method of keeping fruit, and one practised for years, is simply to
take ordinary wine cases, halves and quarters, as different sizes
are handy, line the bottoms well with short sweet hay, and take them
on a hand-barrow to the orchard. There the fruit should be laid
carefully in them, taken at once to the fruit room, and placed on
close-bottomed shelves. Under such circumstances it will keep until
April, and even until June in sand. The greatest care is used in
the picking and handling of the fruit. It may be thought that, when
in single layers, fruit is more easily examined, and decaying fruit
cleared away; but from many years’ experience in storing fruit in
barrels and boxes, only a small quantity is lost by decay or wilting.
Nor is such vigilance required in the way of periodical gleanings as
some would believe. The very act of searching for such is inimical to
the good keeping of the rest, as we cannot see the side farthest from
us; consequently the fruits have to be handled, and the oftener this
is done the sooner will the bloom--the best safeguard to keeping--get
rubbed off. In boxes this is avoided. Simply commence using from the
top, and go on until the bottom is reached; and not only does the
fruit come out clear and clean-skinned, but as sound and firm as when
put away. (J. K.)
Apples and Pears.--(_a_) When the fruit room cannot hold all the
crop, it should only be used for the best sample, which should be
gathered without bruising, and spread out on the shelves in a single
layer, and barely touching each other. In plentiful seasons the
different varieties are often piled up in hillocks, on the shelves
and floors, to the destruction of large quantities of the fruit;
for it is not possible to keep fruit long in that condition, and it
soon becomes rotten and useless. In most establishments the wants of
the kitchen and dessert can be judged very nearly; and such being
the case, it is far better to dispose of the fruit which cannot be
used at home, and keep and care for a supply of the better dessert
and kitchen fruit only. In many establishments it is the custom,
in plentiful seasons, to store all the crop in a house that was
never intended to accommodate it, and throughout the autumn and
winter preservation consists principally in picking out the rotten
fruit periodically, and wheeling it to the pigsty or the rubbish
heap. It would be better to have given it away for nothing at the
beginning. Such waste is simply disgraceful; but it is what happens
in many large private gardens. Apples and pears soon decay and rot
if they are carelessly stored, but it is surprising how long even
the so-called worst-keeping varieties can be preserved with a little
care. Apples of the Codling and Lord Suffield class, and pears like
the Jargonelle and Hessel, or “hogel,” as it is called in the north,
are not supposed to keep many days; but they will keep nevertheless
for a considerable time if they are not piled up in heaps like
potatoes. Codling apples, indeed, will keep till they become insipid
and flavourless without showing signs of decay. In some cases it
is necessary to keep the fruit in store till it can be disposed of
advantageously; and when that is so, and it cannot be accommodated in
the fruit room proper, it should be stored in a dry loft or shed, and
covered over with dry straw to protect from the vicissitudes of the
weather. Common fruit laid up in heaps in this way soon ripens and
turns yellow, but does not keep.
(_b_) Where there is no room for storing apples in the usual way,
they may be treated as follows: All the later keeping sorts, after
being picked and laid out thinly in a room, may be stored in a pit,
the same as potatoes. Mark out the pit 3 ft. wide and 9 in. in depth;
put a layer of clean straw in the bottom. Commence at one end with
the latest keeping sorts, and make them into a ridge about 2 ft. high
in the centre; put a layer of straw between the sorts to keep them
from getting mixed; then take the next sort, and so continue with the
latest until the whole is finished. A covering of dry turves or straw
must then be put over the whole, and this must be covered with soil,
the same as is generally done with potato pits. Blenheims keep in
this way in very fine condition till the middle of January, and later
keeping sorts according to their times of ripening. When pitting the
fruit, great care must be taken to pick out all that are bruised or
damaged. Faults of this kind will be readily seen after 9-12 days
from the time when the fruits are gathered. Bruised apples soon rot,
and cause others to do the same; but, if carefully stored, scarcely
one will be found decayed when taken from the pits, if taken out
about the time they are generally ripe. (W. C.)
