The gazette-times. [volume] (Heppner, Or.) 1912-1925, 1915-09-02
WATERMELON SYRUP
CAN Be MADE AT HOME
Department Specialists Work Out
Method of Utilizing Surplus
Watermelons-Produ De-
Iicious Table Syrup.

A delicious table syrup can be
made from watermelons and it af-
fords to the farmer, according to the
fruit-juice specialists of the Depart
ment of Agriculture, convenient
means of using the surplus water
melons which otherwise are allowed
to spoil in the field. Such sirup has
been made by farmers in small way
in various parts of the South, and the
department endeavored to work out
exact methods of making it as a pos
sible by-product from surplus mek
ons. This sirup can be used immed-
lately or can be bottled hot in ster-
ilized jars and kept just as is done
| in the canning of fruit 1t is red
dish brown in color, very sweet and
we'll favored, and will serve most of
the purposes for which sirup is used
in the home. 1t has been tried with
satisfactory results in making gin
ger cake, homemade candy and as
sweetening and fiavoring in ice
cream.
AS the specialists point out, while
the juice of commercial watermelons,
such as the Tom Watson" contain
on an average only about per cent
of sugar, or less than many other
fruit juices, the ease with which the
juice can be pressed out partly off
sets the low sugar content. The me-
thod described below calls only for
utensils found in every household.
Directions for making watermelon
table sirup: Remove the pink flesh
and seeds from the rind of sweet, full
ly ripe melons. Crush the flesh with
Ia potato masher or by running 1t
through meat chopper. Place the
crushed pulp and seed in cloth bags
and squeeze out the juice, which
flows out readily. About five-sixths
of the pulp will squeeze out as Juice.
About 13 gallons of this juice will
make one gallon of sirup. This
amount of juice can ordinarily be Sc
cured from 10 watermelons weigh,
ing from % to rs pounds each.
The juice is then boiled down into
sirup in an ordinary preserving
kettle. The juice boils without much
foaming until 1t begins to thicken,
when the fire should be slackened to
prevent foaming and burning. The
red coloring matter in the juice CO.
agulates during boiling, and part of
of 1t rises to the surface, where 1t
can be removed by skimming. The
remainder floats about in the juice,
forming red particles which gather
near the top. Toward the last of the
boiling the sirup must be watched
constantly. If the housewife has a
candy thermometer, she should take
the sirup from the fire as soon as it |
reaches a temperature of 220 degrees
F., otherwise she should let 1t cook |
until small sample on cooling is
about as thick as maple sirup.
When the boiling has finished, the |
sirup can be set aside to cool in COW
cred vessels or can be poured while |
hot into cans or glass containers and
sealed.
Where a cider press is available
the melons can be cut into pieces and
on the press so that the
pressure will extract that juice of, the
pulp before is presses the rind. The
Juice Of the rind is not so rich in su-
gar, and experiments with rind Juice
alone indicate that it is not suitable
'or sirup.
If it is desired to make the sirup
rec from red particles, start the sir
Up boiling, and when some of the CO.
,gulated matter has been removed
,y skimming, transfer the juice to
all glass jars or other tall contain
srs and allow it to settle and cool for
few hours. This allows the red
to settle to the bottom. The
upper part of the Juice can then be
poured off and boiled into sirup.