Volume 12 , Issue 36

Home Comfort Cookbook Hints - Canning & Preserving Fruits

The following are someHome Comfort Cookbook hints for canning, preserving fruits on your Wrought Iron Range, as taken from the free 1934 Home Comfort Cookbook that the Culver Brothers Company sent out with each range in the earlier 1930's. That does not mean you have to go backwards to the days of cooking on a wood burning range, though.

For the canning, preserving of fruits, two of the most successful open to the home-canner at that time were known as the "Open-Kettle" and the "Can-Cooked" methods. In the first, which was universally employed for fruits and preserves, the cooking is done in the preserving kettle before being placed in the cans.

In the second, which was extensively used for vegetables and other foods, as well as some fruits, all or part of the cooking was done after being placed in the can.

OPEN-KETTLE METHOD -- Prepare the fruit according to the variety. Cook the fruit in its own juice, fruit syrup or simple syrup just enough to render digestible. No longer. If water is used at all, as in the case of some of the larger, dryer fruits, use just as little as possible, otherwise the rich natural flavor of the fruit will be destroyed by too much dilution. The syrup method of canning was far superior to others, and produce a product with all its richness preserved.

Sterilize the jars according to directions. Have them hot and ready when the fruit is cooked. Fill the hot jar with boiling fruit and syrup; run a sterilized silver knife blade around the inside to release all air-pockets or bubbles; and fill to overflowing with the boiling syrup.

Wipe top of jar carefully with a perfectly clean cloth, dipped in boiling water. Next dip a new, fresh sealing-ring, or rubber in boiling water and adjust to the jar. Then adjust and fasten the hot sterilized cover tightly. Invert the jar and place it way from draft to cool. When cooled, if screw caps are used, tighten them again thoroughly, since the cooling has slightly contracted both jar and cap. Wipe jar with damp cloth. Label, store in a dark, cool place.

CAN-COOKED METHOD -- Prepare the fruit according to variety the same as for the open kettle. Also, prepare a sufficient quantity of hot simple syrup of proper density. Fill the hot sterilized jar without the uncooked fruit and add enough syrup to fill jar solidly to within a quarter inch of the opening. Run a sterilized silver knife blade around the inside. Then proceed to cook by one of the two following methods.

1 - OVEN-COOKING -- Back in 1934 they were still using, providing a sheet of asbestos large enough to practically cover the bottom of the Wrought Iron Range oven area. Back then, such sheets could be had at most plumbing establishments or hardware stores. If asbestos was not obtainable, you could provide a large pan, fill with about two inches of hot water. Place the filled, open jars in the moderately heated oven, upon the asbestos, or in the pan of water. Cook for the length of time required for the particular fruit. Remove from oven and fill to top with boiling syrup. Seal, employing the same precautions as in open-kettle method.

2 - BOILER COOKING -- Provide a wash-boiler or large lard-stand, and fit into the bottom a latticed wooden rack for the jars to rest upon, thus preventing them from touching the bottom. Fill the boiler with warm water to about four inches above the rack. Put the filled jars into the boiler, separating them by a latticed, wooden frame, or by weaving around and between them a small cotton rope, to prevent them from touching or hitting together when the water boils. Cover the boiler, bring the water to boiling point and cook for the remaining time counting from this period.

When cooked, draw boiler back from over fire, take off cover, and when steam has passed off, lift out each jar, set it in a pan of boiling water, fill with syrup to top, wipe, and properly seal. Set away from draft to cool, employing the same precautions as in the open-kettle method.

JAMS & MARMALADES -- Jams are primarily preserves reduced to pulp form. Marmalades are jams with seeds and most of the moisture removed, and cooked low into a semi-jellied state. The term conserve is used for jams or marmalades made from a combination of fruits.

The best fruits for jams and marmalades are berries, cherries, grapes, currants, some varieties of plums, apples, quinces, oranges and lemon. In making jams and marmalades, it is essential that no water be added to the more juicy fruits, such as cherries, grapes, berries, etc.; and to the dryer fruits, such as apples, peaches, etc., add only enough water to barely cover the bottom of the pan or kettle in which they are cooked. Even then, it is better to use juice of some other fruit, such as currants, or for apples, sweet cider.

When the more juicy fruits are used, rinse or moisten the inside of the kettle with cold water. For other fruits, cover the bottom with water or fruit juice. Put the prepared fruit in the kettle in light layers, sprinkling each layer generously with the sugar before adding another.

For jam, cook the fruit until soft, reduce it to a pulpy mass and continue cooking gently until just enough of the moisture has been evaporated. For marmalades, gently stew the larger fruits at slow heat until tender, reduce to pulp and pass through a sieve. Reduce smaller fruits to pulp uncooked and pass through a sieve to remove seeds. Then, proceed to cook according to the time required in the subsequent recipes, or until a little of the juice will jell when dropped on a cold plate.