Artichokes.--Boil as many artichokes as you intend to keep, only
just enough to be able to pull off all the leaves and choke: lay the
bottoms on a tin plate, and put them in the oven. When thoroughly
dry, and quite hard, put them in a paper bag, and hang them in a dry
place. Before using they must be soaked in warm water for 3-4 hours,
changing the water very often. Let the last water be boiling hot, the
bottoms will then be very tender, and eat as well as fresh ones.
Asparagus.--Boil fresh-gathered, well-scraped asparagus for 5 minutes
in salted water. Strain off the water, dip them in cold water and
drain on a cloth; put them in tins with the points all one way.
Have an ironmonger ready to solder on the lids immediately; when
the solder is cold put the tins in a cauldron of water and boil for
1½ hour. Keep them with the points of the asparagus upwards. It is
better to mark the top of the tin to prevent their being reversed.
Cherries.--These can only be successfully preserved on the tree, and
then only when the trees are grown against walls or as espaliers.
On standards it is almost impossible to keep them from the birds,
except by much trouble and expense. Early cherries can be preserved
a month or more after they are ripe by covering the trees with mats,
and keeping them quite dark. The trees do not suffer so much by
this practice as one would imagine, although the leaves fall off
prematurely, owing no doubt to the wood being pretty well matured
before the fruit is ripe; but it is not advisable to cover the same
trees every year in succession. Morello cherries of course keep best
when grown on a north wall, and it is hardly necessary to mat them;
but they must be netted to keep off vermin.
Currants.--Take when ripe, separate from the stem, put in glass jars,
set them in a kettle of cold water, then put them over the fire, and
boil 15-20 minutes; cork tight, and set away where the frost will not
get to them.
Eggs.--(_a_) Most of the recipes given for preserving eggs direct
that the egg should be coated with something to stop up the pores.
Many seem equally efficacious if the covering is complete, with one
exception--fat, which becomes rancid, and imparts its own flavour
through the pores of the shell. Gum, the white of an egg, collodion,
or gelatine have all been used with success, but paraffin wax has
often failed. Anything that the eggs are packed in gives its own
flavour to their contents; therefore bran, chaff, and straw are to
be avoided as being likely to become musty. It is far better to set
the eggs on end, the larger ends upwards, in a wire or wooden rack,
and to allow free passage of air between. The eggs need not then be
turned, for the yolks are tethered to each end by a membranous cord,
and if they settle, it is always to one side, which would here be
impossible, nor to either extremity. One writer has used and approved
the following method: To 1 teaspoonful salicylic acid add about 1
pint boiling water. Let it cool, dip the eggs in one by one, dry
them, and store them on racks in an airy cupboard. Again some people
dip each egg into boiling water, and so make an impervious lining of
its own white; but this requires more care to prevent cracking, and
does not preserve the eggs for so long a time as the recipes given
above. Eggs are also packed in boxes in lime, and turned frequently.
The advantage of this plan is the small space that a number of eggs
occupy; its great disadvantage is that the lime acts upon the shell
and thins it down to exceeding brittleness. Much better is it to make
a tub of lime water, by pouring cold water over ordinary unslaked
lime, and when it has settled and is clear, pour off the water into
a deep vessel. Put the eggs in this and cover it over. The air is
here effectually kept away from the eggs, and the difficulty of wire
racks is avoided. For cooking purposes lime packing is all that can
be desired, though for the breakfast table some much prefer the
salicylic acid. Whatever plan is chosen the eggs should be put by at
once, not after they are a week or two old.
(_b_) When you collect your eggs in a morning, sort them into sizes,
and put 10-12 into a net; have ready a large saucepan of water at
the full boil. Take the net with the eggs and hold it in exactly
2 seconds; this kills the germ of the egg and closes the pores of
the shell. It is necessary, as the eggs always differ much in size,
to take one of each size, immerse them separately, and time them
exactly, as the white must on no account be in the least degree set.
When they are finished, pack all away in tin boxes until required for
use.
