A text-book of cooking

quantity of acid can be stated. It has been suggested * that enough acid should be added to make the fruit juice about as acid to taste as good tart apples. At least one teaspoon- ful of acid is required for one quart of fruit juice. Dissolve the acid in the fruit juice, then taste the mixture. If neces- sary, add more acid to produce the acidity indicated above. Jelly may be prepared from strawberries, peaches, and pears by the addition of these acids, but the flavor is some- what impaired. The suggestion has been made also 2 that the inner white portion of lemon or orange peel be used as a source of pectin with fruit deficient in pectin. Remove the yellow portion of the rind, put the white portion through a food chopper, and soak in water for several hours or overnight. Then cook slowly for several hours. Strain out the solid portion. Add the liquid to the fruit juice deficient in pectin and use for jelly making. The rind of lemons and oranges may be dried for use in jelly making. When desired for use, soak and cook as directed above. GENERAL METHOD OF JELLY MAKING Wash and pick over the fruit ; remove the stems, but use the skin and seeds and thus retain as much of the fruit as possible. The skin of fruit usually adds color to jelly. If large fruit is used, cut it in pieces. Cook the fruit slowly in water. Use very little water for juicy fruits, such as cur- rants and raspberries, — 1 cupful of water to 4 or 5 quarts of fruit. Crush the fruits during cooking. To cook large fruits requires water. A general propor- tion is half as much water, by measure, as prepared fruit. A little less water may be used for peaches and plums and a little more for winter apples. A fair estimate is 3 quarts 1 See University of Illinois Bulletin, " Principles of Jelly Making," p. 249. 2 Idem, p. 251. STERILIZATION WITH MUCH SUGAR 3()£ of strained juice from 8 quarts of fruit and 4 quarts of water. If the quantity of juice is greater than this, it should be boiled down to 3 quarts before adding the sugar. When the fruit is cooked until it is very soft, it is ready for straining. For straining, make a bag of double cheese- cloth or flannel. Wring the jelly bag out of hot water and suspend it from a strong support. Pour the cooked fruit into the bag and let the juice drip into a bowl. Do not press the juice through the bag; let the juice drip for several hours or overnight. Measure the clear fruit juice and heat it. The time of cooking depends upon the per cent of pectin and the acidity of the juice ; the more pectin and acid, the less the time of cooking. The time varies from 8 to 30 minutes. Skim the juice when necessary. While the juice is cooking, measure three fourths as much sugar as fruit juice and heat the sugar. Add the hot sugar to the boiling syrup and cook. The following are tests for sufficient cooking of jelly : (a) Coats the spoon. (6) Falls from the spoon in heavy drops. (c) Stiffens when dropped on a cold dish and allowed to cool. The first two tests are more satisfactory than the last, since the cooking process may be carried too far while the " test-jelly " is cooling. Seal as Jam or shred paraffin and place it in the bottom of sterilized jelly glasses. Pour the hot jelly into the glasses and set aside to stiffen. Then cover and store. Long cooking of pectin changes it into substances which do not have the property of jellying, hence, make jelly in as short a time as possible. The purpose of heating the sugar is to hasten the process of jelly making. The addi- tion of cold sugar would cool the mixture and thus prolong the process. The addition of too much sugar is often the cause of un- t 306 THE COOKING OF FOODS successful jelly making. Crystallization of the sugar from the jelly may result from an excess of sugar.