cores and pips. The quarters should be thrown into a pan of cold
spring water as they are cut, to preserve the colour. The quinces
should then be put into a covered jar with 1 qt. water to 4 lb.
fruit, and stewed in a slow oven for several hours, till they are
quite tender, and of a bright red colour. When they are thus prepared
for marmalade weigh them, and to every lb. of fruit allow ¾ lb.
crushed lump sugar. Put the fruit into a preserving pan, and bring
it gently to a boil, stirring frequently all the time. Continue
boiling till the whole is quite soft, and a smooth pulp; then add the
sugar, and again bring the fruit to a boil. Continue boiling gently
for 20-25 minutes. Take the pan from the fire, and paste down the
marmalade in jars while hot with double papers, care being taken to
have the paste quite boiling, and to strain the papers tightly over
the jars.
Quinces Preserved Whole.--Pare some ripe quinces, and put them in a
preserving-pan, ¾ covered with cold water (if they should float while
the water is being poured on them, press them down with a plate until
you have gauged the exact height of the water); take the quinces out,
measure the water, and to every pint allow 3 lb. broken loaf sugar;
let this boil rapidly in the preserving-pan for five minutes, and
then put in the quinces. The syrup should not cover them at first,
but when they are half-cooked it will then amply cover the fruit.
Boil the quinces rapidly, until soft enough for a knitting-needle to
pierce them easily, which should be in 1½ hour, reckoning from the
first boiling up. Take the quinces out carefully so as not to break
them, and lay them on dishes to cool. Run the syrup through a jelly
bag, or a piece of new flannel put in a gravy strainer; this frees it
of all odd little bits that may boil from the outside of the quinces
and makes it clearer. Put the syrup back in the preserving-pan, and
boil it rapidly until it will jelly when dropped on a plate; put the
quinces into the boiling syrup, and let them simmer gently for 10
minutes. Place each quince carefully in wide-necked jars, pour the
hot syrup over them, and when cold cover in the usual way.
Raspberry Jelly.--Put the raspberries in an enamelled preserving-pan
over the fire, or in a stone jar in the oven, having first carefully
picked out any that are mouldy; squeeze through a piece of cheese
cloth, doubled. To each qt. raspberry juice add ½ pint red currant
juice extracted in the same manner; to each pint allow ¾ lb. lump
sugar; boil ½ hour moderately; skim, and stir frequently. Use a
wooden spoon for mashing the fruit, and a silver one for skimming;
iron spoils the colour.
Red Currant Jelly.--(_a_) To 3 lb. red currants, which should
be fresh and not over ripe, mix 1 lb. white. Place these into a
preserving-pan, and gently stir over a clear fire until the juice
flows freely; then turn them into a fine hair sieve, and drain; pass
the juice through a jelly bag, weigh it, and boil it fast for 15
minutes, adding to each lb. 8 oz. coarsely powdered sugar. Set this
aside on the hob, stirring well till all the sugar be dissolved. Then
thoroughly boil the jelly for 15 minutes, and pour it into a pot. An
excellent jelly may be made with equal parts of the juice of the red
and white currants and raspberries. Be sure that whenever scum rises,
before or after the sugar be put in, to remove it, or the preserve
will be cloudy.
(_b_) Take fresh red currants and put them in the oven to draw the
juice; then let them drain gradually. Take equal weights juice and
lump sugar. Pound the sugar fine in a mortar, pass it through a fine
sieve, then place it on a dish before the fire to get well heated.
When the juice is cold put it in the preserving pan, and place it
on the fire; put the sugar in slowly by handfuls, stirring all the
time. By the time the sugar is all in, the juice is ready to set. The
colour should be of a beautiful red.
Rhubarb, Bottled.--Bottling rhubarb is a little more troublesome than
other fruits as you must be so particular in peeling it. To obviate
this, use the early foreign rhubarb, which, though a little more
expensive, makes much the prettiest preserve from its bright red
colour, and does not require peeling. Cut the rhubarb into lengths
of 1 in.; have ready wide-mouthed bottles (also the corks in boiling
water to soften them) with about ½ teacupful cold water in each, fill
them with fruit to the end of the neck of the bottle; place them in
a pot of cold water, without corking them; place a little hay or
anything soft between the bottles to prevent their knocking together,
which they will do when the water boils; let them boil for about 15
minutes, and cork at once. When the water has cooled, remove the
bottles, and leave them till next day. Cut the corks level, and cover
them with bottlewax. Bottled fruits retain their colour by being kept
in the dark, buried in the earth if possible.
