Part 111

These general directions are for all fruits and vegetables that are cooked before putting in the jars. Fruit keeps its shape better if cooked in the jars, which should be prepared as above, the fruit carefully looked over and filled into the jars. If a juicy fruit, like blackberries or raspberries, put the sugar in with it in alternate layers. For cherries the amount of sugar depends on the acidity of the fruit and is best made into a syrup with a little water and poured down through them. Peaches and pears after paring, are packed into the jars and a syrup of about a quarter of a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit poured over them. Most fruits need to be cooked from 10 to 15 minutes after the water around them begins to boil.

Red raspberries ought not to be boiled. Put them into jars as gently as possible; they are the tenderest of all fruits and will bear the slightest handling. Drop them in loosely, fold a saucer into a clean cloth, and lay over the top, set on a perforated board in a boiler, pour water to two-thirds, cover and set over a slow fire. As the fruit settles add more until full. When it is cooked soft lift the jar out and fill to the top with boiling syrup of equal parts of sugar and water, and seal.

Do not can all the fruit, for jams and jellies are a welcome change and also easier to keep. Raspberries and currants mixed make delicious jam. Use the juice of a third as many currants and 3⁠/⁠4 of a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit. The flavor of all kinds of fruit is injured by cooking it long with the sugar, so heat the latter in the oven and add when the fruit is nearly done.

Jelly is best made on a clear day, for small fruits absorb moisture, and if picked after a rain require longer boiling, and every minute of unnecessary boiling gives jelly a less delicate color and flavor. When jelly is syrupy, it has been boiled too long; if it drops from the spoon with a spring, or wrinkles as you push it with the spoon in a saucer while cooling, it is done enough. Try it after 5 minutes’ boil. Cook the fruit only until the skin is broken and pulp softened. Strain without squeezing for jelly, and use the last juice you squeeze out for jam. Measure the juice and boil uncovered, skimming off. For sweet fruits 3⁠/⁠4 of a pound of sugar is enough to a pint of juice. Heat the sugar in the oven, add to the boiling juice; stir till dissolved. When it boils up, draw to the back of the stove. Scald the jelly glasses, fill and let stand in a clean, cool place till next day; then cover. Blackberries make jelly of a delicious flavor and jelly easily when a little underripe. Currants should be barely ripe; the ends of the bunches may be rather green.

A highly prized way of canning cherries: Stone and let them stand overnight. In the morning pour off the juice, add sugar to taste, and some water if there is not much juice, and boil and skim till it is a rich syrup. If the cherries are sweet a pint of juice and 3⁠/⁠4 of a pint of sugar will be right. Heat the jars, put in the uncooked cherries till they are nearly full; then pour over them the boiling syrup and fasten on the covers. Set the jars in a washboiler, fill it with very hot water and let it stand all night. The heat of the syrup and of the water will cook the fruit, but the flavor and color will be that of fresh and uncooked cherries.

«Canning without Sugar.»—I.—In order to preserve the juices of fruit merely by sterilization, put the juice into the bottles in which it is to be kept, filling them very nearly full; place the bottles, unstoppered, in a kettle filled with cold water, so arranging them on a wooden perforated “false bottom,” or other like contrivance, as to prevent their immediate contact with the metal, thus preventing unequal heating and possible fracture. Now heat the water, gradually raising the temperature to the boiling point, and maintain at that until the juice attains a boiling temperature; then close the bottles with perfectly fitting corks, which {604} have been kept immersed in boiling water for a short time before use. The corks should not be fastened in any way, for if the sterilization is not complete, fermentation and consequent explosion of the bottle might occur, unless the cork should be forced out. The addition of sugar is not necessary to secure the success of the operation; in fact a small proportion would have no antiseptic effect. If the juice is to be used for syrup as for use at the soda fountain, the best method is to make a concentrated syrup at once, using about 2 pounds of refined sugar to 1 pint of juice, dissolving by a gentle heat. The syrup may be made by simple agitation without heat and a finer flavor thus results, but its keeping quality would be uncertain.

