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Preserving and Canning Fruit and Vegetables: Jars

To Test Jars. - The contents of several jars may be saved in the course of a season by testing the "Testing the Jars before Using." jars before using. To this end, fill them with warm water, put on the new rubber rings that are to be used, seal them and stand them upside down on a large sheet of blotting paper. Or butcher's brown paper, or an ordinary folded newspaper, will answer. If there is the slightest leak, the water will trickle out and be seen on the absorbent paper. Thus defective rubber rings, or uneven, nicked, or cracked jar tops can be discarded and assurance can be had that no valuable material and labor will be wasted. Similarly, it is a good plan to turn the filled jars upside down on absorbent paper and let them stand overnight before storing them away. If by chance a defective ring or jar has been used it will be detected and the contents can be transferred to another jar.

To Sterilize Jars. -The first step is to place in the special boiler above mentioned, or in a preserving kettle, the jars that are to be used, with about one tablespoonful of borax to twelve quarts of cold water, and bring them to a boil over a slow fire.

The tops and rubber rings should be put in place and boiled with the jars CANNING FRUIT AND VEGETABLES themselves. They are unfit for use if they will not stand this process.

Jars having glass tops should invariably be given the preference. This will effectually kill all germs, free the jars from dust and dirt, and also toughen them so that, if properly handled, they will not crack in the process of canning. After they have boiled fifteen minutes or so, pour off the borax water and pour over them hot water to rinse them.

Care must, of course, be taken not to pour cold water over hot jars, or expose them to a draught of cold air while hot, or they may be cracked and broken.

Canning Fruit.-After the jars have been thus rinsed and sterilized, replace them on the stove in the above-mentioned boiler or other suitable receptacle, surround them with hot water, and pack in the fruit, either without sugar, or with sugar sprinkled among the layers of fruit at the rate of one tablespoonful to a pound of fruit up to a teacupful to each can, more or less, as desired.

Boil until the fruit is soft enough so that a straw can be run through it. The time required will vary according to the fruit, from a few minutes in the case of small fruits, as raspberries, strawberries, and others, to an hour or more in the case of hard pears, quinces, and the like. But observe that the latter cannot be cooked properly in the cans. They must be done up in the preserving kettle in the old-fashioned way. And there is the less objection as their firmer texture protects them from being injured by handling. Berries and small fruits of soft and delicate texture, undoubtedly present a better appearance and have a finer flavor and color if cooked in the can. These include cherries, strawberries, raspberries, huckleberries or blueberries, ripe peaches, summer pears, and ripe plums. Some fruits cooked in the can with sugar, shrink and leave the can only partly full. Do not attempt to crowd the cans when first filled as this will crush the fruit and injure its appearance. Remove one can and gently pour its contents into the tops of the others until all are full. Finally, when sufficiently boiled, remove the jars one by one, wrapping a towel about each; pour boiling sirup on top until it runs over and instantly seal before the contents cool, and air is admitted. Place the jars in a warm place and out of draught, as otherwise they may crack in the process of cooling. a Sirup for Canning and Preserving. The strength of the sirup to be used in filling jars after the fruit has been cooked in them is a matter of individual preference. It also depends upon the amount of sugar, if any, that has been sprinkled in the fruit while cooking.

The old time pound-for-pound rule called for a pint of water more or less, for each pound of sugar and pound of fruit, according to the amount of juice in the fruit. But a larger amount of water is more commonly used at present. To prepare sirup, place the sugar in a small preserving kettle, pour the required amount of cold water over it and stir until the sugar is fully dissolved before placing on the fire. The sirup will be clarified and improved by the addition of a little gum arabic or white of egg. The scum, as fast as it rises, may then be removed with a skimmer, taking all impurities with it. This sirup may be poured over the fruit after it has been cooked in the can.

Or according to the earlier method, the fruit may be dropped into the clarified sirup while at a boiling point, cooked until it is tender, removed with a skimmer, packed in the jars and the boiling sirup added until they are filled to overflowing.

