THE JAM SEASON.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 39, 15 February 1934, Page 14

THE JAM SEASON.

The Jam-maser is tlie victim of the Reasons. If there is too much lain the fruit will not make firm jellv. If it be too hot then ripening is too rapid', and the fruit will not keep satisfactorily for even a day or two. So advantage must be taken, of every occasion when the weather is' favourable.

If there is doubt whether the fruit will make good jelly apply the following test:—Cook a little of the fruit, without sugar, until it is soft. Put a teaspoonful of the juice in a cup and let. it cool. Then add three teaspoonfuls of methylated spirit. Shake the cup to mix the two, then pour oil' the spirit, and examine the clotted fruit juice by pouring it from cup to cup. A firm, »o!id clot denotes abundant pectin; a broken, flaky clot denotes insufficient pectin; no clot means no pectin. Pectin and fruit acid are both necessary to give jellying property to the fruit. The taste of the fruit gives an indication of the amount of acid present, and fruit just under-ripe possesses, as a rule, the maximum pioportion of both pectin and fruit acids.