(_c_) Get a brick of salt, pound it fine and dry it, then place
the eggs freshly gathered, and not cracked, with the pointed ends
downwards in the salt, and pack them firmly in a box or jar; then
keep them in a dry place. Most of them will be quite fit for the
table when kept not more than 3 months; after that they still poach
well, and are good for culinary purposes. The same salt used for
several years is better than new. One great convenience of this plan
is that on opening a box, or 4 lb. biscuit tin containing about
60, you are not compelled to use them all quickly, for each egg
is isolated in salt and remains fresh till wanted. The weight of
testimony on all sides is much in favour of salt over all other plans.
(_d_) To 1 gal. water put 1 lb. quicklime; pour the water, when
boiling, on the lime, and let it stand till the next day. Procure a
large brown earthenware pan, well glazed inside, and large enough to
hold about 100 eggs; put them in carefully, that they do not get in
the least cracked, pour in the lime water, cover over the vessel with
a slate, and put it in the cellar, but do not let it touch the floor.
A little salt in the lime keeps the water from freezing. Eggs thus
treated will keep good for many months.
Figs.--These should not be gathered from the tree until they are
ripe and tender in the skin, after which they will keep in the fruit
room for a few days without growing mouldy, but no longer; on ice,
however, they will keep for 2-3 weeks.
Filberts.--Get some stone jars, such as are used for pickles, about
2 ft. in height and 1 ft. in diameter; fill them with filberts, and
then cork them down very tightly with a bung. Bury them about 1 ft.
in the earth, or place them in a damp wine-cellar.
French Beans.--(_a_) Cut the beans up as usual, boil for 10 minutes
in water without salt, put into a colander. Fill tins with them
almost to the top, leaving only a little room for enough boiling
water to cover them; then solder the tins down, after which boil them
for an hour; take the tins out, and keep them in a dry place.
(_b_) Gather the beans when young, and in dry weather. Have ready a
brown earthenware pan or crock holding about ½ basket, and when the
beans have been gathered string and cut them as if for immediate
use; cover the bottom of the crock well with salt--the coarse kind
used for pickling pork--add a layer of French beans, well cover them
with salt, then add layers of beans and of salt alternately until
the crock is full; tie it down with thick brown paper, keep it in a
cool cellar where it is not too dry, and by Christmas the beans will
be ready for use. It is not necessary to have sufficient beans at
one time to fill the crock, provided care is taken to cover the last
layer with plenty of salt. To prepare them for use during the winter,
take out of the crock as many as are wanted for immediate use, put
them in a pan, and pour enough hot (but not boiling) water over them
to cover them (the salt will then fall to the bottom), lift out the
beans, and put them into fresh hot water 3 or 4 times, allowing them
to remain in each water ¾-1 hour, then boil them in the ordinary way.
A pinch of soda carbonate in the water they are boiled in gives them
the bright green colour they have when fresh gathered. Towards the
end of the winter they require ¼-½ hour’s extra boiling, as the salt
is apt to make them hard. Keep the crock tied down between the times
of using the beans. By attention to these rules they will remain good
till the following May or June.
Gooseberries and Currants.--Bushes of both these in the open quarter
may be matted up when the fruit is ripe, and it will keep, under
ordinarily favourable conditions, till November; but by far the best
plan is to grow the trees against a north wall, where they may be
kept till late in the season with little trouble.
Grapes.--(_a_) Many people are deterred from adopting the very useful
plan of keeping late grapes in bottles of water, from the idea that
some elaborately fitted up or air-tight compartment is necessary;
but this is by no means the case, as, with a little contrivance, a
good grape room may be extemporised in any compartment enclosed with
4 brick walls. The principal point is to get a steady temperature,
that would not be liable to sudden fluctuations: and for this reason
a room with a northern aspect is desirable, or, what is better still,
an apartment that does not communicate directly with the outside air.
The advantage of having the grapes thus securely bottled, when severe
frosts and sunshine render it impossible to maintain the houses in
which they were grown at anything like an equable temperature after
the beginning of the year, can only be fully realised by those who
have had to keep them on the vines until late in spring, besides the
benefit which the vines derive by being released of their crop and
pruned, cleaned, &c., at the most favourable period.
(_b_) Cut them with about 6 in. of wood below the bunch, and 2 in.
or 3 in. of wood above. Place the bunches in bottles filled with
water and a bit of charcoal in each. The grapes must hang quite free,
without touching the bottles. A slip of wood placed between the stalk
and the bottle ensures this. Grapes keep in this way for many months.
