Home › Preservation of Fruits and Vegetables › Cold-Pack Method

Cold-Pack Method

3. Pack the fruit as prepared directly into the jars or cans.... 4. Complete the filling of the cans with hot water, sugar syrup, or grape syrup. Jars should be warmed first to avoid cracking.

The fruit will keep equally well whichever liquid is used. The addition or the amount of sugar is a matter of taste. It can be added later when the fruit is used. The usual sugar syrup for apricots, peaches, plums and berries is made by dissolving 3½ pounds of sugar in a gallon of water. For apples, pears, quinces, prunes, and cherries 27/4 pounds of sugar to the gallon is sufficient. If neutral 65° grape syrup is used, from 5½ to 3½ pounds should be used per gallon of water. 5. Place the full cans or jars with loose covers on the false bottom in the wash boiler, adding water to about twothirds their height. With cans boiling water is best; with jars it should be simply warm. A second tier may be placed on a wooden rack resting on top of the first tier. 6. Place the cover on the boiler and heat to boiling. The boiling should continue for twenty minutes for apricots, free-stone peaches, plums, berries, apples and cherries. For pears, cling-stone peaches, and unripe fruits, thirty minutes are necessary to cook the fruit. 7. The tops of the jars should be screwed down tight while still boiling hot and placed upside down or lying down on a table to cool. Wax-top cans should be removed quickly and sealed while boiling hot.