II.—Fruit juices may be preserved by gentle heating and after protection from the air in sterilized containers. The heat required is much below the boiling point. Professor Müller finds that a temperature of from 140° to 158° F., maintained for 15 minutes, is sufficient to render the fermenting agents present inactive. The bottles must also be heated to destroy any adherent germs. The juices may be placed in them as expressed and the container then placed in a water bath. As soon as the heating is finished the bottles must be securely closed. The heating process will, in consequence of coagulating certain substances, produce turbidity, and if clear liquid is required, filtration is, of course, necessary. In this case it is better to heat the juice in bulk in a kettle, filter through felt, fill the bottles, and then heat again in the containers as in the first instance. It is said that grape juice prepared in this manner has been found unaltered after keeping for many years. Various antiseptics have been proposed as preservatives for fruit juices and other articles of food, but all such agents are objectionable both on account of their direct action on the system and their effect in rendering food less digestible. While small quantities of such drugs occasionally taken may exert no appreciable effect, continuous use is liable to be more or less harmful.

«CRUSHED FRUIT PRESERVING:»

«Crushed Pineapples.»—Secure a good brand of canned grated pineapple and drain off about one-half of the liquor by placing on a strainer. Add to each pound of pineapple 1 pound of granulated sugar. Place on the fire and bring to boiling point, stirring constantly. Just before removing from the fire, add to each gallon of pulp 1 ounce saturated alcoholic solution salicylic acid. Put into air-tight jars until wanted for use.

«Crushed Peach.»—Take a good brand of canned yellow peaches, drain off liquor, and rub through a No. 8 sieve. Add sugar, bring to the boiling point, and when ready to remove from fire add to each gallon 1 ounce saturated alcoholic solution of salicylic acid. Put into jars and seal hermetically.

«Crushed Apricots.»—Prepared in similar manner to crushed peach, using canned apricots.

«Crushed Orange.»—Secure oranges with a thin peel and containing plenty of juice. Remove the outer or yellow peel first, taking care not to include any of bitter peel. The outer peel may be used in making orange phosphate or tincture sweet orange peel. After removing the outer peel, remove the inner, bitter peel, quarter and remove the seeds. Extract part of the juice and grind the pulp through an ordinary meat grinder. Add sugar, place on the fire, and bring to the boiling point. When ready to remove, add to each gallon 1 ounce saturated alcoholic solution of salicylic acid and 1 ounce glycerine. Put into jars and seal.

«Crushed Cherries.»—If obtainable, the large, dark California cherry should be used. Stone the cherries, and grind to a pulp. Add sugar, and place on the fire, stirring constantly. Before removing, add to each gallon 1 ounce of the saturated solution of salicylic acid. Put into jars and seal.

«Dry Sugar Preserving.»—The fruits are embedded in a thick layer of dry, powdered sugar to which they give up the greater part of the water contained in them. At the same time, a quantity of sugar passes through the skins into the interior of the fruits. Afterwards, the fruits are washed once, wiped, and completely dried.

«Fruit Preserving.»—Express the juice and filter at once, through two thicknesses of best white Swedish paper, into a container that has been sterilized immediately before letting the juice run into it, by boiling water. The better plan is to take out of water in active ebullition at the moment you desire to use it. Have ready some long-necked, 8-ounce vials, which should also be kept in boiling water until needed. Pour the juice into these, leaving room in the upper part of the body of the vial to {605} receive a teaspoonful of the best olive oil. Pour the latter in so that it will trickle down the neck and form a layer on top of the juice, and close the neck with a wad of antiseptic cotton thrust into it in such manner that it does not touch the oil, and leaves room for the cork to be put in without touching it. Cork and cap or seal the vial, and put in a cool, dark place, and keep standing upright. If carried out faithfully with due attention to cleanliness, this process will keep the juice in a perfectly natural condition for a very long time. The two essentials are the careful and rapid filtration, and the complete asepticization of the containers. Another process, in use in the French Navy, depends upon the rapid and careful filtering of the juice, and the addition of from 8 to 10 per cent of alcohol.

«Raspberry Juice.»—A dark juice is obtained by adding to the crushed raspberries, before the fermentation, slight quantities of sugar in layers. The ethyl-alcohol forming during the fermentation is said to cause a better extraction of the raspberry red. Furthermore, the boiling should not be conducted on a naked fire, but by means of superheated steam, so as to avoid formation of caramel. Finally, the sugar used should be perfectly free from ultramarine and lime, since both impurities detract from the red color of the raspberries.

