Making Jellies and Jams
Types
of Preserves
Jam is a form of preserve in which the fruit is
diced or mashed and
cooked with sugar to a good spreading consistency.
Jellies
are made from the strained juice of fruits cooked with sugar
to the jellying
stage.
Preserves are whole or sectioned fruits cooked in a clear
syrup
until tender and plump.
Marmalade is a variety of jam in
which the juice and rind of citrus
fruits are used.
Fruit Butters are pureed fruits cooked with sugar to a smooth glossy spread.
Conserves
are a blend of several fruits, similar to jam, but usually containing
nuts
or raisins or both.
Chutney is a form of conserve, usually hot and spicy.
Pickles are many kinds and shapes of fruits and vegetables
or a mixture
of both preserved either in brine or in a spicy mixture of vinegar
and sugar.
Relish is a specific pickle made from vegetables or fruit,
usually finely
chopped or ground and cooked in a sweet and sour sauce.
Rules for Successful Preserving
Use a large heavy pot, preferably a special preserving pan.
Never cook more than 4 quarts of fruit at a time. The smaller
the quantity Use a wooden
spoon for stirring a metal spoon for skimming.
Do
not overcook fruit or fruit juice, or the strength of the pectin will be reduced
and both
color and flavor destroyed.
When sealing jelly or jam, hang
a short piece of string over the edge of the jar before
topping with paraffin,
for easy removal of paraffin.
At the jam or jelly becomes sugary, remove
lid and paraffin, and put it in a warm
oven until the sugar is dissolved.
A
tablespoon of vinegar added to strawberries. When making strawberry preserves
helps retain color of the berries.
To prevent the jam from burning, rub the bottom of the pot with a little oil.
If a circle of tissue paper, the
size of the top of the jelly glass is dipped in vinegar
and placed on top
of the jelly or jam. It will prevent the growth of mold.
Wash strawberries thoroughly before stemming to keep them firm.
Do not peel pears or peaches
with a knife; scald them as you do tomatoes and
the skins will easily slip
off.
To keep dill pickles crisp, add a little alum to the pickling liquid,
or add one heaping
tablespoon of alum to the first salted water.
Use
pure or pickling salt for pickles and sauerkraut. Table salt contains
chemicals,
which will softened, shrivel and a discolor vegetables.
For pickling, use a sparkling clear vinegar with an acid content of 4% to 6%.
Use the best
quality spices, not over one year old, for pickling. Ground spices lose their
flavor from one season to the next.
Freeze fresh fruit, and make it
into preserves as needed. This is superior to that of
making preserves, when
the fruit is in season and storing them.
To test for the jellying stage,
dip a spoon into the boiling syrup. As the jelling point nears,
the syrup
will drop from the sides of the stone into large drops. When the drops run together
and slide off the spoon in a "sheet", the jelly is finished; it
should be immediately removed
from the heat. A thermometer may be used successfully
in jelly making, but the shape test
should also be used, since the jelling
point of some fruits differs. The range of temperature may
vary from 7% to
10% above the boiling point, or from 212° to 222°F at sea level.
Sterilizing
Jars: If jars are to be filled with boiling hot jams or pickles, sterilization
is not essential,
but the jars must be thoroughly washed in hot soapy water
and rinsed well. They should be filled
with very hot or boiling water and
drain just before the hot fruit or pickle is charged to prevent any
possibility
of cracking. For other types of canning, charge should be washed and sterilized.
Put them on a rack a large saucepan and add water to cover. Bring the water to
a boil; boil for
10 minutes. Leave the jars in the hot water until ready to
fill; they remove the jars one time with
a pair of tongs, and drain.
If
sealing with paraffin, a small metal pot is an ideal container for paraffin.
Cut paraffin to small
pieces, put it in the pot and set the pot and a container
of hot water. Cook over low heat until
the paraffin is liquid. Pour hot jam
or jellyinto clean hot jars, leaving a quarter inch headspace.
Wipe the top
of the jars is perfectly clean. Pour a small amount of melted paraffin over the
top of
the jam or jelly, and rotate the jar to cover the top of the mixture
completely. Let it cool; then
add another layer of melted paraffin. (Two thin
layers are better than one thick one).
When the paraffin is set, cover the
jar with a lid.
When making home made jelly, you need adequate quantities
of both pectin and acid. If you
are using a fruit poor in either of
these elements, combine it with the juice of another fruit in which
the lacking
pectin or acidity is abundant. Fruit rich in pectin and rich in acid are: sour
apples,
blackberries, crabapples, cranberries. Red currants, grapefruits,
grapes, sour apples, lemons,
loganberries,sour oranges and plums. Fruits rich
in acid and poor in pectin are pomegranates,
apricots, pineapples and strawberries.
Fruit rich in pectin and poor in acid are sweet apples,
and quinces. Fruits
poor in both pectin and acid are: raspberries, elderberries, peaches and
overripe
fruits. To correct amount of sugar to use in jelly making is determined by the
pectin
content of the of the juice. To juices rich in pecin, add three quarters
cup of sugar for every cup
of juice. To juices poor in pectin. Add one half
cup of sugar for every 1 cup of juice.
The juice should be boiling when the
sugar is added and the juice and sugar should be cooked
as rapidly as possible
until the jelly and stage is reached.