Rhubarb Jam.--Wipe the rhubarb dry, and cut it into pieces a little
more than 1 in. long; unless it is old, there is no need to peel it.
To every lb. of rhubarb add 1 lb. white sugar, and put a few bits of
whole ginger in the preserving-pan with the rhubarb and sugar; let it
reach boiling point slowly; when once it boils decidedly, keep it on
the fire 20 minutes if the rhubarb is young, ½-¾ hour if it is old.
Just before you take it off the fire stir in a spoonful of essence of
lemon. Take out the bits of ginger as you put the jam in pots. The
quantity of lemon and ginger is quite a matter of taste.
Rhubarb Jelly.--To be made in September. Cut nice stalks of red
rhubarb and put them into a large jar. To 6 lb. rhubarb add the peel
of three lemons, and let it get soft in a moderate oven. When cooked,
pour off the juice into an enamelled sauce-pan, and add the juice of
the 3 lemons. Let it simmer gently for ½ hour, and strain through a
jelly-bag. Then add 1½ lb. lump sugar to every pint juice; when it
is dissolved boil it in a preserving-pan for 40 minutes, keeping it
well stirred and skimmed. Pour into pots, and when cold tie down with
brandy paper. To use up the pulp, well boil it in the preserving-pan,
adding ¾ lb. lump sugar to every 1 lb. pulp and either halved or
pounded bitter almonds or candied peel.
Rhubarb and Orange Marmalade.--To every pint cut-up rhubarb allow
3 oranges and 12 oz. crushed loaf sugar. Peel the oranges, take
out some of the white pith, and cut the rinds into thin strips
as for orange marmalade. Cut up the insides of the oranges into
slices, removing the pips. Put rhubarb, oranges, and sugar into a
preserving-pan, and let them boil gently over a moderate fire until
sufficiently done, which may be ascertained as above. As the scum
rises it should be removed. When the jam sets pour it off into jars,
to be covered down next day when cold.
Rowan Jelly.--(_a_) The rowans should be quite ripe. Pick them off
the stalks and put them into the pan, and cover with water. Take them
off before they come to the boil, break them well down with a wooden
spoon, and strain through a jelly-bag; then add 1 lb. sugar to every
pint of juice, and boil till it jellies.
(_b_) Apples and rowans equal weight. Slice the apples without paring
or coring, put them in the pan with the rowans, water just sufficient
to cover the fruit. Warm slowly until they boil; then bruise with a
wooden spoon, and pass through a sieve. Strain through muslin, and
boil 1 lb. sugar to every lb. fruit juice. Boil to the thickness
desired. It keeps better when thick.
Strawberry Jam.--Gather the strawberries on a fine dry day, pick off
the stalks carefully, and reject all that are the least unsound.
Weigh the fruit, and take an equal quantity of pounded sugar; put the
fruit into a preserving-pan on the fire and when the juice runs out
add the sugar; let it simmer, stirring gently, and skimming well.
When it boils keep it boiling, not too fast, for 20 minutes, stirring
most carefully, so as not to break the fruit, all the time with a
wooden spoon.
Strawberry Jelly.--Take 3 lb. strawberries, and 2 lb. pink rhubarb or
red currants. If rhubarb, cut it in small lengths. Put these into a
very wide-mouthed jar, and set it on a hot stove, with a ring under
it lest it should catch. Cover the fruit with a plate or saucer small
enough to go inside the jar, so that as the fruit sinks down you may
be able to press it gently from time to time, and drain off the juice
into a basin. When 1½ pint is extracted, pass it through a hair sieve
into a stewpan, and put to it 2 oz. gelatine, which has been soaked
for ½ hour, in ½ pint of cold water, 6 oz. loaf sugar, and the beaten
whites and crushed shells of 3 fresh eggs. Stir until the gelatine is
dissolved, and the jelly boils. Put the lid on the stewpan, and let
it boil gently, without stirring or skimming for ½ hour. Let it stand
away from the fire for a few minutes, and then strain as you would
calf’s foot jelly. Oil the mould you intend using well with a little
good salad oil. Arrange prettily in the bottom of it, according to
its pattern, a few nice strawberries and blanched almonds. Pour in
sufficient of the lukewarm jelly to set the fruit, and put in a cool
place until set. Keep the remainder of the jelly in a liquid state
until you are ready to fill up the mould, then set the whole if
possible, on ice to get firm. Turn it out just before serving in a
glass dish, with or without a custard, round, but not over it. The
fruit pulp left from this may be made into a tolerable preserve for
nursery use, if boiled with ¾ lb. sugar to a pint of pulp.
