The Bozeman courier., 1927-07-01

JELLY MAKING
If someone were to ask you what
makes jelly jell, what would you say?
Perhaps you'd scratch your head and
wonder, too. Or maybe you'd answer,
'Nn. that mysterious substance, you
--sly-pectin."
Il you've answered pectin, you are
partly right, that is you are one-fourth
right, because there are four materials
necessary for jelly making, and they are:
~ pectin, ~ acid, 81 liquid and (4)
sugar.
I don't know why we should consider
pectin as such a mysterious substance
any more than sugar or starch. The
only thing is, it isn't as common and
occurs in some fruits and vegetables
more than others. 1t is found especially
in the cell walls Of many fruits, in the
roots and stems of certain vegetables,
particularly carrots, beets and also ruta-
bagas.
The fruits which are the most rich in
pectin are currants, gOOSeberries, cram
berries, green and wild grapes, plums
green and crab apples, ounce. The
highest amount of pectin in any Of
these is found when the fruit is green.
The pectin in the fresh fruit is in
soluble and it is necessary to boil the
fruits with a weak acid so that it will
change to a soluble form which thick
ems fruit juice. Therefore, fruit Juice
containing pectin needs to be heated to
have much jelying power. Long boil
/ ing, however, with an acid will destroy
much of the jellying power Of the pectin,
changing it to poetic acid which will not
! jelly. For that reason the juice should
! be boiled rapidly to make the cooking
time as short as possible.
To Test for Pectin
A simple test to discover whether the
fruit contains pectin enough for firm
jelly, is to use either wood or grain al
cohol. Put a small amount of alcohol
into an equal amount Of fruit juice
If you can pick up the precipitate with
your fingers, there is an abundance OF
pectin, which is around one per cent
If the precipitate separates and will not
hold together but yet can be felt, there
is still enough firm jelly, which is about
IS per cent. If there is less precipitate
than that, it will be impossible to make
a firm Jelly without adding other juice
which is concentrated and rich in pee
tin, or adding commercial pecttn.
Commercial Pectin
Pectin is manufactured commercial!
in several forms. The most common il
] the liquid, which is added to fruit witt
sugar and boiled for a Few minutes. Tn
directions which come with the bottl
: are satisfactory to follow. 1t also come
: mixed with the fruit juice, and some
times mixed with sugar, or dry and pure
r BY using commercial pectin, deliciou
favored jellies can be made Of fruit
which do not usually appear In Jelly an
" do not contain sufficient pectin alone
such as cherries, peaches, pineapple, rhu
: barb and strawberries. Mint jelly to b
served with lamb can be made wit
water, mint favoring, sugar and pectil
, and colored green.
e Nevertheless, the jellies made with pee
tin added, do not keep as we'll as thos
\ which contain pectin in the naturs
fruit juices, although all jellies natural
q deteriorate on storing.
I The Aciu
Many Of the fruit juices have sufi
cient acid in them to change the frui
! pectin to its soluble form. However,
the Juice is not slightly acid, lemon c
: orange Juice, or vinegar can be addeC
I, But the acid must not be too strong {
4 else the Jelly viii have a sharp fiavo
! Too much acid also hydrolizes the suga
" Icausing the jelly to be watery, as Gran
berry Jelly sometimes is.
The Sugar
The amount Of sugar necessary in iell
depends on the amount Of pectin in th
= juice. The richer the juice is in pectil
4 the more sugar one can add; and th
= less pectin there is, the less sugar shoul
be used.
= The reason for this is that sugar make
\ the Jelly tender and pectIn makes
II stiff. Sugar also increases the volum
and the more sugar one can use, tt
more jelly can be gotten from the san