Part 1 (1/2)
Canned Fruit, Preserves, and Jellies: Household Methods of Preparation.
by Maria Parloa.
INTRODUCTION.
The common fruits, because of their low nutritive value, are not, as a rule, estimated at their real worth as food. Fruit has great dietetic value and should be used generously and wisely, both fresh and cooked.
Fruits supply a variety of flavors, sugar, acids, and a necessary waste or bulky material for aiding in intestinal movement. They are generally rich in potash and soda salts and other minerals. Most fresh fruits are cooling and refres.h.i.+ng. The vegetable acids have a solvent power on the nutrients and are an aid to digestion when not taken in excess.
Fruit and fruit juices keep the blood in a healthy condition when the supply of fresh meat, fish, and vegetables is limited and salt or smoked meats const.i.tute the chief elements of diet. Fresh fruit is generally more appetizing and refres.h.i.+ng than cooked. For this reason it is often eaten in too large quant.i.ties, and frequently when underripe or overripe; but when of good quality and eaten in moderate quant.i.ties it promotes healthy intestinal action and rarely hurts anyone.
If eaten immoderately, uncooked fruit is apt to induce intestinal disturbances. If eaten unripe, it often causes stomach and intestinal irritation; overripe, it has a tendency to ferment in the alimentary ca.n.a.l. Cooking changes the character and flavor of fruit, and while the product is not so cooling and refres.h.i.+ng as in the raw state, it can, as a rule, be eaten with less danger of causing stomach or intestinal trouble. If sugar be added to the cooked fruit, the nutritive value will be increased. A large quant.i.ty of sugar spoils the flavor of the fruit and is likely to make it less easily digested.
Nowhere is there greater need of a generous supply of fruit than on the farm, where the diet is apt to be restricted in variety because of the distance from markets. Every farmer should raise a generous supply of the kinds of fruit that can be grown in his locality. Wives and daughters on the farms should find pleasure in serving these fruits in the most healthful and tempting form. There are a large number of simple, dainty desserts that can be prepared with fruit and without much labor. Such desserts should leave the pie as an occasional luxury instead of allowing it to be considered a daily necessity.
In the season when each kind of fruit is plentiful and at its best a generous supply should be canned for the season when both fruit and fresh vegetables are scarce. A great deal of the fruit should be canned with little or no sugar, that it may be as nearly as possible in the condition of fresh fruit. This is the best condition for cooking purposes. A supply of gla.s.s jars does cost something, but that item of expense should be charged to future years, as with proper care the breaking of a jar need be a rare occurrence. If there be an abundance of grapes and small, juicy fruits, plenty of juice should be canned or bottled for refres.h.i.+ng drinks throughout the year. Remember that the fruit and juice are not luxuries, but an addition to the dietary that will mean better health for the members of the family and greater economy in the cost of the table.
FRESH AND PRESERVED FRUIT FOR THE MARKET.
If the supply of fruit is greater than the family needs, it may be made a source of income by sending the fresh fruit to the market, if there is one near enough, or by preserving, canning, and making jelly for sale.
To make such an enterprise a success the fruit and work must be first cla.s.s. There is magic in the word ”Homemade,” when the product appeals to the eye and the palate; but many careless and incompetent people have found to their sorrow that this word has not magic enough to float inferior goods on the market. As a rule large canning and preserving establishments are clean and have the best appliances, and they employ chemists and skilled labor. The home product must be very good to compete with the attractive goods that are sent out from such establishments. Yet for first-cla.s.s homemade products there is a market in all large cities. All first-cla.s.s grocers have customers who purchase such goods.
To secure a market get the names of several first-cla.s.s grocers in some of the large towns. Write to them asking if they would be willing to try a sample of your goods. If the answer is favorable, send samples of the articles you wish to sell. In the box with the fruit inclose a list of the articles sent and the price. Write your name and address clearly.
Mail a note and a duplicate list at the time you send the box.
Fixing the price of the goods is important. Make it high enough to cover all expenses and give you a fair return for your labor. The expenses will be the fruit, sugar, fuel, jars, gla.s.ses, boxes, packing material, wear and tear of utensils, etc., transportation, and commission. The commission will probably be 20 per cent of the selling price. It may be that a merchant will find that your prices are too high or too low for his trade, or he may wish to purchase the goods outright. In any case it is essential that you estimate the full cost of the product and the value that you place on your labor. You will then be in a position to decide if the prices offered will compensate you for the labor and expense. Do not be tempted, for the sake of a little money, to deprive your family of the fruit necessary to health and pleasure.
PACKING AND s.h.i.+PPING.
Each jar or jelly gla.s.s must be wrapped in several thicknesses of soft paper (newspapers will answer). Make pads of excelsior or hay by spreading a thick layer between the folds of newspapers. Line the bottom and sides of the box with these pads. Pack the fruit in the padded box.
Fill all the s.p.a.ces between the jars with the packing material. If the box is deep and a second layer of fruit is to go in, put thick pasteboard or thin boards over the first layer and set the wrapped jars on this. Fill all the s.p.a.ces and cover the top with the packing material. Nail on the cover and mark clearly: GLa.s.s. THIS SIDE UP.
The great secret in packing is to fill every particle of s.p.a.ce so that nothing can move.
PRINCIPLES OF CANNING AND PRESERVING.
In the preservation of foods by canning, preserving, etc., the most essential things in the processes are the sterilization of the food and all the utensils and the sealing of the sterilized food to exclude all germs.
BACTERIA, YEASTS, AND FERMENTATION.
Over one hundred years ago Francois Appert was the first to make practical application of the method of preserving food by putting it in cans or bottles, which he hermetically sealed. He then put the full bottles or cans in water and boiled them for more or less time, depending upon the kinds of food.
In Appert's time and, indeed, until recent years it was generally thought that the oxygen of the air caused the decomposition of food.
Appert's theory was that the things essential to the preservation of food in this manner were the exclusion of air and the application of gentle heat, as in the water bath, which caused a fusion of the princ.i.p.al const.i.tuents and ferments in such a manner that the power of the ferments was destroyed.