Jelly Making And Jellies Recipe

Instructions

Tips on jelly making

1. When ripe, all varieties of fruit contain pectin.
2. If the juice be withdrawn from the fruit, the pectin is also withdrawn with it.
3. Boil the juice with the proper proportion of sugar and the pectin will cause the mass to jelly.
4. Pectin is not fully developed until the fruit is nearly ripe. Ripening changes the character of the pectin as does overcooking of the juice with sugar.
5. Acid fruits make the best jelly.
6. Large, firm fruit, as apples, crab apples, and quinces, must be boiled in water until soft.
7. Avoid stirring the fruit during cooking as this can make the jelly cloudy.
8. No water should be added to juicy fruits like grapes, currants, and berries.
9. The water added to firm fruits must be evaporated by cooking before the addition of sugar.
10. Juice may be extracted from juicy fruits by heating them very slowly, either on the back of the range or in a double boiler.
11. Juice may be extracted from currants without heat, by simply squeezing the fruit in a bag with the hands, then letting drip from the bag.
12. A flannel bag will give the clearest jelly, but a bag made of new cotton will also work.
13. The quantity of sugar needed varies somewhat with the season. more sugar is needed during a cold wet season than in a season of much sunshine.
14. Usually a cup of sugar to each cup of juice is the right proportion, though many successful jelly makers use 3/4 cup sugar to 1 cup juice; the latter proportion is used with firm fruits.
15. For jellies made with firm fruit, cook the juice rapidly 15-20 minutes. Heat the sugar in the oven, add it to the juice, and let the mixture boil about two minutes.
16. Spoon a bit on a cold saucer; as soon as it jellies on the saucer, it is ready to pour into the glasses.
17. When the juice is heated, set the jelly glasses on a towel in a pan, pour lukewarm water in and around the glasses, and let it gradually heat nearly to the boiling point.
18. To heat the sugar, spread it on tin or agate plates. Stir the sugar occasionally.
19. Let juice from juicy fruits boil about five minutes before adding the sugar.

Covering Jellies

1. Bacteria and yeasts do not thrive in a heavy sugar syrup, so jellies and "pound for pound" preserves need not be sealed hermetically. Other organisms and molds, grow freely on moist sugary substances exposed to the air.
2. To protect jelly from molds, cover with a towel as soon as cold. As soon as possible, cover more securely.
3. The simplest and most satisfactory cover is white paper.
4. Cut out pieces of paper the size of the glass at the top of the jelly and a second set of papers about an inch in diameter larger than the first.
5. Brush over one side of the smaller papers with alcohol or brandy and press upon the jelly.
6. Brush the edge of the second pieces with beaten egg white or mucilage and press over the top and sides of the glass, to which it will closely adhere.
7. Store in a cool dry place.