They must be stored in a dry place.
Green Peas.--(_a_) The Russian method is to shell the peas, put them
into a saucepan of boiling water, let them remain but a short time,
and put them to drain in a colander; when thoroughly drained, spread
them out on a cloth on the kitchen table to dry; next put them in the
oven (which must be cool) in flat tin dishes just for a few minutes
to harden; keep them in paper bags hung up in the kitchen or other
warm, dry place. When wanted for use, soak in soft water 1 hour, then
place them in a saucepan of cold water with a small piece of butter,
and boil them until they are fit to serve.
(_b_) The peas must be quite fully grown, but not old. They must be
gathered on a fine day and be perfectly dry. After shelling, put
them into wide-mouthed bottles. These, too, must be quite dry; any
dampness would cause the peas to turn mouldy. When in the bottles,
shake them a little to make them lie as close as possible, cork the
bottles, and tie moistened bladder tightly over them to exclude the
air. Set the bottles side by side in a large fish-kettle, with hay
at the bottom and round the sides, as well as around each bottle.
Pour in cold water up to the necks of the bottles, put the pan on the
fire, and after the water boils let it continue boiling for 2 hours;
then take the pan off, and leave the bottles standing in it until the
water is perfectly cold. When cold, take them out, wipe them dry,
apply melted rosin over the tops, and put them away to keep in a
cool, dry place.
Honey.--Honey, if required to be kept in the comb, should be left
undisturbed in the supers, and cut out as required; that which is
sealed over will keep a long time without alteration. One very good
way of preserving honey, when it is white comb and perfectly free
from bee-bread, as that of all good bee-keepers should be, is to
melt the whole by placing it in an earthen vessel, and standing it
in a saucepan of boiling water. When the wax has melted and risen to
the top, tie the jar down tightly with bladders, and the whole will
keep, if undisturbed, for many months without alteration or loss of
flavour.
Lemons.--(_a_) Wrap each in common tissue paper, and lay them out
on a shelf so that they do not touch each other. The shelf should
be in a dry, dark cupboard, free from draughts. (_b_) Lemons will
keep good for months by simply putting them in a jug of butter-milk,
changing the butter-milk about every 3 weeks. When the lemons are
required for use, they should be well dried with a cloth. (_c_) They
will keep some time in a jar with fresh dry earth mould covering each
separately. (_d_) Put them in a basin of water, which latter should
be changed twice or thrice weekly, taking care not to bruise the
lemons.
Lemon Juice.--To preserve this, squeeze a number of fine lemons,
taking care that they are all quite fresh. Strain the juice through
muslin, and pour it into bottles with just enough of the best olive
oil to cover the surface. Cork well, and keep in a dry place. Or it
may be done with sugar, allowing ½ lb. powdered sugar to ½ pint lemon
juice. They must be stirred together with a silver spoon until the
sugar is quite dissolved. Pour it into small bottles, corking them
well, and tying bladder tightly over the corks.
Melons.--Some varieties of the melon keep much better than others,
and are all the more valuable on that account. It is a pity that
raisers of new varieties do not give a little more attention to this
point. By selecting from those kinds which are coconut-shaped and
firm of rind, particularly at the end, we should no doubt have melons
of excellent keeping qualities, as well as of good flavour. As it is,
at present none of the recent new sorts is superior to, if as good,
as those which were cultivated 20-30 years ago. All the varieties
should be cut when just ripe, and kept in a cool, dry room.
(_b_) _Eingemacht melonen_, the German way of preparing which is the
following: Remove the outer part and the seeds of the melon; cut it
into convenient pieces, and lay it for 24 hours in some good white
wine vinegar, with a few pieces of cinnamon and of ginger, and the
thin rind of 1 or 2 lemons. Then make a sweet syrup with lump sugar
and some of the vinegar; boil and skim it, and when cold lay the
pieces of melon in it; after 2 days take them out, boil up the syrup,
and replace them in it when it is cold. Repeat this operation once
more, taking care to boil down the liquor to a very thick syrup; then
put by the preserve in jars in the usual way. (The G. C.)
