HINTS FOR THE HOUSEWIFE

Dominion, Volume 21, Issue 84, 7 January 1928, Page 16

HINTS FOR THE HOUSEWIFE

JAM-MAKING TIMjN 'The jam-making season is now commencing, and the following recipes and hints will be useful:— Gooseberry Jam.—6lb. gooseberries, 8 gills water, 81b. sugar. Weigh the preserving pan, wash and prepare the fruit, then place the fruit with the water in the preserving pan, and simmer slowly until it is well pulped. Weigh the preserving pan with the pulp, and continue to cook, stirring frequently to prevent burning, until the weight of the pulp is s|lb. Then add the sugar and stir until it lias all dissolved. Boil the jam until its weight in the preserving pan is 13}lb. Skim and pour into warm jars. Put on circles of waxed paper whilst hot and tie down when cold. Note: It should be remembered that the weight of the preserving pan must be added to both weights given above, and that the spoon must be removed before the weight is taken. Cherry Jam. —101 b. stoned cherries (Maydukes if possible), 71b. sugar, |oz. tartaric acid. Weigh the preserving pan and then put in the tartaric acid and the stoned fruit. Simmer slowly until the fruit is quite tender, stirring frequently as the pulp becomes thick. Weigh the preserving pan, and continue to cook until the contents weigh approximately 61b. Then add tlie sugar and stir until it has all dissolved. Boil the jam rapidly until the weight of the jam in the pan is 12|lb. Skim at once and then allow the jam to coo] before pouring into pots. The jam thickens on cooling, and when stirred up the cherries remain suspended, and do not rise to the surface. Note: The weight of cherries before stoning is approximately 141 b. Strawberry Jam. —14oz‘. sugar, lib. strawberries, the juice of 1 lemon. Remove the stalks and hulls. Put the fruit in the preserving pan with the lemon juice and simmer until it is thoroughly well cooked and broken up. It is difficult to say definitely how long this will take, but about 30 to 45 minutes is generally sufficient. Add the sugar, previously warmed in an oven, to the fruit, and continue stirring until all is dissolved. After it lias been boiling for about 15 minutes, test for setting When it is sufficiently cooked, allow to cool, stirring meanwhile. When half cold, pour into pots and cover. If the moisture is driven off by boiling the fruit and lemon juice together before the addition of the sugar, a fine flavoured jam of good colour is obtained. Poor colour and flavour is liable to result from the continued boiling o( the fruit with the sugar, which causes a temperature of over 220 degrees F. to be reached. When the sugar is added, the temperature gradually rises from 212 degrees F. to 220 degrees 'F., and with continued boiling it is liable to go higher. Plum Jam.—6lb. plums, 2} pints water, 7|lb sugar. All varieties of plums contain sufficient pectin and acid to enable good jam to be prepared. Victoria, Magnum Bonum, and Persliore Plums all give a bright, fresh coloured jam when prepared in the following way. Weigh the preserving pan. Wash

and weigh the fruit, and place it with the water in the pan. Simmer the fruit gently until it is well broken down; by stirring (he pulp as :t becomes thicker, burning is avoided. Continue to cook until the weight of the pulp is sjlb., then add the sugar and boil the jam until its weight is 121 b. Boz., being careful to stir well during the boiling. Remove the scum and pour the jam into warm jars. Place wax circles on the surface of the jam whilst it is hot and tie down when it is cold. Blackberry Jam. —61b. blackberries, I pint water, 3 level teaspoonfuls tartaric acid or 4 tablespoonfuls lemon juice, 6flb. sugar (i.e. 11b. 2oz. sugar to each lb. fruit pulp). Weigh the preserving pan and put the fruit, water, and acid into it. Simmer until the fruit is tender and weigh the pan. The weight of the pulp in the pan should be 4-}lb., and, if necessary, continue to cook until this weight is obtained.

Then add the sugar, and stir until it has dissolved. Boil until the weight of the jam in the preserving pan is HJlb. Then skim the jam and pour it into warm jars. Cover with wax circles whilst still hot and tie down when it is cold. As blackberry jam contains a large number of seeds, it is sometimes considered an improvement to remove these by passing the pulp through a sieve before adding the sugar. Blackberry Jam. —81b. blackberries, lj pints water, Joz. tartaric acid or the juice of 4 large or G small lemons. Wash the fruit, place it in a preserving pan with the acid and water and simmer until the fruit is tender. Then mash well and strain through a scalded jelly bag. Leave over-night, then weigh the extract, and to each pound of extract add one pound of sugar. Dissolve the sugar in the juice, bring the jelly to boiling point, and boil until the jelly will set when tested on a cold plate. Skim the jelly, and pour at once into warmed glasses. Red Currant Jelly.—Red currants arc much more interesting made into jelly than jam, though they combine well with fruits such as strawberries and raspberries for jam. Wash the currants and remove the stalks. Put the fruit into a cool oven in a covered jar until the juice flows freely. Strain it through muslin, pressing lightly to extract all the juice. Measure this, ano to each pint allow lib. of preserving sugar. Warm the sugar in the oven. Put the juice into a pan and bring to the boil, add the sugar, stir until it has melted, then bring to the boil and boil fast for five minutes. Remove all scum. Put into small jars and cover like jam. A Cheaper Red Currant Jelly.—Prepare the red currants as above, wash them and put them into a jar with a gill of water to each pound of fruit. Cover the jar and place it in a pan of boiling water. Simmer for about two hours, or until the juice is extracted from the fruit. Strain through a clean teaclotli. Measure tlie juice, and to each pint allow 11b. of sugar. Boil up the juice, add the sugar and stir until it has melted, then boil up for half an hour, or until the jelly sets when tested. Put into small pots and cover. Note.—About three pints of red currants will yield one pint of juice. Sealing and Storing Jam.—'There is a decided difference of opinion as to

which is the most satisfactory method of sealing jars. .Some experts claim that all jams should be scaled hot, as soon as possible after the jam has been put into the pots, in order to prevent mould spores from being deposited on the surface of the jam. Others claim that all jam should be allowed to get quite cold before the pots are tied down. Although during the last three summers various tests, using several different methods, have been carried out, says one writer, no definite conclusions have been reached. Provided the jam was covered with clean kitchen paper as soon as potted to prevent mould spores and dust gaining access, and tied down when cold, using waxed paper and damp parchment paper, it invariably kept satisfactorily. Jam tied down hot also kept equally well.