«Spice for Fruit Compote.»—This is greatly in demand in neighborhoods where many plums and pears are preserved.

Parts Parts Lemon peel 15 or — Cinnamon, ordinary 15 or 50 Star aniseed 10 or 15 Coriander 3 or 100 Carob pods 5 or — Ginger root, peeled 2 or 200 Pimento — or 100 Licorice — or 100 Cloves, without stems — or 30 Spanish peppers — or 2 Oil of lemon — or 4 Oil of cinnamon — or 2 Oil of cloves — or 2

All the solid constituents are powdered moderately fine and thoroughly mixed; the oils dropped in last, and rubbed into the powder.

«Strawberries.»—Carefully remove the stems and calyxes, place the strawberries on a sieve, and move the latter about in a tub of water for a few moments, to remove any dirt clinging to them. Drain and partially dry spontaneously, then remove from the sieve and put into a porcelain-lined kettle provided with a tight cover. To every pound of berries take a half pound of sugar and 2 ounces of water and put the same in a kettle over the fire. Let remain until the sugar has dissolved or become liquid, and then pour the same, while still hot, over the berries, cover the kettle tightly and let it stand overnight. The next morning put the kettle over the fire, removing the cover when the berries begin to boil, and let boil gently for 6 to 8 minutes (according to the mass), removing all scum as it arises. Remove from the fire, and with a perforated spoon or dipper take the fruit from the syrup, and fill into any suitable vessel. Replace the syrup on the fire and boil for about the same length of time as before, then pour, all hot, over the berries. The next day empty out the contents of the vessel on a sieve, and let the berries drain off; remove the syrup that drains off, add water, put on the fire, and boil until you obtain a syrup which flows but slowly from the stirring spoon. At this point add the berries, and let boil gently for a few moments. Have your preserve jars as hot as possible, by putting them into a pot of cold water and bringing the latter to a boil, and into them fill the berries, hot from the kettle. Cool down, cover with buttered paper, and immediately close the jars hermetically. If corks are used, they should be protected below with parchment paper, and afterwards covered with wet bladder stretched over the top, securely tied and waxed. The process seems very troublesome and tedious, but all of the care expended is repaid by the richness and pureness of the flavor of the preserve, which maintains the odor and taste of the fresh berry in perfection.

«Hydrogen Peroxide as a Preservative.»—Hydrogen peroxide is one of the best, least harmful, and most convenient agents for preserving syrups, wine, beer, cider, and vinegar. For this purpose 2 1⁠/⁠2 fluidrachms of the commercial peroxide of hydrogen may be added to each quart of the article to be preserved. Hydrogen peroxide also affords an easy test for bacteria in water. When hydrogen peroxide is added to water that contains bacteria, these organisms decompose it, and consequently oxygen gas is given off. If the water be much contaminated the disengagement of gas may be quite brisk. {606}

«To Preserve Milk» (which should be as fresh as possible) there should be added enough hydrogen peroxide to cause it to be completely decomposed by the enzymes of the milk. For this purpose 1.3 per cent, by volume, of a 3 per cent hydrogen peroxide solution is required. The milk is well shaken and kept for 5 hours at 122° to 125° F. in well-closed vessels. Upon cooling, it may keep fresh for about a month and also to retain its natural fresh taste. With this process, if pure milk is used, the ordinary disease germs are killed off soon after milking and the milk sterilized.

«Powdered Cork as a Preservative.»—Tests have shown that powdered cork is very efficacious for packing and preserving fruits and vegetables. A bed of cork is placed at the bottom of the case, and the fruits or vegetables and the cork are then disposed in alternate layers, with a final one of cork at the top. Care should be taken to fill up the interstices, in order to prevent friction. Fruit may thus be kept fresh a year, provided any unsound parts have been removed preliminarily. When unpacking for sale, it suffices to plunge the fruit into water. Generally speaking, 50 pounds of cork go with 1,000 or 1,200 pounds of fruit. The cork serves as a protection against cold, heat, and humidity. Various fruits, such as grapes, mandarines, tomatoes, and early vegetables, are successfully packed in this way.