(_c_) Put them in a strong brine of salt and water in a wide-mouthed
jar; cover them with cabbage leaves, cap the jar with paper, and set
it in the chimney corner till the leaves become yellowish, when the
melons must be put in fresh salt and water with fresh cabbage leaves,
covered close, and put on a very slow fire to warm gently but not to
boil; then take them out, clean the pan, and put them in fresh cold
water to stand 2 days, changing the water thrice daily (to take the
saltness off); prick them with a fork, and cut all the large ones
into convenient pieces, removing all the seeds; lay them in more cold
water, while you make a syrup thus: boil 1 lb. loaf sugar in 1 full
gill water, taking off the scum, and add afterwards 1 oz. bruised
brown ginger to each lb., and the very thin rind of a lemon. When the
syrup is thick, set it by till cold; then put in the pieces of fruit.
Take the fruit out again, and boil up the syrup 3 times a week for 3
weeks, and never put the fruit in again till cold. At the end of 3
weeks tie papers over the jars, and put them by. (C. E.)
Mushrooms.--(_a_) Pick and cut off the stalks, wipe them clean, from
the large ones remove the brown part, peel off the skin, and lay them
on paper in a cool oven. When dry put them into paper bags, and keep
them in a dry place. When required for use, simmer them in gravy, and
they will swell to their original size.
(_b_) Allow to each qt. of mushrooms 3 oz. butter, pepper and salt
to taste, and the juice of 1 lemon. Peel the mushrooms, and put them
into cold water, with a little lemon juice; take them out and dry
them very carefully in a cloth. Put the butter into a stewpan capable
of holding the mushrooms. When melted, add the mushrooms, lemon
juice, pepper, and salt. Let them remain over a slow fire until their
liquor is boiled away, and they have become quite dry. Be careful
not to allow them to stick to the bottom of the pan. When done, put
them into pots, and pour over the top clarified butter. If required
for immediate use, they will keep good a few days without being
covered over. To re-warm them, put the mushrooms into a stewpan,
strain the butter from them, and they will be ready for use.
Peaches and Nectarines.--These, like the plums, vary in their keeping
qualities; and certainly to be a good keeper is not the least merit
a peach or nectarine can possess, for, owing to the crop frequently
coming in suddenly during a spell of warm weather, the gardener is
forced to gather large quantities of fruit, and keep it the best
way he can. Every one does not possess an ice-house, otherwise most
varieties keep on for ice 4-6 weeks; but they must be used as soon
as taken out, and almost before they have cooled. In the fruit room,
placed on a cool airy shelf, the Royal George peach, Belle-garde,
Grosse Mignonne, Borrington, and Late Admiral will keep a fortnight
or longer, according to the weather; and the Malta is said to keep
even longer. But much depends, of course, how the fruit is gathered.
Nectarines are better keepers than peaches, and the Victoria is one
of the best. Most of the kinds will keep a fortnight at least without
deteriorating in flavour if they are pulled at the right time, which
is just before they are quite ripe to the base.
Pineapples.--By far the best keepers of these are the smooth Cayenne,
Charlotte Rothschild, and Queen. The first two will keep 6 weeks
after they are ripe if the plants are moved into a cool structure
and kept dry at the root, but if they are cut off the plant they do
not keep so long. Queens keep 4-5 weeks on the plants under the same
conditions. Some recommend the fruit, whether cut or on the plants,
to be removed before it gets quite ripe; but when good flavour is an
object this practice is not advisable, as the fruit will keep nearly
as well if it is allowed to get quite ripe before taking it out of
the pinery.
Plums and Apricots.--Both plums and apricots are difficult to
keep long, though some varieties keep much better than others,
particularly of plums. Apricots perish on the tree if they are not
gathered in time, generally rotting on the ripe side, particularly
if the weather be wet, or if the fruit has been injured by wasps or
other vermin. The only plan is to gather the fruit before it is quite
ripe on the shady side, and lay it on a sieve in the fruit room,
or in a cool cellar. In this way it will keep for a week perfectly
perhaps, but scarcely longer.