The introduction of iron ware lined with porcelain has fortunately
almost superseded the use of brass or bell-metal kettles for
boiling sweetmeats; a practice by which the articles prepared in
those pernicious utensils were always more or less imbued with the
deleterious qualities of the verdigris that is produced in them by
the action of acids.
Charcoal furnaces will be found very convenient for preserving;
the kettles being set on the top. They can be used in the open
air. Sweetmeats should be boiled rather quickly, that the watery
particles may exhale at once, without being subjected to so long a
process as to spoil the colour and diminish the flavour of the
fruit. But on the other hand, if boiled too short a time they will
not keep so well.
If you wish your sweetmeats to look bright and clear, use only the
very best loaf-sugar. Fruit may be preserved for family use and
for common purposes, in sugar of inferior quality, but it will
never have a good appearance, and it is also more liable to spoil.
If too small a proportion of sugar is allowed to the fruit, it
will _certainly_ not keep well. When this experiment is tried
it is generally found to be false economy; as sweetmeats, when
they begin to spoil, can only be recovered and made eatable by
boiling them over again with additional sugar; and even then, they
are never so good as if done properly at first. If jellies have
not sufficient sugar, they do not congeal, but will remain liquid.
Jelly bags should be made of white flannel. It is well to have a
wooden stand or frame like a towel horse, to which the bag can be
tied while it is dripping. The bag should first be dipped in hot
water, for if dry it will absorb too much of the juice. After the
liquor is all in, close the top of the bag, that none of the
flavour may evaporate.
In putting away sweetmeats, it is best to place them in small
jars, as the more frequently they are exposed to the air by
opening the more danger there is of their spoiling. The best
vessels for this purpose are white queen's-ware pots, or glass
jars. For jellies, jams, and for small fruit, common glass
tumblers are very convenient, and may be covered simply with
double tissue-paper, cut exactly to fit the inside of the top of
the glass, laid lightly on the sweetmeat, and pressed down all
round with the finger. This covering, if closely and nicely
fitted, will be found to keep them perfectly well, and as it
adheres so closely as to form a complete coat over the top, it is
better for jellies or jams than writing-paper dipped in brandy,
which is always somewhat shrivelled by the liquor with which it
has been saturated.
If you find that your sweetmeats have become dry and candied, you
may liquefy them again by setting the jars in water and making it
boil round them.
In preserving fruit whole, it is best to put it first in a thin
syrup. If boiled in a thick syrup at the beginning, the juice will
be drawn out so as to shrink the fruit.
It is better to boil it but a short time at once, and then to take
it out and let it get cold, afterwards returning it to the syrup,
than to keep it boiling; too long at a time, which will cause it
to break and lose its shape.
Preserving kettles should be rather broad than deep, for the fruit
cannot be done equally if it is too much heaped. They should all
have covers belonging to them, to put on after the scum has done
rising that the flavour of the fruit may be kept in with the
steam.
A perforated skimmer pierced all through with holes is a very
necessary utensil in making sweetmeats.
The water used for melting the sugar should be very clear; spring
or pump water is best, but if you are obliged to use river water,
let it first be filtered. Any turbidness or impurity in the water
will injure the clearness of the sweetmeats.
If sweetmeats ferment in the jars, boil them over again with
additional sugar.