Foods and home making

Pour the jelly mixture into scalded glasses. Pour paraffin over the jelly. When cool, pour more paraffin on the top of each glass. Cover, label, and store. The solid portion of the fruit left in the flannel bag may be made into marmalade. Another way to use it is to press more juice from it with the hands. The juice thus extracted may be used for making more jelly. It will not be as clear as the jelly made from the first extraction. What substances other than sugar help to preserve foods? Not only sugar, but vinegar, salt, and spices help to preserve foods. Pickles are commonly made by preserving cucumbers or other vegetables in salt and vinegar. As stated on page 435, relishes made from fresh, uncooked vegetables are more wholesome than pickles. Preserves, Conserves, Jelly, Spiced Fruit 539 Spices are often used in a sirup to preserve fruits. Spiced peaches, pears, and other fruits are popular. A recipe for pine- apple canned in a spiced sirup follows : SPICED PINEAPPLE 1 can sliced pineapple, No. 2| 20 cloves £ cup vinegar 2 tablespoons stick cinnamon, 2 cups sugar broken into inch pieces Drain the sirup from the pineapple. Add vinegar, sugar, and spices to it. Heat until the sirup boils. Cut the slices of pineapple into quarters. Add the pineapple to the sirup. Cook at boiling temperature for at least io minutes. Pour into scalded jars. Fill to overflowing. Seal. Variation. — Fresh pineapple may be used instead of canned pine- apple. Prepare the pineapple as directed on page 535. Cut it into slices, then cut each slice into quarters. Prepare a sirup from the materials given in the recipe, using J cup water. Cook the pineapple in the sirup until it is tender. Can as directed in the foregoing. SUMMARY Sugar, spices, salt, and vinegar aid in preserving foods. Foods preserved with much sugar are : 1. Preserves 2. Jams 3. Marmalades 4. Conserves 5* Jelly The open-kettle method is used for cooking foods preserved with much sugar. Most foods preserved with much sugar are stored in glasses and sealed with paraffin. Jelly can be made from fruits containing pectin (a carbohydrate) and acid. Good jelly-making fruits are currants, crabapples, grapes, and quinces. Jelly, jams, and similar foods may be made from fruits lacking in pectin if commercial pectin is added to the fruit and sugar mixture. Steps in making jelly: 1. Cook the fruit until it is very soft. 2. Strain it through a flannel bag. Food Preservation 540 3. Test a tablespoon of the juice for pectin. 4. Measure the sugar and heat it. 5. Add the hot sugar to the boiling juice. 6. Cook it until it is thick. 7. Pour it into glasses ; pour paraffin over the hot jelly ; cool. 8. Seal the glasses with more paraffin, cover, and label. REVIEW QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES Each of the following statements is completed, in more than one way, only one of which is correct. Read each statement carefully and choose the correct word or phrase to complete it. Then copy the statement including only the correct conclusion. 1. For making jelly, select fruit that is (a) overripe (6) underripe. 2. Large fruits used for making jelly should be (a) pared ( b ) left whole (c) cut into pieces without paring. 3. Good jelly-making fruits contain (a) pectin ( b ) water (c) sugar. 4. A good jelly-making fruit is (a) strawberry ( b ) currant (c) peach.