Strawberries Preserved Whole.--Take equal weights largest
strawberries procurable and fine loaf sugar, lay the fruit in deep
dishes, and sprinkle half the sugar over them in fine powder; give
the dish a gentle shake that the sugar may touch the under part of
the fruit. The next day make a syrup with the remainder of the sugar
and the juice drawn from the strawberries, and boil it until it
jellies; then carefully put in the strawberries, and let them simmer
nearly an hour; then put them with care into jars or bottles, and
fill up with the syrup, of which there will be more than required;
but the next day the jars will hold nearly or quite the whole. Cover
the jars or bottles with brandy papers. (E. A. G.)
Tomato Preserve.--(_a_) Take those tomatoes not entirely ripe (the
very green ones late in the autumn are nice) and remove the stems;
allow ½ lb. white sugar to 1 lb. fruit; put into the preserving
kettle, and add water enough to make sufficient syrup. Do not put too
much water in at first, as you can add to it if there is not enough.
Lemons should be sliced and put into it in the proportion of 1 lemon
to every 2 lb. fruit. Cook until done through and the syrup looks
thick. They make an excellent preserve and taste almost like figs.
(_b_) Take the sound fruit as soon as ripe, scald, and peel them. To
7 lb. tomatoes add 7 lb. white sugar, and let them stand overnight.
Take the tomatoes out of the sugar and boil the syrup, removing the
scum; put in the tomatoes and boil gently 15-20 minutes. Remove the
fruit again and boil until the syrup thickens; on cooling put the
fruit into jars, and pour the syrup over it; add a few slices of
lemon to each jar.
Vegetable Marrow Preserve.--Take a ripe marrow about 9 lb. weight,
with the same amount of sugar, pare the marrow and remove the seeds
and any soft parts; cut in pieces 1 in. thick and 2 in. length; put
them in a basin with layers of sugar all night, with 1 tablespoonful
capsicums tied up in muslin, and double the quantity of rough ginger
well bruised and tied in muslin. In the morning pour the liquid
over the remainder of the sugar, which boil and skim; then add the
fruit, also the juice and rind of a lemon to each lb. of fruit, and
1 teaspoonful cochineal for colouring; boil till the fluid is clear;
before taking off 2 glasses of brandy may be added.
Walnuts, Preserved.--Gather the walnuts when they are full grown,
but not hard. They should be in that state that a pin will penetrate
them. Prick each walnut over with a large pin, put them in cold
water, and leave them for 2 hours; then pour that water away, and
fill the pan with fresh. Let the walnuts remain thus for 4 days,
changing the water every 24 hours, to take out all the bitterness.
At the end of the time change the water, and set them on the fire.
As soon as they are soft take them out carefully with a skimmer, put
them again into cold water, and leave them 4-5 days, changing the
water as before every 24 hours. Then place the walnuts in a large
glazed pan; then take common brown sugar, boil this with some water,
and run the syrup through a jelly bag. Boil it again until it becomes
thick, let it stand, and when about half cold pour it over the
walnuts, and leave them. Next day drain off the syrup, boil it again,
and when half cold pour it on the fruit. Repeat this every 24 hours,
increasing the thickness of the syrup each time of boiling. A small
quantity of coarse sugar should be added at every boiling, as the
fruit ought to be covered with the syrup. On the ninth day put a few
cloves and some cinnamon in a glass of water for 24 hours, then cut
each clove into 4 pieces lengthwise; cut the cinnamon also into bits
about the same size. Take the walnuts out of the syrup, and stick
4 pieces of clove and as many of cinnamon into each walnut. In the
meanwhile boil the syrup up again, and when half cold pour it over
the fruit and leave it. In 24 hours drain off the syrup, and set it
on the fire for the last time. As soon as it begins to boil put in
the fruit; let them boil up together about 12 times, and then take
them from the fire. Make the bottles quite hot, put in the walnuts
one by one with a skimmer, pour the syrup on (they should be well
covered with it), and, when cold, cork them tight and tie a parchment
over every one. You must not try to hurry the preserving, or you will
get a bitter jam. These walnuts may be eaten immediately, or they
will keep for 10 years; but, as in course of time the fruit sucks up
the syrup, they should be filled up with fresh. You might use loaf
sugar in preference to brown.
