Canning Peaches

General Directions:

Pour boiling water over peaches, allowing them to stand just long enough to loosen the skins so they can be easily removed.

Remove skins, cut in halves, and unless cooked at once drop into enough cold water to cover, to prevent peaches turning dark.

Measure the sugar and water into a preserving kettle; add a few peach stones, cloves and lemon rind to the boiling syrup. Cook the peaches in the syrup until soft; remove the cloves and peach stones. Pack the peaches closely in hot sterilized fruit jars and pour over them the boiling syrup. Screw cover on securely.

Pears, cherries, apples, yellow tomatoes and plums may be canned like peaches. Plums and tomatoes should be pierced with a needle to keep them from bursting.

Cost of Preparing Home Recipe of Canned Peaches:

Working Directions To Be Followed By All Even Numbered Pupils

NOTE: In canning the peaches you are to prepare the syrup and cook one peach. Your partner will assist you in preparing the syrup and will likewise cook one peach. Follow each paragraph carefully.

See Recipe on Front Page.

Pour one-half cup of water over the sugar measured by your partner.

Place the saucepan containing the sugar and water over the fire.

Add the clove.

Pour boiling water over the peach and allow it to remain in the water just long enough to loosen the skin so it can be easily removed.

Remove the skin; cut the peach in halves; drop halves and peach stone into the boiling syrup and cook them until soft.

Remove peach stone, clove and lemon rind.

Put cooked peach halves into the fruit jar, being careful to place the round side nearest the outside of can. See FIGURE 1. It may require the peaches which four or more of the girls have prepared to fill the jar. The last girl should see that the can is filled to overflowing with fruit and juice, using syrup from as many saucepans as is necessary, and put on the cover securely.

Paste label on the jar, giving name of contents and date of canning.

The rest of the syrup may be kept in jars for fruit sauces.

You are to WASH the dishes today according to directions already learned.

FIGURE 1.

Home Recipes

General Directions For Canning And Preserving Fruit

Select fresh, firm and not over-ripe fruit. Prepare the fruit according to kind; remove stems, pare, peel, stone or core.

For canning fruit allow one-third of the weight of the fruit in sugar, and from one to two cups of water to each pound of sugar. Boil the water and sugar five minutes to make a thin syrup; then cook a small quantity of the fruit at a time in the syrup until soft. Pack the fruit closely in hot sterilized fruit jars and pour on enough syrup to overflow jars. Use the blade of a knife to push fruit away from jar to let out the air bubbles. Put on sterilized covers and fasten firmly.

The term, preserving fruit, as ordinarily used, means the cooking of fruit in from three-fourths to its own weight of sugar with little or no water used, according to the fruit.

NOTE: Fruits should be cooked in granite, earthenware or porcelain lined kettles, and silver, wooden or granite spoons used. If cooked in tin or ironware, poisonous substances are likely to be formed.

Strawberry Preserves

4 lbs. strawberries; 3 lbs. sugar; 3 cups water.

Pick over, wash, drain and hull the berries and weigh. Boil the sugar and water fifteen minutes to make a syrup. Fill sterilized jars with the berries cover with syrup; let stand fifteen minutes; add more fruit. Screw on covers, put on a rest (folded paper or a folded cloth), in a kettle of cold water, heat water to boiling point, and cook slowly one hour.

Raspberries and blackberries may be preserved in the same way.

Sweet Pickled Peaches

8 Lbs. fruit. 5 Cups vinegar. 1/4 Oz. ginger root.

4 1/2 Lbs. sugar. 1 Oz. stick cinnamon. 1/2 Oz. whole cloves.

Prepare fruit as for canning; boil the vinegar and sugar and the seasoning (tied in a piece of cheese cloth) ten minutes. Cook the peaches, a few at a time, in the syrup until soft. Put fruit into sterilized jars, fill to overflowing with syrup and screw on covers securely.

Pears, plums, apples, crab apples or quinces may be used, instead of the peaches. The ginger root may be omitted.

Sweet Watermelon Pickles

7 Cups rind of melon. 3 Cups vinegar. 2 Cups sugar.

1/3 Cup cloves.

1-6 Cup stick cinnamon.

Cut rind in strips, remove the green and pink portions. Soak in alum water, allowing two teaspoonfuls powdered alum to each quart of water. Heat slowly to boiling point; cook 10 minutes. Drain, cover with ice water, let stand 2 hours; again drain. Boil the vinegar, sugar and seasonings (tied in cheese cloth) 10 minutes. Add the rind and cook until tender. Put in jar and cover with syrup.

Questions

1. What kind of fruit would you select for canning?

2. Name two ways of preserving fruit and vegetables. S. What is meant by sterilization?

4. How do you sterilize the jars and covers?

5. Did you can tomatoes at home?

6. How do they look and keep?

7. Is it advisable to add preservatives? Why?

8. Give general rules for cooking fruit, according to today's directions.

9. What have you at home that may be used for canning purposes?

10. What is meant by continued sterilization?

11. What is meant by intermittent sterilization?

12. What causes fruit and vegetables to spoil?

13. What are conditions favorable to growth of germs?

14. What will hinder their growth?

15. What are some of the methods of food preservation?

Suggestions For Home Application

While the method of canning given in this lesson is excellent for preserving all of the larger fruits which need considerable cooking to make them tender and sweet throughout, it is not so desirable for berries. Berries fall apart so easily when heated in syrup that they quickly lose their characteristic shape when poured from the preserving kettle into the jars. For this reason, the steaming method used in canning tomatoes is the best one to employ in canning these fruits. The natural flavor and color also seem to be preserved better by this method.

Naturally, some variation in using this method is necessary because of the difference in the flavor of the fruit and the vegetables. Where the air spaces around the vegetables are filled with salted water, those around the fruit should be filled with boiling sweetened water, called a syrup. Sugar is usually higher in price during the canning season than in the winter, and many people prefer to add the sugar at that time to economize on the sugar. If you desire to do this, boiling water alone may be added to fill in the air spaces, provided the jar and its contents are thoroughly sterilized and sealed perfectly air tight.

The thickness or density of the syrup used depends upon the individual taste. A moderately rich syrup is obtained by using one part sugar and three parts water; one part sugar and two parts water makes a rich syrup, and equal parts of sugar and water, a very rich syrup.

These lessons on canning have, no doubt, been given you at a time of the year when fruits and vegetables suitable for canning are plentiful. They should prove very valuable to you if you apply the general principles you have learned in a broad way by canning not only the kind, of fruits and vegetables you prepared in class, but any others that happen to be in season.