JELLIES -- Jelly can be made from the natural juices of any acid fruit by the addition of sugar, and boiling until the density of the fruit syrup is 25 degrees when tested with a standard syrup gauge. The uncertainties of jelly making in the average household are due to the fact that this degree of density of the fruit-syrup must be gauged, or judged by experience and off-hand judgment alone.

For Jelly-making, select only tart, or acid, fruits in their newly ripened or near-ripened stage. These may be divided into two classes:

1 - Large, firm fruits, such as apples, peaches, quinces, etc. These require the addition of moisture to draw out the flavoring and the pectic acid that combines with the sugar, causing the juice to jell, and to produce a juice of sufficient volume and richness. The amount of water added however, varies with the fruit. Apples usually requiring 4 quarts of water to 8 quarts of sliced fruit, which after boiling until tender and straining without pressing, produces just 3 quarts of strained juice. If there is more than this amount, it should be cooked down to that quantity. Such fruits as peaches, containing a liberal amount of natural juice, require less water, the average requiring 3 to 3-1/2 quarts of water to reduce 3 quarts juice from 8 quarts of prepared fruit. Such semi-juicy fruit as plums require the addition of only 1 quart of water to each 1 gallon fruit, which should be slightly under-ripe when used for jelly.

2 - Small, soft fruits, such as currants, berries, cherries, grapes, etc. These do not require the addition of moisture, or water, since they are rich in natural juice. They should, therefore, never be gathered just after a rain, or after gathering, should not be allowed to stand in water, but should be quickly washed in a colander and drained, since they will readily absorb too much moisture. Grapes, these juicy fruits are best for jelly when just ripening. Grapes should be gathered half-ripe, or half of them newly ripe and half of them green. To extract the juice, some of the fruit is crushed in the bottom of the preserving kettle, some whole fruit added and cooked in its own juice until tender and the juices released. It is then crushed, or jammed, and the juice strained ready for the jelly kettle.

In separating or straining the juice from the pulp, it is best to strain it through cheesecloth without squeezing or pressing. If the cheese-cloth is doubled, or a thin muslin bag used, the juice will be quite clear; and, if a flannel or felt bag is used, the juice will be very clear.

TABLE Of SYRUP DENSITIES: There are several methods of measuring the proportion of sugar or density of syrups, the most accurate of which is the standard syrup gauge. Careful measuring is quite satisfactory in canning, since the syrup need not be boiled long enough to evaporate the water and thereby change the density. As a guide, the following densities are given. The sugar is first dissolved completely in boiling hot water that has just been removed from the fire. It is then put back, brought to the boiling point and boiled for 1 minute without stirring.

SYRUP TABLE DENSITIES: Density, Sugar & Water
40 degrees, 4 parts, 1 part
36 degrees, 3 parts, 1 part
32 degrees, 2 parts 1 part
28 degrees, 2 parts 1-1/2 part
24 degrees, 1 part, 1 part
17 degrees, 1 part, 1-1/2 parts
14 degrees, 1 part, 2 parts

1. For preserving berries, cherries, blue plums, etc. -- syrup using 40 degrees.

2. For preserving peaches, plums, quinces, currants, etc. -- syrup 28 to 36 degrees.

3. For canning acid fruits, such as apples, gooseberries, blue plums, grapes, etc. -- syrup 24 degrees.

4. For canning peaches, pears, cherries, sweet plums, berries, etc. -- Syrup 14 to 17 degrees.

5. For jelly making, syrup of 25 degrees density made by using the fruit juice instead of water, has been found to be right for combining the sugar and pectin bodies, causing the juice to properly jell. This is about the density of 24 degrees syrup boiled for 3 minutes.

A Few Recipes for Preserving and Canning Fruits:
APPLES -- If it becomes necessary to can apples to save the last of the winter storage, they may be prepared in any manner as for the table by the open kettle method. Remember that all fruit must reach boiling temperature, be put into hot sterilized jars, and sealed while hot.

APPLE JUICE -- When canning apples reserve the sound parings and cores. Add a few quartered apples, cover with water and cook about 30 minutes. STrain through the jelly-bag, reheat the juice to boiling, and seal in hot sterilized jars. This juice may then be kept on hand for emergency jelly making, for cooking purposes, or for frozen deserts.

APRICOTS -- Prepare and can exactly the same as Peaches.

PEACHES -- prepare a simple syrup of 14 degrees density, allowing 1 part sugar to 2 parts water for each 4 quarts prepared peaches after boiling 1 minute, skim and set syrup kettle back on range to keep hot, just under the boiling point, but not boil. Wash, skin, halve and seed just enough peaches at a time to make a layer in the bottom of the preserving kettle. Cover them with some of the hot syrup. Bring to boiling point, skim carefully, and boil 10 minutes for until easily pierced with a silver fork. Fill hot sterilized jars with peaches and fill to overflowing with the hot fruit syrup. Allowing about 1 cup syrup to each quart of fruit. Seal as directed. Peaches and similar fruit may also be canned by the can-cooked method by following directions previously given.

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