HINTS AND IDEAS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 85, 11 April 1931, Page 4 (Supplement)

HINTS AND IDEAS.

PRESERVING. REASONS FOR FAILURE. Here are some hints from the laboratory which explain many of the reasons for failure in jam making and fruit bottling. _ _ . A common error is overboiling. The jam looks thin, and it is boiled over the stated time in order to driveoff water and make it more solid. It is not the absence of water, but the presence of pectin, a vegetable gum, which enables jam to "jell." Too much cooking at a high temperature destroys the power of this pectin to jellify. Once this power is lost, the jam may be saved only by adding some commercial pectin. Choose Unripe Fruit. Another explanation of syrupy jam is the use of over-ripe fruit in which the pectin has broken down. Choose fruit that is on the verge of ripening, as it it* then that the pectin reaches its. highest point. If a jam tends to throw down sugar crystals soon after being made, the reason is that the fruit did not contain enough acid to "invert" the sugar and change it to an uncrystallieable form. Marrows, peaches, ripe pears, and ripe, sweet apples are often poor in acid, and with these it is important to add lemon juice, red-currant juice or other source of acid; its purpose is not, as sometimes supposed, to bring out the flavour, but to keep the jam from crystallising. When a jam does not keep well it may be that the recipe w«s originally worked out for a wide, shallow pan and repeated' with a narrow, deep pan, from which the water boils away less quickly. Jam must contain a minimum of CO per cent of sugar if it is to keep well for any length of time. Many people practise a false economy by using too little sugar. Every six pounds of sugar should yield up to ten pounds of jam.

Errors in Bottling. , Fruit bottling presents fewer pitfalls 1 than jam making, the chief error being i haste. Most recipes state that good ; sound fruit of even size is to be packed ; tightly, but without crushing, into clean . bottles, which are placed in the steriliser. The water in the latter is brought Tip . to a temperature which ranges from 5 170deg. F. to 190deg. F, for various kinds j of fruit, and is kept there from 10 to . 30 minutes. - Slow Heating is Best. What is very important is that at least an hour and' a half should be taken to heat up the water in the steriliser. . Heat penetrates fruit, especially the larger varieties, so slowly that it is easy ; to have the steriliser water at 170deg. ' F., and the interior of the fruit much ' cooler. The result is that all the bac- ■ teria, ferments, moulds, and insect eggs inside the fruit may not be destroyed, , and the bottled fruit soon goes bad. Use fresh rubber bands each year, as few are able to preserve a good air-tight seal ; through a second season, even though : apparently quite sound' to the eye. FOR CLEANING GLOVES. The immersion of gloves in petrol or benzine is not always found a satisfactory way of cleaning them, as some skins go hard and lifeless and the gloves become shapeless after they have been soaked in any liquid (writes a correspondent). A more professional method is as follows:—First dip a clean cloth into the petrol and gently rub any spots or stains. Then pour some petrol into a large jar, to come not more than half' , way up, and secure the gloves across the top of the jar by means of a piece of cotton or string, so tliat they are dangling over the petrol but not touching it. Leave them like this for twenty-four hours and then rub the whole surface of the gloves with a clean rag. The petrol fumes clean the gloves without harming the most delicate of skins in any way. Needless to say, as the fumes of petrol are highly inflammable, the jar should be left in an outhouse or other place where there is no fire or naked light. GESSO PASTE FOR BEADS. Bead necklaces from gesso paste for a bazaar are a good selling line, and the following paste is ideal, and is almost unbreakable. Place §lb whitening in a bowl and cover with cold water. When dissolved stir thoroughly and allow to stand for a few days. Pour away as much water as possible, then drain the whitening through close-meshed linen for several hours. Put on to a dish two tablespoonfuls of. best dissolved .glue, and gradually mix into it enough of the whitening to make the gesso of a pale brown colour and the consistency of thick paint. At the same time gradually add bits of finely cut cotton. Dust the hands with dry whitening and knead the paste for several minutes. Add dry powdered whitening and mix it well to make a paste of the consistency of modelling clay. The paste ready for use. TO RENOVATE TIES. Silk ties soon crumple up again when they are ironed in the ordinary way, so the next time you are presented with a much-worn tie to renovate, fill a narrow glass jar with nearly boiling water, damp the tie thoroughly and wind it ghtly round the jar. Leave the water f,?°i n . d th . en ""wind the tie and you 11 find it is just like new. PATCHING WALLPAPER. To put a patch on your wallpaper, if you tear your new piece quite unevenly round the edges instead of cutting it straight, it will show much less. A rough edge, especially, in a patterned paper, blends in with the old part, and hardly shows where it has been put on notTceablc. Straigllt " Dearly alwa ? s REVIVING an old rug. To clean and brighten a rug, put a little ammonia into cold water, dip a scrubbing brush into the solution, and go over the rug briskly. The faded patmtl i? 7 i nd out again and the rue will be cleansed. STAINS ON CARPETS. Grease or oil stains may be removed from carpets by rubbing in plenty of dry flour leaving it on for several hours then brushing off. The flour will absorb all the grease. PRESERVING STALE CAKES. Place the cake on a sheet of grease- ' proof paper and stand it in a colander 1 over a saucepan half-full of boiling j water. Steam for fifteen minutes, and ] baked as § ood as Avllen freshly (