PRESERVES AND PRESERVING Preserving Fruit.-The process of preserving is a very simple one, although it takes a large amount of time and great care. However, any housekeeper can accomplish it. The principal secret of success is that the fruit should be put up and sealed while hot and the jars filled to the brim. It is usually the custom to place the fruit in the kettle, a layer of fruit and a layer of sugar, pound for pound or measure for measure and to let the whole come to a boil at once.

Or place the fruit in a vessel without the sugar. Put just enough water over it to keep it from scorching, and allow it to boil until the scum rises. Carefully skim away the scum while it continues to rise before adding the sugar. Many seem to think that the scum rises entirely from the sugar, but the experience of those who have used the above-mentioned method is that an equal amount of scum comes from the boiling fruit.

Or weigh the sugar and the fruit, pound for pound, then place the sugar in the kettle without the fruit.

Put in just enough water to dissolve the sugar and stir until it is dissolved. Now place on the fire and let come to a boil. Continue to simmer for half an hour or so before dipping in the fruit, being careful to skim away the scum as it rises. Then place the fruit in the boiling liquid and let it continue to simmer on the back of the stove until the fruit becomes thoroughly impregnated with the sirup.

When about half done lift the fruit from the boiling sirup, place it in large porcelain or other vessels, being careful not to allow any sirup to come with it, and place it in the sun for an hour or more to bleach.

After this, again drop the fruit into the sirup and let it boil until tender enough to allow a straw to run through it.

When the fruit is thoroughly done, if the sirup is not as thick as desired, it may continuously simmer until the desired thickness is reached. Then place the fruit in glass jars that have been previously heated and sterilized by boiling in water containing a little borax and rinsing in hot water. After filling the jar with fruit as full as you conveniently can, pour in the boiling sirup until it fills up all the crevices between the fruit, excluding all the air possible. While performing this process, place the jar in a pan filled with hot water.

This will prevent cracking the jar.

CANNING SMALL FRUITS The method of canning such small fruits as raspberries, blackberries, currants, gooseberries and blueberries, is substantially the same except for the proportions of berries, sugar and water required. Select fruit just before it is perfectly ripechoose an underripe rather than overripe fruit-and can promptly while freshly picked. Discard all imperfect fruit. Gnarled, broken or otherwise defective specimens not decayed, may be used for marmalade or jellies. Avoid berries having a large proportion of seeds to pulp and if no other can be obtained-as may happen during a dry season-remove the seeds by rubbing through a sieve and preserve the strained pulp as marmalade or purée. Pick over the berries, hull and stem them and drop the perfect fruit in small quantities into a colander. Rinse in cold water and turn them on a sieve to drain. Do this quickly so that the fruit will not absorb too much water.

Have ready two bowls, one for sugar and one for fruit.

Observe how much of each will be required to fill the preserving kettle or the number of jars desired. Measure the fruit into the proper bowl as fast as it is picked over and washed, and for each measure of fruit add to the other bowl the proportionate amount of sugar. When the required quantity of fruit and sugar has been measured, put both into the preserving kettle, add the required amount of water, if any, and while the first kettle is cooking prepare the fruit and sugar for another. Fruit designed to be served as sauce may have any proportion of sugar cooked CANNING FRUIT AND VEGETABLES with it according to taste, or if intended for beverages or cooking purposes, it may be canned without the addition of sugar. Juicy fruits require little or no water, except when cooked in a heavy sirup. The above are general rules which require to be modified for particular fruits as follows:

For raspberries and blackberries use 2 quarts of sugar to 12 quarts of fruit. First express the juice from 2 quarts of the fruit by heating it slowly on the stove in the preserving kettle, crushing with a wooden vegetable masher and squeezing through cheese cloth. Rinse the preserving kettle, pour into it the strained juice, add the sugar, beat and stir until the sugar is dissolved.