_THE DAIRY._
The dairy should either be an isolated building or attached to the
farm-house. It must be built with a view to keeping it dry, airy,
light, cool, and above everything clean. Nothing absorbs the taint of
bad odours more quickly than milk. The best aspect for a dairy is the
north, and while the windows admit plenty of light (which develops
colour in the cream) they should be shaded with evergreens to exclude
sunshine and heat. The temperature should range between 60° and 65°
F., never exceeding 65° nor descending below 55°. In a temperature of
40° F., milk keeps fresh for a very long time, but the cream becomes
bitter before it can be skimmed. In a temperature of 70° to 72° F.,
the milk sours readily and yields less cream, which latter will make
a soft butter very prone to rancidity.
Where the dairy is isolated, provision must be made in the building
for washing the utensils. This will need much care to avoid
conflicting with the conditions just mentioned. The dairy site must
be well drained. The walls may be of brick, built double with an air
space between, on concrete footings 12 in. thick, with a damp-course
as described on p. 5. The best material for flooring is well-laid
Portland cement concrete; the floor should incline gently to one
corner, where an outlet can be fitted so that the floor can be
thoroughly flushed at intervals. All sharp corners, and edges, and
mouldings must be avoided, as they form nests for the collection of
dirt. The walls may be plastered throughout with material that will
make a smooth surface capable of being washed, or they may be covered
with glazed tiles. Shelves for holding the milk dishes should be
about 5 ft. from the floor and preferably of enamelled iron or thin
slate or stone slabs. Perforated shelves afford better circulation of
air. The shelves should in any case be quite independent of the walls
of the room.
A typical dairy in Chester county, United States, is thus described
by Hazard. The main building, which is built on a hillside, is 50
ft. long by 13 ft. wide. The room for the milk is 6 ft. below the
surface and 12 ft. from floor to ceiling. This allows ample room
for ventilation and light by side-windows. The troughs for holding
the water in which the milk is set are formed of brick and cement,
with their bottoms 1 ft. above the level of the floor of the
building. They are 28 in. wide, so as to take in two rows of ordinary
milk-pans. Across one end is a trough formed similar to the others,
except that it is so arranged as to receive and hold the water to a
greater depth than the side-troughs, so as to contain the cream-cans.
In all there is an ingenious arrangement for increasing or decreasing
the depth of the water so as to suit the temperature outside. The
water is drawn from a well by a “telegraph” pump, and the surplus is
passed off by a drain, secured against the upward passage of odours
by a “bell-trap.” During the winter no water is used, and a fire
is lighted to keep the temperature to the proper point. The utmost
care is taken in ventilation, even to a small ventilator under which
to set the lamp used when too dark for skimming without artificial
light. At the front and in each side of the main building is a wing
13 ft. square; one of these contains the power-machine, the other
the needful arrangement for heating the water and washing pans. For
working the butter a large inclined table and lever are used, and the
printing is done by an ingenious machine for stamping and marking in
squares. This milk-house is made for a dairy of 50 cows; and it would
seem, therefore, the proper proportions are 13 ft. wide by 1 ft. in
length for each cow.
A supply of ice is a valuable provision in hot weather, and in some
climates an ice-house may be considered as an essential adjunct to
the dairy.
Ventilation demands extreme care. “The position of the milk-room with
relation to the other rooms of the dairy, as the churning and the
cheese-room, and the scalding or washing-room, should be such that
air can be admitted on three sides of the room, so as to ensure an
equable supply of air all over the interior of the milk-room. The
means adopted for ensuring a supply of fresh air by the windows are
of very simple character, namely, making each window in halves, the
lower and upper halves being hinged to a bar stretching horizontally
across the centre of the window frame; the lower half being hinged
so that it opens inwards and upwards, the upper half inwards and
downwards. By adjusting the opening of the two halves, the fresh air
may be admitted in any required volume, and in any direction--upwards
towards the ceiling, and downwards towards the floor. For removing
the used air, there are many plans. One good suggestion is that the
ceiling be made up of narrow fillets so placed that spaces are left
throughout the whole surface of ceiling; through these spaces the
air passes, into the space between the inner ceiling and the outer
roof, in which are placed ventilators with valves, which may be
opened and closed as desired. If a ceiling be dispensed with and an
open roof adopted, the roof will require to be double, that is, a
hollow space between the inner and outer boarding; this will tend to
keep the temperature of the dairy more equable, than if the boarding
and slates are the only covering. The double roof is simply made
by lining the inner side of rafters with inch boarding tongued and
grooved. The inner surface of boarding will be all the better if
papered with a glazed white paper. The door of the milk-room should
be double.” (Darton.)
