(18) What important points should be considered in the process of drying food?
(19) What are the proportions of salt and water into which foods that discolor are placed before they are canned or dried?
(20) What precautions should be observed in the storing of dried foods?
JELLY MAKING, PRESERVING, AND PICKLING
VALUE OF JELLIES, PRESERVES, AND PICKLES
1. Like canning and drying, JELLY MAKING, PRESERVING, and PICKLING are methods of preparing perishable foods to resist decomposition and change. When treated by any of these three processes, fruits and vegetables will keep for long periods of time and will thus be ready for use during the seasons when they cannot be obtained fresh. The preservation of food by making it into jellies, preserves, and pickles does not, as in the case of canning, depend on the sterilization of the product, but rather on the use of certain ingredients that act as preservatives. These include sugar, spices, salt, and vinegar, all of which are considered harmless preservatives in both the home and the commercial preparation of foods.
2. The making of jelly, preserves, and pickles may seem like an extravagance in the expenditure of money for materials, as well as of time and energy on the part of the housewife. Whether this is the case or not is a matter that must be decided by the housewife herself. If these foods are not of enough value to her in the preparation of meals and the feeding of her family to make it worth her while to use her time and materials in storing them for winter use, then it is not wise for her to prepare them. But foods so preserved usually have sufficient merit to warrant the expenditure of the time and the money required in their making.