The Benson signal., 1915-09-04
How to Make ] 1 !
AFjne Sirup of
WatermelOnS

made from watermelOns, and it af
fords to the farmer, according to
the fruit juice specialists of the de-
partment, convenient means of
using the surplus watermelons
which otherwise are allowed to
spoil in the field. Such sirup has
been made by farmers in a small
way in various parts of the South,
and the departm ment endeavored to
work out exact methods of making
it as a possible by-product from
surplus melons. This strip can be
used Immediately or can be bottled
hot in sterilized jars and kept Just
as is done in the canning of fruit.
It is reddish brown in color, very
sweet and we'll favored, and will
serve most Of the purposes for
which sirqp is used in the home. 1t
has been tried with satisfactory
results in making ginger cake,
homemade candy, and as sweat
ening and favoring in ice cream.
AS the specialists point out,
while the Juice Of commercial
watermelons, such as the "Tom
Watson, contain On an average
only I per cent in sugar, or less
than many other fruit juices, the
ease with which the juice can be
pressed out partly offsets the low
sugar content. The method de-
scribed below calls only for uten>
sils found in every household:
Remove the pink flesh and seeds
from the rind Of sweet, fully ripe
melons. Crush the pulp with a
potato masher or by running it
through a meet chopper. Place
the crushed pulp and seed in cloth
bags and squeeze out the juice,
which flows out readily. About
fye-sixths Of the pulp will squeeze
out as juice. About 13 gallons of
the juice will make I gallon of sir
up. This amount Of juice can or
dinarily be secured from 10 water
melons weighing from 22 to IS
pounds each.
TIE juice is then boiled down
into sirup in an ordinary preserv-
ing kettle. The juice boils with
out much foaming until it begins
to thicken, when the fire should be
slackened to prevent foaming and
burning. The red coloring mat
ter in the juice coagulates during
boiling, and part of it rises to the
surface, Where. it 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 boil
ing the sirup must be watched con.
stantly. If the housewife has d
candy thermometer, she should
take the sirup from the fire fire as
soon as the temperature reaches
22o0 F., otherwise she should lei
it cook until a small sample Oh
cooling is about as thick as maple
sirup.
When the boiling has finished
the sirup can be set aside to coo.
in covered vessels Or can be pour
ed while hot into cans Or glass con
tainers and sealed.
When cider press is available
the melons can be cut into pieces
and arranged on the press so that
the pressure will extract the juice
Of the pulp before it presses the
riud, The juice of the rind is not
SO rich in sugar, and experiments
with rind juice alone indicates tha,
it is not suitable for sirup.
If it is desired to make strip
free from red particles, start the
strip boiling, and when some OF
the coagulated matter has been re-
moved by skimming, transfer the
the juice to tall glass jars Or other
tall containers and allow 1t to set.
tie and cool for few hours. This
allows the red PARTICLES to settle tc
the bottom. The 11pDer Dart Ot