IMPORTANT TASK

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 28, 3 February 1937, Page 4

IMPORTANT TASK

JAM-MAKING TIME

SCIENTIFIC HOUSEWIVES

Jam-making time is round again! In some ways . this important; household task 'has lost some of its trials, for the housewife no longer seems to nvOu» such enormous quantities "of jam At the one boiling. She prefers} rather to make smaller and more varied batches, and as a general rule she gets better ■results. -~ Certainly. this is so as far as jelly-making is. concerned, 'for the. smaller boilings seem to; be much more successful,, states, the "Melbourne Age." Of course, it is no'longer, essential that all. jam should be.continuously stirred, and that certainly is all to-the credit of modern jam-making methods. ■.:! Nowadays, when the housewife be- •. gins making jam, she also becomes'a chemist, while one might almost describe her as a student of bacteriology when she begins -bottling'fruit, for- the • modern aproach to this household task is quite definitely scientific. ;.; .-■/ Of course, it is of primary; importance to start with the right quantities of '•fruit, sugar, and water if "that, is necessary. At the'same time) the housewife should look to the shape of her preserving pan, and; remember that if this wide; and shallow evaporation will be a little more rapid; while if it deep and somewhat narrow,, then the boiling must be rapid- to prevent any danger of a watery jam. Then, too, the comparative thickness or thinnes3 of the preserving pan must be considered. ..Those light thin pans are cer-: tainly a- great convenience when 'it comes to handling, but*.while the1 jam is cooking it requires special care to prevent any tendency tp burn. There is little danger of this when the bot : torn of the pan is particularly thick', but again it should be remembered that ,tlie jam will take more cooking before it reaches settling point.-'•.; CONSIDER THE WEATHER. : Another matter which the scientific jam-maker rriust take into considefa- . tion is the season.and? the "kind .of weather experienced at the time trie fruit was forming and- ripening. This not only affects the flavour of the jam; it also means a variation in the amount of water used, while it affects, too, the set of the jam. That is to say, that, in a wet season fruits that are as *a rule rich in pectin will not give such good results to the pectin test; while those whioh as a rule are deficient in pectin will certainly need either the addition of some such fruits as lemons, red currants, or gooseberries, or; artificial pectin, if any kind of a set is to be obtained. ' ■■"■ "' -,- j:; It is quite an easy matter to determine what is called the pectin "clot1' in any fruit by a simple experiment. Take a small quantity.of the fruit, and allow it with a little liquid.to simmer slcwly for some fifteen or twenty minutes. Then put one teaspobnful/of the juice into a cup and allow it to become quite cold; then add , three tea- ' spoonfuls of methylated spirits, anil finally, give this mixture a .stir or, "a. shake. It should be easy to see the. pectin clot which will have ■fo'rmed.;lf ■ the fruits contains a good^'percentage of pectin, then the clot will be well formed and heavy, but if ; the. fruit'is deficient in pectin, then the juice will only form a broken clot. ' -'' MIXED-FRUIT JAMS. ; It is probably the fact that the housewife now has the scientific knowledge that certain fruits: will not set of thein.selves,,that has. led her __ to • ma-ke "feo inariy 'of the' "mixed-ffuit' jaiii's. Certainly these seem to be increasingly popular, and indeed ' give an. adventurous housewife' plenty .of opportunities for experiment;" Of course, to get the. best resultsvit is necessary that a fruit deficient in: pectin ..should be combined with one .that is rich in this substance. For instance, , few . housewives try to make ■'strawberryj am qn its own without the" addition of some pectin preparation or else combining it with some other'fruit; Lemon juice definitely improves strawberry jam by reducing its somewhat cloying sweetness andralsarnaking'it.tliermore likely te set.:- The-juice;otei:two"y;;lempns to about seven ■■■ pounds/of fruit-.is'about ithe ..right. proportion. ; Gooseberry ljuice, vtq'o, /earn .b"e3ised- with" success in the 'making of "strawberry jam in the proportion of the juice of a pound of green gooseberries (cooked without water and pressed through a. sieve) to every ,four pounds of strawberries. Some people may like to try pineapple with strawberries. Equal weight of both fruits is needed, and the pineapple must be cut into very small cubes and then the fruits boiled together with an equal amount of sugar to that of both fruits combined. The apple and blackberry combination is well known; that of loganberries with cherry is less usual, however, and the set of. this jam is less certain ito that, say, of cherries combined with lemon and . orange juice in-the proportion of the juice of halfan orange and half a lemon to a pound of cherries. Loganberries and cherries are combined in a proportion of three pounds of loganberries to six pounds of cherries. Another wellknown combination is that 01 raspberries and red currants;. Bed currant juice can be added to strawberries to make a splendid jam, as they can. also be used with cherries successfully. By the way, those people who dislike raspberry jam merely because; of the seeds in it might well tryto make raspberry jelly. The fruit should be packed into a large jar and a break* ■ fastcC\i of either red currant or rhubarb'juice poured'over them.and left to stand in a coolishoven for several hours until all the juice is. drawn from the fruit. The juice should then, be strained and a pound of sugar to each pint of juice allowed in the cooking. ! Not all experts agree on this matter of adding the sugar.. Miss Knight, the ■fruit preserving expert of the Agricultural Department, generally •,- recommends the. making of a syrup '.of sugar -and water before adding the fruit And certainly heir jams and ■'...jellies look particularly attractive on display at agricultural shows. ■ This method is indeed 01 very special value when making jams of soft fruits. Other authorities prefer, to bring the fruit to the boil before adding the sug-.r. Following this method, which is particularly successful with hard-skinned 'fruits* the secret, of success is slow cooking before the addition of the suear and rapid cooking afterwards'