is plain cause and
effect every time, and it is just as easy
to have it delicate and natural-fiavored
| as it is to have an insipid, watery stew
| or a sort of half-made form that is sick
| eningly sweet.
To begin with. it won't do to use
half-grown, green or dead-ripe fruit,
| nor coffee sugar. nor tin dishes and iron
spoons. The fruit must be large, ripe
and fresh; the cans sound and sweet.
| and the rubbers soft; and every vessel,
! ladle and spoon must be porcelain
| lined, agate or of some metal that is
proof against the acid in fruit juice.
Pare and core fruits with a silver
| knife for the last-named reason. and
| take off as thin a pairing as possible, be-
| cause the richest part lies close to the
skin.
Plums and prunes are richer if the
| skins are left on, or else they should be
scalded and then quickly plunged into
| ,old water to loosen them. Scalding is
| apt to soften peaches before it loosens
| the skin. so it is better to pare them
| Strawberries should be washed be-
fore they are stemmed, and then only
few at a time, and put them in
| colander or soup strainer, SO the water
| cannot stand on them.
More sugar should be used for straw
| berries than for raspberries and buckle
| berries. Cherries, piums and pears
need about a teacupful of sugar for
| pint can, and peaches a quarter of
cup less. Granulated sugar should al
ways be used.
Now comes the most important Oper-
| alton of all-namely, the cooking and
why SO many women who make de-
| licious coffee and know that the choic-
est mixture is no better than Rio and
| peas if half it's aroma is lost in steam
will persist in boiling fruit in an open
vessel and wasting its delicate natural
| flavor when it is just as easily and
| quickly cooked in the cans, is beyond
| me.
| The latter is no new-fangled unre-
|
| canning factories. Indeed, it is the
very foundation of their success, and
| the one and only reason why they can
make inferior fruit equal the choicest
| kinds put up in the ordinary way of
| home canning.
| Don't stick in the old rut any longer
| Test the two methods side by side. and
| prove my words true.
| Put the fruit in the cans as fast as
it is prepared. and Immediately fill with
sirup to the neck. Put on the covers
| the former. Use fiat-bottomed kettle
| or a clothes boiler to cook them in:
| put few Stats of wood across the bot
tom, or, better yet, have a wire rack
| or board fitted to the bottom, bored
| thick with augur holes; fill the vessel
| with warm water to the necks of the
| jars, cover closely and bring to boil.
Ten minutes is long enough to boil ber-
| ries; peaches need Is or 20, according
to their ripeness, and other fruits ac-
eordingly. There can be no definite
rule. Cook until you can easily run a
fork into the fruit. A little experience
will teach you how much the sirup soft
ems them in cooling, etc. Better, by all
odds, to cook too little than too much
Take can out on to hot plate; fill to
| Oyerfowing with boiling water and
screw down the cover. Tighten the lat
ter now. and as it cools be sure to keep
| in dark closet.-St. Louis Post-Dis.
| patch.