Evening star., 1935-05-16
Science in Jelly Raises
Demand for Elements
Which Nature Provides
Pectin Must Be Obtained From Fruits in
Process or in Bulk, With Acid and
Sugar Added.

must use little lemon juice-one
tablespoonful strained juice to each
standard measuring cup Of the fruit
juice.
Some acid fruits, on the other hand,
do not have enough pectin to jell we'll.
In this class come strawberries,
peaches and cherries. It is true also
of rhubarb, which, although not
fruit, is excellent for jelly. To make
good jelly from these fruits which
lack pectin, you add pectin extract,
which you can buy from the grocer's.
Or you can make your own pectin, if
you prefer, using apples, skin, core
and all, or from the white inner skin
of oranges.
There is probably no fruit that can
not be used for successful jelly-mak-
ing by adding pectin extract, or acid,
or both. to the sugar. But be careful
that you do not use so much pectin
or acid that you mar the flavor of the
fruit itself A good way to make jelly
from fruits which do not have much
pectin is to combine them with the
fruits that do-thus obtaining the de-
sired chemical result, as well as a
delicate blend of flavor.
CONSIDER your color and flavor
when choosing your mixtures of
fruits. Currants and raspberries 60
we'll together, as do raspberries and
gooSeberries; grapes and crabapples
have good combined flavor and color
and cranberries and ounces make a
jelly Of most unusual spicy charm.
AS for the actual jelly making there
are special directions. of course, to be
followed carefully if you wish to at
tain the perfect result You prepare
the fruit and strain of the juice, ac-
cording to schedule, and then you
cook the juice with the sugar to the
point where it meets the "jelly test
very delicate moment. To recog-
nize this stage takes clever eye and
firm judgment. The Bureau of Home
Economics advises dipping a large
spoon into the boiling sirup. Lift the
spoon up and let the sirup run off
the side of the spoon. AS the sirup
cooks down it reaches a stage where,
it no longer runs of the spoon in a
regular stream, but separates into
two lines of drops, which sheet" to-
gether. Stop the cooking as soon as
this stage appears.
y X X
THERE IS, of course, the tempera-
ture test, used by many scien-
tiflcally minded cooks. Then the
juice is cooked to PIG or 221 degrees
Fahrenheit and is then considered
ready to be poured into the glasses.
One must be careful when employing
this method, however, as the tempera-
ture is apt to vary with different kinds
of fruits.
1t is best to work with small lots of
juice at time-about six to eight
cups, the bureau advises. The sugar
boils down quickly to the jellying
flavor and color of the fruit better
You may remember poor "Meg's ex-,
perience in jelly making in Little
Women" when she undertook to
make quantities of jelly for her pantry
shelves, and the unfortunate John
Brooke" took that moment to bring
home unexpected guests to dinner. If
Meg had gone about the job on a
smaller scale much of the ensuing
disaster might have been avertedi
Directions for jelly making may be
had by writing to me, enclosing the
inevitable stamped, addressed en-
velope.
If you wish advice on your indi-
vidual household problems, write Betsy
Caswell, in care of The Star, inclosing
stamped, self-addressed envelope for
reply.