Every Step in Canning | Page 8

to sterilize.
3. Test rubber rings.
4. Make sirup and put in double boiler to keep hot
5. Prepare the product--hull, seed, stem.
6. Place berries or fruit in strainer or colander.
7. Rinse by pouring cold water over product.
8. Pack from strainer into hot jar.
9. Use big spoon to get a firm pack.
10. Dip rubber in hot water to cleanse it and put it in place on the jar.
11. Pour the hot sirup over the fruit at once.
12. Put top of jar on, but not tight.
13. Ready for canner.
14. Sterilize for the necessary length of time, according to the outfit you are using:
MINUTES
Hot-water-bath outfit 16
Condensed-steam outfit 16
Water-seal outfit 12
Steam pressure, 5 pounds, outfit 10?Pressure cooker, 10 pounds, outfit 5
15. Remove from canner.
16. Tighten cover, except vacuum-seal jar, which seals automatically.
17. Test joint.
18. Three or four days later, if perfectly air-tight, label and store in a dark place.
These steps are followed for strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, dewberries, huckleberries, gooseberries, raspberries, and for all soft fruits, such as cherries, currants, grapes and figs.
The other soft fruits, such as peaches and apricots, which have a skin, are scalded or "hot dipped" for one to two minutes in boiling water or steam and are then plunged into cold water. These two steps of hot-dipping and cold dipping make the removal of skins a very simple operation. After the skins are removed the fruit is put into the hot jars and the process continued from Step 8, as with strawberries.
SIRUPS
Of course you are wondering about the sirups for the different fruits. There is no set rule for making sirup. It is not necessary to use sirup in canning fruits. The amount of sugar used in the sirup will depend upon the individual taste. In a first-class product there should be enough sirup to improve its flavor, but not enough to make it take the place in the diet of a sweet preserve rather than a fresh fruit.
The sirups are made either with varying proportions of sugar and water or with the same proportions boiled different lengths of time. What is known as the California sirup is made with three parts of sugar to two parts of water, boiled gently to different concentrations.
Thin Sirup. For a thin sirup take three cups of sugar and two cups of water. Mix sugar and heat until the sugar is dissolved. This is used for all sweet fruits not too delicate in texture and color, as apples, cherries, pears, or for fruits in which more sugar will be added in preparation for the table.
Medium Thin Sirup. The sugar and water should be boiled about four minutes, or until it begins to be sirupy. This is used for?raspberries, peaches, blackberries, currants, etc.
Medium Thick Sirup. Boil the sugar and water until it will pile up over the edge of the spoon when it is tipped. This is used for sour or acid fruits, as plums, gooseberries, apricots, sour apples, and some of the delicately colored fruits, as strawberries.
Thick Sirup. The sugar and water are boiled until it will form a ball in the spoon and cannot be poured from the spoon. This is used for preserves.
It is possible to get more, sometimes almost twice as much, sirup into a quart jar containing large fruits, as apples and pears, than into a quart jar containing small fruits, as currants or blackberries.
There is a little knack worth knowing about combining the sugar and water for the sirup. If the sugar is sifted into the boiling water just as fine-grained cereals are sifted into water, there will be no scum formed. This is a saving of sugar.
If you wish to can strawberries for the market or to win a prize at the county or state fairs, can them as follows:
Canned by this recipe, strawberries will not rise to the top of the sirup. Use only fresh, ripe, firm and sound berries. Prepare them, and add eight ounces of sugar and two tablespoonfuls of water to each quart of berries. Boil slowly for fifteen minutes in an enameled or acid-proof kettle. Allow the berries to cool and remain several hours or over-night in the covered kettle. Pack the cold berries in hot glass jars. Put rubbers and caps of jars in position, not tight. Sterilize for the length of time given below for the type of outfit used:
MINUTES?Water bath, homemade or commercial 8
Water seal, 214 degrees 6
5 pounds steam pressure