While efforts are required to keep the milk-room cool in summer,
there may be need of warming in winter. The best means of warming is
by hot-water pipes. In some dairies the milk pans stand in a series
of troughs on an inclined plane, and all inter-communicating; in
this way a current of warm water may be made to surround the pans in
winter, and of cold water in summer. Gauze coverings should envelop
the pans to exclude insects. Milk pans may be made of glass, glazed
earthenware, or tinned iron, 15 to 18 in. across, and less than 6 in.
deep.
_Devonshire Cream._--The milk should be left in the pan till the
cream has sufficiently risen--about 12 hours in summer, and 24 hours
in winter. The whole pan must then be placed over a close range or
on a stove, and left there till the milk becomes quite hot, when the
surface will look thick, and bubbles will appear. Then take the pan
back to the dairy, and skim the cream off on the following day. The
milk must not be allowed to boil, and it should be heated slowly.
The time that it takes to scald the cream will depend upon the heat
of the fire, the temperature of the milk, and other circumstances;
and it is only by practice that you will learn to know when it is
sufficiently done. In Devonshire, celebrated for its clotted cream,
the pans are of tin and shallow. They contain 10-12 qt. milk. These,
after standing 10-12 hours, are placed on an iron hot-plate, or
over a stove, until the cream has formed, which is indicated by the
air bubbles rising through the milk, and producing blisters on the
surface of the cream; it is then near boiling point, and the pan must
be removed at once to a cool place. After some hours the cream is
skimmed off with a slice. Milk which is carried from a distance, or
much agitated before being put into pans to settle for cream, never
throws up so much, nor such rich cream, as if used directly after
being milked. The last drawn milk of each milking is at all times
richer than the first, and for that reason should be set apart for
cream.
_Devonshire Junket._--(_a_) If you cannot get milk from the cow warm,
take fresh milk, and put it in the oven, or on a hot stove, until
it becomes the same warmth as from the cow. Put a glass of brandy
and powdered sugar into it sufficient to sweeten it; add a piece of
rennet to the milk, or if you cannot get this use the essence of
rennet, which you can buy at the chemist’s. If you have used the
former, remove it in a few minutes, and leave the milk to set in
solid curd, which it will soon do; then lay over the top of it either
very good cream, quite smoothly, or Devonshire cream, or you may whip
the cream. The real Devonshire way is to remove cream from the top
of a dairy pan in one sheet, and lay it over. Ornament the top with
nutmeg.
(_b_) Rub 2 large lumps of sugar on a lemon, put them with 1 pint
milk and ½ pint cream in a saucepan, and make warm, but be careful
not to let it be hotter than you can hold your finger in. Have ready
in a china bowl a small teacupful of brandy, pour the milk and cream
into it; suspend a piece of rennet (which you must well wash from
all the salt) by a string, and place it in a cool place to set. When
turned enough, take it out, pour ½ pint cream on the top, add some
powdered cinnamon, and serve.
_Swiss Cream._--This may be made in a mould in the following way, and
will be found extremely good. Soak 1 oz. gelatine in cold milk for ½
hour. Steep the rind of 2 lemons in 1½ pint milk with sugar to taste;
put it over the fire, but do not let it boil. Bake up the yolks of
5 fresh eggs, and pour the flavoured milk (strained) upon them. Mix
well, and then stir over the fire until the custard thickens; add the
gelatine, and stir again over the fire without letting it boil until
the gelatine is dissolved, then pour it into a basin. Dip a mould in
water, ornament it with preserved cherries, when cool pour some of
the above cream into it, put a layer of macaroons, previously soaked
in a little white wine, another layer of custard, and so on until the
mould is quite full. Set it on ice, or in a cool place to set, and
when wanted turn it out carefully.
_Butter._--The room where the cream is churned, and the butter made,
should be fitted with a table of marble or slate, and shelves for
holding the butter.
The yields of cream from milk, and butter from cream, are subject
to much variation. The richness of milk differs too at morning and
evening. But the average figures are approximately these:--12 qt. of
milk should give 1 qt. of cream, and 1 qt. of cream should afford 14
oz. of butter. Morning milk is richer than evening milk, and the last
portion drawn from the cow at each milking, is richer than the first.
Autumn milk is best for butter, summer milk for cheese.
Milk to be sold fresh as such should be cooled immediately it is
drawn from the cow, because while warm and exposed to the air,
the sugar present undergoes oxidation with consequent liberation
of lactic acid, which is indicated by the milk turning sour. When
promptly cooled, milk can be kept sweet and transported without risk,
besides which it gives up its cream more readily. The Americans have
introduced various coolers, all of which are more or less effective.