Canned Cherries

This is open-kettle canning: hot fruit is ladled into jars and sealed with no processing afterward. That method was standard in 1907 and is no longer considered sound, so the notes below explain the gaps rather than adapting them.

• No fruit quantity is givenThe sugar is specified as 1 to 2 pounds but the weight or measure of cherries it is meant to sweeten never appears. Without it the sugar ratio, and therefore the syrup and keeping quality, cannot be reconstructed.
• No processing stepThe jars are filled and sealed on the strength of the hot fruit alone. Nothing sterilises the underside of the lid, the rim or the headspace air, and the seal is not tested. Failures show up weeks later as mould, fermentation or a lid that lifts.
• No temperature and no time"Cook until tender" is the only guide, which is not a measurable endpoint, and the recipe gives no boiling-water-bath time at all.
• "Sterilized jars" meant something looser thenIn period usage this could mean jars boiled, jars rinsed with boiling water, or jars stood in a hot oven; practice varied from book to book. Hot jars alone do not make a shelf-stable pack, and glass canning jars of the era used rubber rings with glass or zinc caps that behaved differently from modern two-piece lids.
• The two-hour standLetting sugar and fruit macerate draws juice out and helps the cherries keep their shape when cooked. That part of the method is sound and is worth borrowing in an ordinary refrigerator compote or a cooked cherry sauce eaten within a week.
• Preserving kettleA wide, shallow pan, typically copper, brass or heavy enamelled ware. A broad stainless pan is the modern equivalent; the width matters because it lets moisture escape quickly instead of stewing the fruit.
• If you want to can cherriesUse a current tested recipe from a food-preservation authority, which will specify jar size, headspace, and a measured boiling-water-bath time for your altitude.