PRESSURE TABLE: See Tables.

PRINT COPYING: See Copying.

PRINTERS’ OIL: See Oil.

PRINTING ON PHOTOGRAPHS: See Photography.

PRINTS, RESTORATION OF: See Engravings.

PRINTS, THEIR PRESERVATION: See Engravings.

PRINTING OILCLOTH AND LEATHER IN GOLD: See Gold.

PRINTING-OUT PAPER, HOW TO SENSITIZE: See Photography, under Paper-Sensitizing Processes.

PRINTING-ROLLER COMPOSITIONS: See Roller Compositions for Printers.

PRUSSIC ACID: See Poisons.

«PUMICE STONE.»

While emery is used for polishing tools, polishing sand for stones and glass, ferric oxide for fine glassware, and lime and felt for metals, pumice stone is more frequently employed for polishing softer objects. Natural pumice stone presents but little firmness, and the search has therefore been made to replace the natural product with an artificial one. An artificial stone has been produced by means of sandstone and clay, designed to be used for a variety of purposes. No. 1, hard or soft, with coarse grain, is designed for leather and waterproof garments, and for the industries of felt and wool; No. 2, hard and soft, of average grain, is designed for work in stucco and sculptors’ use, and for rubbing down wood before painting; No. 3, soft, with fine grain, is used for polishing wood and tin articles; No. 4, of average hardness, with fine grain, is used for giving to wood a surface previous to polishing with oil; No. 5, hard, with fine grain, is employed for metal work and stones, especially lithographic stones. These artificial products are utilized in the same manner as the volcanic products. For giving a smooth surface to wood, the operation is dry; but for finishing, the product is diluted with oil.

PUMICE-STONE SOAP: See Soaps.

PUNCHES: See Ice Creams.

PUNCTURE CEMENT: See Cement.

PURPLE OF CASSIUS: See Gold.

«Putty»

(See also Lutes, under Adhesives and Cements.)

Common putty, as used by carpenters, painters, and glaziers, is whiting mixed with linseed oil to the consistency of dough. Plasterers use a fine lime mortar that is called putty. Jewelers use a tin oxide for polishing, called putty powder or putz powder. (See Putz Powder, under Jewelers’ Polishes, under Polishes.) {607}

«Acid-Proof Putty.»—I.—Melt 1 part of gum elastic with 2 parts of linseed oil and mix with the necessary quantity of white bole by continued kneading to the desired consistency. Hydrochloric acid and nitric acid do not attack this putty, it softens somewhat in the warm and does not dry readily on the surface. The drying and hardening is effected by an admixture of 1⁠/⁠2 part of litharge or red lead.

II.—A putty which will even resist boiling sulphuric acid is prepared by melting caoutchouc at a moderate heat, then adding 8 per cent of tallow, stirring constantly, whereupon sufficiently slaked lime is added until the whole has the consistency of soft dough. Finally about 20 per cent of red lead is still added, which causes the mass to set immediately and to harden and dry. A solution of caoutchouc in double its weight of linseed oil, added by means of heat and with the like quantity (weight) of pipe clay, gives a plastic mass which likewise resists most acids.

«Black Putty.»—Mix whiting and antimony sulphide, the latter finely powdered, with soluble glass. This putty, it is claimed, can be polished, after hardening, by means of a burnishing agate.

«Durable Putty.»—According to the “Gewerbeschau,” mix a handful of burnt lime with 4 1⁠/⁠4 ounces of linseed oil; allow this mixture to boil down to the consistency of common putty, and dry the extensible mass received, in a place not accessible to the rays of the sun. When the putty, which has become very hard through the drying, is to be used, it is warmed. Over the flame it will become soft and pliable, but after having been applied and become cold, it binds the various materials very firmly.

«Glaziers’ Putty.»—I.—For puttying panes or looking glasses into picture frames a mixture prepared as follows is well adapted: Make a solution of gum elastic in benzine, strong enough so that a syrup-like fluid results. If the solution be too thin, wait until the benzine evaporates. Then grind white lead in linseed-oil varnish to a stiff paste and add the gum solution. This putty may be used, besides the above purposes, for the tight puttying-in of window panes into their frames. The putty is applied on the glass lap of the frames and the panes are firmly pressed into it. The glass plates thereby obtain a good, firm support and stick to the wood, as the putty adheres both to the glass and to the wood.

