DOMESTIC

New Zealand Tablet, 13 January 1921, Page 41

DOMESTIC

(B? MaubbeK.)

ART OF PRESERVING. A lesson in jam-making was recently given in Melbourne by Miss Knight, fruit-preserving expert of the Department of Agriculture. Some of her recipes and directions (as reported in the Age) were as under: Raspberry Jam.—Select raspberries just ripe. It is impossible to make good jam or jam that will keep satisfactorily if the raspberries are fermenting. The fruit should be just ripe. Pulp them without water in a preserving pan over a fair fire, and constantly stir the fruit from, the bottom of the pan to prevent it burning. As soon as the whole mass has reached boiling point add sugar in the proportion of pound for pound of fruit. Then, when fruit and sugar reach boiling point again, boil from three to five minutes longer.

To put the jam into containers (Miss Knight continued), it is necessary to thoroughly sterilise the* pots or tumblers into which it is to be poured. Put these vessels into cold water and bring them to the boil; remove them while still hot, and place on a damp towel or cloth. to prevent breaking. When taking the vessels out of the hot water be careful not to touch the inside of the container. Some people bake these vessels in the oven, but Miss Knight believes a moist heat is requisite for proper sterilisation. Stand the tumblers or jars upside down on the damp cloth and allow them to well drain. It is not necessary for them to be dry. Wrap a damp cloth around each glass before pouring the jam, cooled to about 160. deg." or well below boiling point, into it, and leave the damn cloth there until the glass has been thoroughly heated by the jam. Pour a thin film of melted paraffin wax over the top, and then'tie'down or paste down with paper in the 'usual fashion.

-For a delicious gooseberry jam use one-quart of water to each pound of gooseberries. Put the fruit on with the water to boil until they show a pinkish tinge throughout. Use an equal quantity of sugar by measurement, and boil for ten to fifteen minutes, according to which moment it reaches the jellying stage. Cherry plums mixed with loganberries make a splendid jam. Take mixed cherry plums—i.e., green and ripe well represented together. If, however *thev are mostly green, it will«be necessary to add half a pint of water to half a dozen pounds of fruit. Stir carefully to parent the plums burning. Boil to pulp keeping the mixture carefully stirred from-the bottom

all the, time; then add the loganberries. Bring again to the boil for 'five to eight .minutes, add eqpal quantities of sugar, and boil for about ten minutes. For cherry plums alone, boil after sugar is added for about ten minutes. Cb A choice jam is made from 121 b of strawberries and four pints of red currant juice, and 141 b of sugar. To extract the juice from the currants, place them in a saucepan over a slow fire, bring them to a good heat, and then crush them through a sieve. This method is not wasteful, for it merely keeps back the skins, seeds, and stems. It is added for flavoring, for color, and to enable the softer fruits to set properly. Boil the strawberries first. Sprinkle half, the sugar over the strawberries when first put on ; then allow them to come to the boil. Boil for ten to fifteen minutes, until the berries look nice and plump; then add the red currant juice, bring to boiling heat; then add the sugar, and boil for five minutes longer, or until it jellies. With this jam it is possible to sprinkle half the sugar over the berries, and leave them for from six to eight hours spread out on a flat dish. Some people leave the fruit and sugar like this overnight, but Miss Knight considers the six to eight hours quite long enough. Break the larger berries when sprinkling the sugar over them. his process docs away with the slow heating of sugar and berries necessary with the other method. Sugar sprinkled on raw fruit that has a strong skin, like black currants, for instance, has the tendency to turn out toughened skins in the finished jam. Black currants vary very greatly, and an account must be taken of the moisture that is present or lacking before making them into jam. If they are inclined to be dry, add about one pint of water'to 31b or 41b of fruit. If sugar is sprinkled over them first, use only half the anti tv of sugar, and leave for six to eight hours only. Cook till the fruit is soft, and then add the balance of the sugar. Then boil for six to eight minutes, or until the jam will jelly. Where three-quarters of a pound of sugar to the pound of fruit is used, said Miss Knight, it is always advisable to seal down the jam whilst hot. The additional quarter-pound is added to make the jam keep well, not to add to the sweetness. Always brin s every fruit to the boiling stage—the whole mass boilingbefore adding the sugar.