Proportions Degrees
------------ With
Sirup Sugar Water Hydro-
No. Cups Cups meter Uses
---------------------------------------------------------------
1 2 4 28 Open-kettle canning, or pie
fruit canned by any method.
2 2 3 30 Open-kettle canning, or pie
fruit canned by any method.
3 2 2 40 Open-kettle canning, or sweet
fruits canned by cold-pack
methods.
4 2 1-1/2 48 Sweet fruits canned by
cold-pack methods.
5 2 1 54 Sour fruits canned by
cold-pack methods.
6 2 1/2 68 Very rich fruits canned by
cold-pack methods; preserves
canned by open-kettle method.
---------------------------------------------------------------
80. The density of sirup is also affected by the amount and rapidity of
evaporation that takes place in boiling, and these, in turn, depend on
the amount of surface that is exposed. For instance, if a sirup is
cooked in a large, flat kettle, the evaporation will be greater and more
rapid than if it is cooked in a small, deep vessel. Atmospheric pressure
affects the rapidity of evaporation, too. In a high altitude,
evaporation takes place more slowly than at sea level, because the
boiling point is lower. Thus, in the making of sirups for canning, the
first point to be determined is whether the sirup desired should be
light, medium, or heavy, and in its preparation the points mentioned
must receive consideration.
81. For determining the density of sirup, a _sirup gauge_, or
_hydrometer_, will be found useful. This device consists of a graduated
glass tube attached to a bulb that is weighted with mercury. The
graduations, or marks, on the tube, or top part, of the hydrometer serve
to indicate the percentage of solid matter dissolved in a solution and
register from to 50 degrees. To use such a gauge, partly fill a glass
cylinder--an ordinary drinking glass will do--with the sirup and place
the hydrometer in it. The greater the amount of solid matter dissolved
in the sirup, the higher will be hydrometer float. Then read the number
of degrees registered by observing the mark that is level with the
surface of the sirup.
The number of degrees that the hydrometer should register for sirups of
different densities--that is, for sirups consisting of different
proportions of sugar and water--are given in Table I. This table, in
addition, gives the uses that should be made of such sirups, and each
one is numbered so that it may be referred to readily later in the
recipes for canning fruits.
82. CLASSIFICATION OF FRUITS.--For the sake of convenience in canning,
fruits, too, are here divided into groups. These groups, three in
number, together with the fruits included in each, are:
1. _Soft Fruits_, which are subdivided into three kinds, namely, sweet,
sour, and very sour. The _sweet soft fruits_ include blackberries,
blueberries or huckleberries, sweet cherries, elderberries, ripe
gooseberries, mulberries, and black and red raspberries; the _sour soft
fruits_, apricots, currants, grapes, peaches, and strawberries; and the
_very sour soft fruits_, sour cherries, cranberries, green gooseberries,
plums, and rhubarb.