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Although some varieties of apples keep well when stored others keep
for a few days only and therefore may with advantage be bottled.
Apples should not be too green and under-ripe. They should be peeled
and cored (care being takento remove all pithy material around the
core), and cut into slices or into rings about one-quarter of an
inch thick. After peeling, apples discolour very quickly on exposure
to the air and they should therefore be placed in a basin of cold
salted water (2 oz.(57g.) per gal.(4.5L of water) as they are peeled,
and a plate put over the slices to keep them below surface. Rinse
quickly with cold water to remove any traces of salt before packing
into bottles or jars.
These should be fully ripe without being too soft. To prepare apricots,
stalks should be removed and the fruit rinsed in cold water. Usually
the fruit is packed whole but sometimes the larger fruits are packed
in halves. To halve, a knife should be inserted at the stalk end
and the fruit cut to the stone all the way round. The two halves,
held together by the stone, should be quickly twisted round the
stone in the opposite directions,this frees the fruit from the stone
without tearing the flesh. Halving results in a considerable economy
in space, since about twice as much fruit can be put in each bottle.
The stones may be cracked, the kernels removed and packed with fruit
to impart some of the characteristic flavour which the stones give
to the fruit. Halved fruit should be packed as soon as possible
before the cut surfaces turn brown.
Cultivated varieties are best, but if wild berries are used they
should be large and juicy. Both kinds should be fully ripe. Soft
fruits are easily damaged and should not be handled more than necessary.
Remove any unsound fruit, also stalks and leaves. A mixed pack of
blackberries and apples is very useful. The apples should be scalded
as the blackberries otherwise tend to toughen them.
The berries should be large, firm, well flavoured and juicy; they
should be evenly ripened and unbroken. Preparation consists of removing
the stems and the blossom ends if desired.
Varieties with a small stone should be chosen and preserved when
the fruit is ripe but firm, fully sized and well coloured.
Fruit should be used at the firm-ripe stage, when a deep purple
colour has appeared. Any stalks should be removed and the fruit
rinsed in cold water.
Gooseberries should be topped and tailed. When the fruit
is to be preserved in a syrup it is advisable either to prick the
skins or to cut off a small slice at either end of berry using a
sharp stainless-steel knife. This treatment helps the syrup to penetrate
the berry, and prevents shrivelling and toughening of the skins.
Only choice fruit will give a well-flavoured product. The grapes
should be stemmed and washed in cold water.
Ripe fruit should be used and all the pips, pith, and tissues should
be removed from the sections.
They should be preserved while still firm. The colour after processing
is a greenish brown and the syrup frequently has a cloudy appearance.
These may be preserved as for grapefruit. The rind when bottled
loses its fresh flavour and therefore it is not recommended to bottle
the fruit with the peel on unless it is required for marmalade.
Lemons tend to become thick and cloudy on storage.
This fruit bottles very well. The berries should be gathered when
firm but deep red in colour, and care taken to see that they are
free from maggots. The fruit is easily damaged and should not be
handled more than necessary. Preparation consists of removing any
stalks and leaves and fruit attacked by maggots.
Although freshness is very important for all soft fruits, it is
particularly so for mulberries, which deteriorate rapidly. Rather
under-ripe fruit should be chosen. Any unsound or over-ripe fruit,
leaves or twigs must be removed, but the fruit should be handled
as little as possible before preserving. Misshapen fruit should
not be used as the undeveloped drupelets will not soften on cooking.
These should be treated as vegetables for preserving
Sweet oranges should be treated as for grapefruit and lemons. Bitter
oranges are usually required for making marmalade and they should
be scrubbed, cut up and cooked to soften the peel. The prepared
fruit is then put into bottles and processed as for pulping.
Fruit that is just full ripe should be used. Peaches are usually
skinned before packing either whole or halved if of a free-stone
variety. To remove the skin, dip the fruit in boiling water for
1 min., and cool in cold water. It should then peel off easily.
Good results will be obtained in if the best dessert varieties
are used and the fruit is preserved when it is just fully ripened.
Peeled pears discolour very quickly if exposed to the air, but this
may be largely prevented by placing the fruit in a weak acid brine
made by dissolving 2 oz (56g) salt and 1 oz.(28g) citric acid in
1 gal.(4.5L) water. The pears should be halved, peeled quickly,
and the cores and fibres up to the stem removed. The halves should
be placed in the brine immediately and a plate laid on top of them
to keep them below the surface. The fruit should be quickly rinsed
to remove traces of salt before packing, and the processing completed
as soon as possible.
Different varieties of plums vary greatly in their quality when
preserved. Victoria plums gathered when slightly undersized and
just turning pink are a favourite variety. Purple plums should be
preserved when bright red and before turning purple. Yellow varieties
should be picked when firm and lemon-yellow in colour. To prepare
the fruit, remove any stalks and rinse in cold water. Plums for
bottling are better wiped to remove the bloom which might otherwise
spoil their appearance. Usually the fruit is packed whole, but sometimes
varieties with free stones, such as ripe Victoria are packed in
halves.
The common tree quince may be preserved in the same way as cooking
pears. Owing to its strong flavour this fruit is not usually served
alone but is excellent with apples. It is therefore recommended
that quinces should be preserved in small containers.
Large, firm varieties of good flavour and bright red colour
give the best results. Care should be taken to see that the fruit
is free from maggots. Raspberries are easily bruised, so that careful
picking is essential. The fruit should be gathered while firm and
dry, and put into shallow baskets. As they deteriorate rapidly raspberries
should be preserved as soon as possible after picking. Preparation
consists of removing any plugs left in and any damaged fruit. Raspberries
should be handled as little as possible and are not usually rinsed
before packing.
As red or white currants have large seeds, they are not popular
when packed alone, but are usually mixed with raspberries. Preparation
consist of removing the stems and rinsing, if necessary, in cold
water.
Rhubarb is usually treated as a fruit. It should be preserved
in the spring when it is young and tender so that there is no need
to peel it. The stalks should be wiped and cut into short lengths.
It may either be soaked without soaking as for other fruits, or,
if preferred, syrup (made from 6-8 oz.(170-226g) sugar to 1 pint
of water 568 mls.) may be poured hot over the prepared rhubarb.
The rhubarb should soak in the syrup for 8 to 12 hours, during which
time considerable shrinking takes place. The rhubarb is then packed
into bottles and covered with the syrup.
Strawberries lose their colour and shrink considerably during bottling
or canning, and are thus more satisfactory when used fresh or frozen.
If they are to be bottled artificial strawberry colour added to
the syrup gives a greatly improved product. Choose medium-sized,
firm, evenly coloured fruit of good flavour. Remove the calyx and
rinse in cold water. Put the fruit in a basin and just cover with
boiling syrup to which the colour has been added, and leave overnight
before packing
Evenly shaped small or medium-sized ripe tomatoes of good
colour are preferred if they are to be packed whole. Scald the tomatoes
by dipping them in boiling water for 10-20 sec., then dip them into
cold water and remove the transparent outer skin. Small tomatoes
may be packed whole, but medium and large fruits are usually cut
in halves or quarters, so that they may be packed tightly without
air spaces. The fruit should be pressed down well so that no liquid
is needed. The flavour is improved if about 2 teaspoonfuls of salt
and 1 of sugar to each 2 lb.(907grms.) tomatoes is interspersed
with the fruit when packing into the containers.
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