Use none but porcelain, or _good_ bell-metal kettles for preserves and
jellies. If the latter, clean thoroughly just before you put in the
syrup or fruit. Scour with sand, then set it over the fire, with a
cupful of vinegar and a large handful of salt in it. Let this come to a
boil, and scour the whole of the inside of the kettle with it. Do not
let your preserves or anything else stand one moment in it after it is
withdrawn from the fire; fill the emptied kettle instantly with water
and wash it perfectly clean, although you may mean to return the syrup
to it again in five minutes. By observing these precautions, preserves
and pickles made in bell-metal may be rendered as good and wholesome as
if the frailer porcelain be used.
Use only fine sugar for nice preserves. Moist or dark sugar cannot be
made to produce the same effect as dry white.
Do not hurry any needful step in the process of preserving. Prepare
your fruit with care, weigh accurately, and allow time enough to do
your work well. Put up the preserves in small jars in preference to
large, and, when once made, keep them in a cool, dark closet that
is perfectly dry. Keep jellies in small stone china jars, or glass
tumblers closely covered. You can procure at most china and glass
stores, or house-furnishing establishments, metal covers with elastic
rims for these, which can be used from year to year.
Cover jellies and jams with tissue paper, double and wet with brandy,
pressed closely to the conserve before you put on the lid, or paste on
the thick paper. Examine your shelves frequently and narrowly for a few
weeks to see if your preserves are keeping well. If there is the least
sign of fermentation, boil them over, adding more sugar.
If jellies are not so firm after six or eight hours as you would have
them, set them in the sun, with bits of window glass over them to
keep out the dust and insects. Remove these at night and wipe off the
moisture collected on the under sides. Repeat this every day until the
jelly shrinks into firmness, filling up one cup from another as need
requires. This method is far preferable to boiling down, which both
injures the flavor and darkens the jelly.