UTENSILS AND MATERIALS Utensils for Canning most useful utensil for canning fruit in oonsiderable quantities, is an ordi nary tin wash boiler, such as is used in the laundry, cut down to conve nient size. As this utensil will not ordinarily have a great deal of wear, a cheap tin wash boiler may be pur chased, or an old wash boiler that has been discarded may, by means of patches and solder, be put into suffi ciently good order to answer this purpose. Measure from the bottom of the wash boiler to a point four or five inches higher than the top of an ordinary quart fruit jar, mark a line all around at this point, and have a tinsmith cut it off on this line. Or you can cut it off yourself with a chisel and hammer by inserting the end of a block of wood and striking against this. But it is better to have this work done by a tinsmith, and have him turn over the sharp edge so that you will not cut yourself on it. Now have a gridiron of wooden slats or wires fitted into the bottom in the inside to keep the j ars off the bot tom on the principle of the double boiler. The result is a utensil of the right size for use on an ordinary range or on two burners of a gas or alcohol stove, and of convenient depth for sterilizing fruit jars as well•as canning the fruit.
Or use an ordinary wash boiler fitted with a suitable false bottom. This has the same advantages, except that it is less convenient to reach into its steaming depths when removing the empty jars or jars full of fruit.
A large porcelain preserving ket tle holding ten or twelve quarts, a porcelain skimmer and ladle and a long-handled stirring spoon of wood are also necessary. Use a silver knife to pare the fruit rather than a steel knife, as the latter tends to give fruit a dark color.
A pair of scales and suitable meas uring cup should always be at hand in the kitchen. The old-fashioned Mason fruit jar is still in use, but the so-called lightning jar is preferable. Have on hand a sufficient quantity of new rubber rings. Never attempt to use old rings, as rubber decays very rapidly, and the old ring is almost certain to admit the air, causing the fruit to spoil before it is used. Old rings also harbor bacteria that cause fermentation. With clean fruit jars and new rubber rings, the battle is already balf over.
Alcohol Stove. — A proper stove is a very important consideration. Fruit is ordinarily ready for canning in sultry weather, and the heat of a cook stove or range is so unbearable that the process rarely receives the quality of skill and the degree of at tention that the best results demand. A tired and overheated housekeeper is in no mood to closely observe the delicate points that contribute to th(..
perfection of d high grade product. Housekeepers fortunate enough to enjoy the use of gas, will need no suggestion to use a gas range for canning fruit, and at a time when the oven burners are not lighted. But where there is no available supply of gas a two-burner stove consuming denatured alcohol is especially rec ommended for this purpose. This is self-contained and portable, so that the whole apparatus for canning fruit can be moved into a large, cool room, into an outhouse, or if desired in still, clear, or sultry weather, out of doors on the veranda, or in the shade of a tree on the lawn. At all events, an effort should be made to " keep cool " in both senses, if one is ambitious to obtain the best possible results.
Materials for Canning and Pre serving. — The materials used for canning and preserving should inva riably be of the finest quality. Only the best grade of white granulated sugar should be used. And this should be clarified as described under making candy. Fresh, ripe fruit of the best quality should be selected and carefully picked over. All bruised, specked, or wormeaten speci mens should be discarded. Small fruits, as raspberries and strawber ries, should be canned if possible the morning they are picked. Great care should be taken in handling fruit to avoid bruising it. A silver paring knife should be used as an iron or steel knife tends to darken the fruit. And the fruit when pared should be instantly dropped into a vessel of clear cold water, care being taken that they are not bruised in falling. This prevents the fruit from " rust ing" or turning dark by exposure to the air. All hard portions should be removed as they resist the effects of heat. And all " specks " or decayed portions since they injure the flavor and color.
The best quality of canned fruit is obtained by heating fruit in the jars as hereafter described. This method avoids bruising the fruit by stirring, lifting, or pouring it from one vessel to another. Particular attention and care when preparing fruit will be amply repaid in the improved qual ity of the product. If fruit is pared, the work should be done thoroughly and no particles of skin allowed to remain. If the cores, pits, or stones are removed at all, the work should be done in a painstaking manner. Especially if the goods are offered for sale, a small fraction of addi tional labor at the start will add largely to the price and salability of the product. For similar reasons only the best quality of spices, brandy, or other condiments should be used.