Experimental cookery

This jelly is a little more tender than the one with % cup of sugar but produces a jelly that is still too firm. It should be remembered that whereas each cup of juice had the same concentration of acid and pectin before the 166 JELLY sugar was added, the addition of varying amounts of sugar and boiling to 103°C. gives a concentration of practically 60 per cent of sugar in all the jellies. But the boiling to produce a concentration of 60 per cent of sugar thereby concentrates the pectin and acid, the concentration being greater per unit of w^eight in the jelly to which the smallest proportion of sugar was added. That the acid is concentrated is shown bv the flavor, for the Fig. 15. — The yield of jelly obtained when the proportion of sugar to juice is varied. Experiment 24. 1. Jelly made from two cups of juice without added sugar. 2. A cup of juice and %. cup of sugar. A cup of juice and Yz cup of sugar. A cup of juice and ^ cup of sugar. A cup of juice and 1 cup of sugar. A cup of juice and 1^ cups of sugar. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. A cup of juice and IJ/2 cups of sugar. jelly from ^ cup of sugar and 1 cup of juice is very tart, the tartness progressively decreasing as larger proportions of sugar are added. This is true of the first extraction of most fruit juices. As the proportion of sugar is increased, the yield of jelly is increased. There is a proportion of sugar that produces the best jelly for the particular juice used. With increasing amounts of sugar beyond the proportion that yields an optimum jelly, the Fig. 16. — Showing consistency and yield of jelly from Fig. 15. Jelly made from first extraction of gooseberry juice. jelly becomes softer until a proportion of sugar is finally reached that results in a fluid sirup instead of a jell. Proportion of sugar for home-made jell. The proportion of sugar to add to the juice cannot be given definitely for the best texture of jelly, since it varies with the pectin, acid, and salt content of the juice. The amount of pectin varies with the ripeness of the fruit, the quantity of SUGAR, PECTIN, ACID, AND SALT 167 water added for extracting the juice, and with the kind of fruit. Gold- thwaite states that it is better to use too little sugar than too much with fruit juices. She has found with all kinds of fruit juices and average methods of extraction that ^ cup of sugar to a cup of fruit juice usually gives better results than a cup of sugar to a cup of juice. The author's laboratory and home results agree with those of Goldthwaite that ^ cup of sugar to a cup of juice gives a better jelly for most fruit juices. Currants if not very ripe need a cup of sugar to a cup of juice, but if a larger quantity of water is added for extraction a smaller proportion of sugar is needed. The pectin content of gooseberry juice is usually quite high, one reason being that they are nearly always picked while green. If the rule of adding water to barely cover is used, the gooseberry juice will often require 1^ cups of sugar to a cup of juice to give jelly of the best texture. Fig. 17. — The jelly from the second extraction of gooseberry juice is softer than the jelly from the first extraction with corresponding amounts of sugar. 1. A cup of juice and %. cup of sugar. 2. A cup of juice and Y2 cup of sugar.