Canned Fruit, Preserves, and Jellies: Household Methods of Preparation

by Maria Parloa

MAKING SIRUP FOR USE IN CANNING AND PRESERVING.

Such sirups as are used in canning and preserving are made with varying proportions of water and sugar. When the proportion of sugar is large and that of the water small the sirup is said to be heavy. When the water predominates the sirup is light.

There are several methods of measuring the proportion of sugar in a sirup. The most scientific and accurate is with the sirup gauge. Careful measurement or weighing is, however, quite satisfactory for all ordinary work if the sirup need not be boiled a long time. In boiling the water evaporates and the sirup grows thicker and richer. The amount of evaporation depends upon the surface exposed and the pressure of the atmosphere. For example, if a large quantity of sirup is boiled in a deep kettle the evaporation will not be rapid. If the same quantity of sirup were boiled the same length of time in a broad, shallow kettle the water would evaporate more rapidly and the sirup would be thicker and heavier. If a given quantity of sirup were boiled the same length of time in a high altitude, Colorado for example, and at the sea level, it would be found that the sirup boiled at the sea level would be thicker and less in volume than that boiled in Colorado. From this it will be seen that it is difficult to say what proportion of sugar a sirup will contain after it has been boiling ten or more minutes. Of course by the use of the sirup gauge the proportion of sugar in a sirup may be ascertained at any stage of the boiling. After all, however, it is possible to measure sugar and water so that you can know the percentage of sugar when the sirup begins to boil. The following statement gives the percentage of sugar at the time when the sirup has been boiling one minute and also what kind of sirup is suitable for the various kinds of fruit:

One pint sugar and 1 gill of water gives sirup of 40° density: Use for preserved strawberries and cherries.

One pint sugar and one-half pint water gives sirup of 32° density.

One pint sugar and 3 gills water gives sirup of 28° density: Use either this or the preceding for preserved peaches, plums, quinces, currants, etc.

One pint sugar and 1 pint water gives sirup of 24° density: Use for canned acid fruits.

One pint sugar and 1½ pints water gives sirup of 17° density.

One pint sugar and 2 pints water gives sirup of 14° density: Use either of these two light sirups for canned pears, peaches, sweet plums, and cherries, raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries.

The lightest sirups may be used for filling up the jars after they are taken from the oven or boiler. The process of making a sirup is very simple, but there are a few points that must be observed if sirup and fruit are to be perfect. Put the sugar and water in the saucepan and stir on the stove until all the sugar is dissolved. Heat slowly to the boiling point and boil gently without stirring. The length of time that the sirup should boil will depend upon how rich it is to be. All sirups are better for boiling from ten to thirty minutes. If rich sirups are boiled hard, jarred, or stirred they are apt to crystallize. The sirup may be made a day or two in advance of canning time. The light sirups will not keep long unless sealed, but the heavy sirups keep well if covered well.

[USE OF THE SIRUP GAUGE.]

The sirup gauge is a graduated glass tube, with a weighted bulb, that registers from 0° to 50°, and that is employed to determine the quantity of sugar contained in a sirup.

If this gauge is placed in pure water the bulb will rest on the bottom of the cylinder or other container. If sugar be dissolved in the water the gauge will begin to float. The more sugar there is dissolved in the water the higher the gauge will rise. In making tests it is essential that the sirup should be deep enough to reach the zero point of the gauge. If a glass cylinder holding about half a gill is filled to about two-thirds its height, and the gauge is then placed in the cylinder, the quantity of sugar in the sirup will be registered on the gauge.

Experiments have demonstrated that when sugar is dissolved and heated in fruit juice, if the sirup gauge registers 25°, the proportion of sugar is exactly right for combining with the pectin bodies to make jelly. The sirup gauge and the glass cylinder must both be heated gradually that the hot sirup may not break them. If the gauge registers more than 25°, add a little more fruit juice. If, on the other hand, it registers less than 25°, add more sugar. In making sirups for canning and preserving fruits, the exact amount of sugar in a sirup may be ascertained at any stage of boiling, and the sirup be made heavier by adding sugar, or lighter by adding water, as the case demands.