II.—A useful putty for mirrors, etc., is prepared by dissolving gummi elasticum (caoutchouc) in benzol to a syrupy solution, and incorporating this latter with a mixture of white lead and linseed oil to make a stiff pulp. The putty adheres strongly to both glass and wood, and may therefore be applied to the framework of the window, mirror, etc., to be glazed, the glass being then pressed firmly on the cementing layer thus formed.

«Hard Putty.»—This is used by carriage painters and jewelers. Boil 4 pounds brown umber and 7 pounds linseed oil for 2 hours; stir in 2 ounces beeswax; take from the fire and mix in 5 1⁠/⁠2 pounds chalk and 11 pounds white lead; the mixing must be done very thoroughly.

«Painters’ Putty and Rough Stuff.»—Gradually knead sifted dry chalk (whiting) or else rye flour, powdered white lead, zinc white, or lithopone white with good linseed-oil varnish. The best putty is produced from varnish with plenty of chalk and some zinc white. This mixture can be tinted with earth colors. These oil putties must be well kneaded together and rather compact (like glaziers’ putty).

If flour paste is boiled (this is best produced by scalding with hot water, pouring in, gradually, the rye flour which has been previously dissolved in a little cold water and stirring constantly until the proper consistency is attained) and dry sifted chalk and a little varnish are added, a good rough stuff for wood or iron is obtained, which can be rubbed. This may also be produced from glaziers’ oil putty by gradually kneading into it flour paste and a little more sifted dry chalk.

«To Soften Glaziers’ Putty.»—I.—Glaziers’ putty which has become hard can be softened with the following mixture: Mix carefully equal parts of crude powdered potash and freshly burnt lime and make it into a paste with a little water. This dough, to which about 1⁠/⁠4 part of soft soap is still added, is applied on the putty to be softened, but care has to be taken not to cover other paint, as it would be surely destroyed thereby. After a few hours the hardest putty will be softened by this caustic mass and can be removed from glass and wood.

II.—A good way to make the putty soft and plastic enough in a few hours so that it can be taken off like fresh putty, is by the use of kerosene, which entirely dissolves the linseed oil of the putty, {608} transformed into rosin, and quickly penetrates it.

«Substitute for Putty.»—A cheap and effective substitute for putty to stop cracks in woodwork is made by soaking newspapers in a paste made by boiling a pound of flour in 3 quarts of water, and adding a teaspoonful of alum. This mixture should be of about the same consistency as putty, and should be forced into the cracks with a blunt knife. It will harden, like papier maché, and when dry may be painted or stained to match the boards, when it will be almost imperceptible.

«Waterproof Putties.»—I.—Grind powdered white lead or minium (red lead) with thick linseed-oil varnish to a stiff paste. This putty is used extensively for tightening wrought-iron gas pipes, for tightening rivet seams on gas meters, hot-water furnaces, cast-iron flange pipes for hot-water heating, etc. The putty made with minium dries very slowly, but becomes tight even before it is quite hard, and holds very firmly after solidification. Sometimes a little ground gypsum is added to it.

The two following putties are cheaper than the above-mentioned red lead putty: II.—One part white lead, 1 part manganese, one part white pipe clay, prepared with linseed-oil varnish.

III.—Two parts red lead, 5 parts white lead, 4 parts clay, ground in or prepared with linseed-oil varnish.

IV.—Excellent putty, which has been found invaluable where waterproof closing and permanent adhesion are desired, is made from litharge and glycerine. The litharge must be finely pulverized and the glycerine very concentrated, thickly liquid, and clear as water. Both substances are mixed into a viscid, thickly liquid pulp. The pegs of kerosene lamps, for instance, can be fixed in so firmly with this putty that they can only be removed by chiseling it out. For puttying in the glass panes of aquariums it is equally valuable. As it can withstand higher temperatures it may be successfully used for fixing tools, curling irons, forks, etc., in the wooden handles. The thickish putty mass is rubbed into the hole, and the part to be fixed is inserted. As this putty hardens very quickly it cannot be prepared in large quantities, and only enough for immediate use must be compounded in each case.