The success of this process depends on heating the
material to he canned till all germs are destroyed,
then sealing it up till air-tight whilst it is boiling
hot. You may can in two ways. 1. boil the fruit in
the preserving pan either in syrup or water, till
thoroughly cooked, then pour it scalding hot into
the bottles, and pass the handle of a spoon down the
sides of the bottle to set free any air-bubbles that
may have been left in it ; then wipe the neck of the
bottle with a warm moist cloth, put the rubber ring
on in its place, and fasten it down tightly according
to the style of bottle you use, tightening it down
again when cold. It should be held upside down
after filling, to see if it is really air-tigbt (if it is
not the syrup or liquid will exude), in which case it
can be put away. If, however, any liquid escapes,
you will have to remove the lid (if the preserve is
still hot), add more hot syrup, and re-fit, the lid,
after wiping it thoroughly. If, however, the bottle
is cold before the leakage is discovered, you will have
to turn out the contents of the bottle and re-boil
them before returning them to the latter. But if
10
PICKLES AND PRESERVES.
you have been careful to fill up the bottles brimful,
and use patent bottles in good condition, this trouble
should not occur. When stored look at them fre-
quently for a week or two, and if you find the liquid
has settled, and that there are no air-bubbles, you
may set your mind at ease ; the canned fruits are
going to keep. If, however, the opposite is the case,
fermentation has set in, and unless released, the
bottles will burst. In this case open the bottles,
turn out the fruit, and boil it up again, using it as
soon as possible, as stewed fruit, puree, &c., for it is
not satisfactory to attempt to keep fruit that has
once tried to ferment. N.B. — If you do not use
patent bottles, but simply wide- mouthed bottles
corked with bladder-lined corks, or covered with
bladder, melt some paraffin wax (which any chemist
will supply) in a small pan at the side of the stove
(a very low degree of heat will do), and after filling
the bottle, and well wiping the rim with a damp
cloth, pour in about a tables poonful of the wax,
being careful not to touch the bottle again till this
has set, when it will adhere to the glass and form a
perfectly air-tight cover. (This paraffin can be lifted
out of the bottle, well washed, dried, and used
acrain.) The bottle can then be covered down in the
usual way. Only remember in canning, bottling, or
otherwise preserving anything, the jar must be air-
tight, if its contents are to keep ; so never use paper
as a cover, whether brown or white, no matter how
nianv folds you use, for paper is not of itself air-
tight. Another point must be noticed about
canning, and that is the preparation of the
CANNING AND BOTTLING.
II
Page 5
Presented as published in 1902. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
The success of this process depends on heating the material to be canned till all germs are destroyed, then sealing it up till air-tight whilst it is boiling hot. You may can in two ways. 1. boil the fruit in the preserving pan either in syrup or water, till thoroughly cooked, then pour it scalding hot into the bottles, and pass the handle of a spoon down the sides of the bottle to set free any air-bubbles that may have been left in it ; then wipe the neck of the bottle with a warm moist cloth, put the rubber ring on in its place, and fasten it down tightly according to the style of bottle you use, tightening it down again when cold. It should be held upside down after filling, to see if it is really air-tight (if it is not the syrup or liquid will exude), in which case it can be put away. If, however, any liquid escapes, you will have to remove the lid (if the preserve is still hot), add more hot syrup, and re-fit, the lid, after wiping it thoroughly. If, however, the bottle is cold before the leakage is discovered, you will have to turn out the contents of the bottle and re-boil them before returning them to the latter. But if
you have been careful to fill up the bottles brimful, and use patent bottles in good condition, this trouble should not occur. When stored look at them frequently for a week or two, and if you find the liquid has settled, and that there are no air-bubbles, you may set your mind at ease ; the canned fruits are going to keep. If, however, the opposite is the case, fermentation has set in, and unless released, the bottles will burst. In this case open the bottles, turn out the fruit, and boil it up again, using it as soon as possible, as stewed fruit, puree, &c., for it is not satisfactory to attempt to keep fruit that has once tried to ferment. N.B. — If you do not use patent bottles, but simply wide- mouthed bottles corked with bladder-lined corks, or covered with bladder, melt some paraffin wax (which any chemist will supply) in a small pan at the side of the stove (a very low degree of heat will do), and after filling the bottle, and well wiping the rim with a damp cloth, pour in about a tablespoonful of the wax, being careful not to touch the bottle again till this has set, when it will adhere to the glass and form a perfectly air-tight cover. (This paraffin can be lifted out of the bottle, well washed, dried, and used again.) The bottle can then be covered down in the usual way. Only remember in canning, bottling, or otherwise preserving anything, the jar must be airtight, if its contents are to keep ; so never use paper as a cover, whether brown or white, no matter how many folds you use, for paper is not of itself airtight. Another point must be noticed about canning, and that is the preparation of the