Every Step in Canning Part 25

It takes from three to ten days for the eggs to hatch into whitish or pinkish grublike caterpillars, and from five to ten weeks from the laying of the eggs before more moths appear to lay another lot of eggs. A number of "broods" or generations are produced yearly, so if a few of these moth eggs are stored away on dried fruits or vegetables hundreds of caterpillars are produced and many pounds of valuable material may be destroyed during the winter if the products are stored in a warm room. Dried fruits stored in warm, dark bins or in sacks offer especially favorable places for the development of these destructive moths.

It is evident that the larger the package, the greater the chance of a few eggs doing much damage. Small cartons or containers confine the injury from these moths to small quant.i.ties of material; for if the containers are closed tightly the insects cannot easily escape from them and infest other packages which may not have been infested previously.

If you are drying by sun and the products are not thoroughly dry at night, finish the process on the stove. If you desire to carry it over to the next day screen the drying racks early in the evening and fasten down the cheesecloth. With these precautions and with proper storage, no danger ordinarily need be feared from these insects. The additional precaution of heating the dried product to 140 degrees for thirty minutes sterilizes it if already infested.

Though not necessary, tin cans or gla.s.s jars make good receptacles for storage of dried fruits or vegetables. Pasteboard boxes with tight covers, stout paper bags and patented paraffin paper cartons also afford ample protection for dried products when protected from insects and rodents. The dried products must be protected from outside moisture, and will keep best in a cool, dry, well-ventilated place.

These conditions, however, are difficult to obtain in the more humid regions, and there moisture-tight containers should be used. If a small amount of dried product is put in each receptacle, just enough for one or two meals, it will not be necessary to open a container, the contents of which cannot be consumed in a short time. If a paper bag is used the upper part should be twisted into a neck, bent over and tied tightly with a string. A further precaution is to place the small bags in a tin container with a tightly fitting cover, such as an ordinary lard can. All bags should bear a label.

Pears and quinces usually are prepared and dried exactly as are apples. Pears are attractive when cut lengthwise into halves, with the stem and calyx removed but the core left in. Or they may be quartered.

If sliced like apples the drying period is shortened.

Peaches usually are dried unpeeled, but they are better if peeled before drying. The first step in the preparation of peaches is to split them open to remove the pit. To do this, cut completely round the peach in the line of the suture with a sharp knife. The cut must be complete, for tearing of the flesh will make the finished product less attractive. If the fruit is to be peeled the paring should be done before it is cut open to remove the pit.

To facilitate the removal of the skin, dip the peaches in a kettle of boiling water for one and a half minutes; then plunge directly into cold water, after which the skins can be easily slipped off. After the pit has been removed, lay on drier pit side up. The juice of the fruit will collect in the pit or "cup" and will add to the flavor and quality of the dried peaches. The peaches can be cut into smaller pieces if you wish to lessen the drying period.

Plums and apricots are not peeled, but are cut into halves, the pits removed and dried in the same way as peaches. Small, thin-fleshed varieties of plums are not suitable for drying.

When drying cherries always remove the stems. The pits may or may not be removed. The best product for later cooking or eating has the pit removed, though large quant.i.ties of juices are lost in the pitting unless you provide some way of saving and utilizing it.

A prune is simply a plum having certain qualities not possessed by all plums. All prunes are plums, but not all plums are prunes. The final test as to whether a plum is a prune is the ability to dry without fermenting with the pit still remaining in the fruit. If a plum cannot dry without fermentation unless the pit is removed, it is not a prune.

Prunes for drying, like other fruits, should be fully ripe.

Prunes are merely washed and then dried without removing the pits. The fruit is dry when the skin is well shrunken. The texture should be firm but springy and pliable enough to yield readily when pressed in the hand. The drying should not be continued until the individual prunes rattle as they are brought in contact with one another in handling. Prunes must be conditioned before storing.

In drying, prunes shrink about two-thirds in weight--that is, for every three pounds of fresh fruit you get one pound of finished product.

Smaller fruits, such as red and black raspberries, blackberries, huckleberries, dewberries, strawberries and blueberries, are simply washed and then put to dry. Berries must not be dried too hard; if too much moisture is removed they will not resume their original form when soaked in water. But the material must be dried sufficiently or it will mold. Haven't you often tasted extremely seedy dried berries?

They were dried until they rattled. Stop the drying as soon as the berries fail to stain the hand when pressed.

To obtain the most satisfactory results soft fruits should be only one layer deep on the drying trays.

Fruits contain about 80 to 95 per cent water and when dried sufficiently still retain from 15 to 20 per cent of water, so it is a good plan to weigh before and after drying. The product should lose from two-thirds to four-fifths of its weight.

STEPS IN FRUIT DRYING

1. Thoroughly cleanse the product.

2. Prepare the product by slicing and so on.

3. Spread on trays; put in oven or put on commercial drier.

4. Stir occasionally.

5. s.h.i.+ft trays.

6. Test for completeness of drying.

7. "Condition" for three or four days. Sweet fruits may contain more moisture without spoiling than those of low sugar content.

8. Heat to 140 degrees Fahrenheit for thirty minutes, to kill all insects.

9. Pack immediately in available receptacles.

10. Label and store.

FRUIT PASTES

Fruit pastes are delicious and can be dried.

1. Select, wash, prepare fruit.

2. Cook until soft; stir.

3. Add sugar to sweeten.

4. Continue cooking until very thick.

5. Spread out flat by spoonfuls on oiled paper.

6. Dry in slow oven; finish drying over kitchen range.

7. Turn from time to time like griddle cakes.

Nuts of all kinds can be dried in these cakes, which may be left whole or cut in strips with scissors.

CANDIED FRUITS AND VEGETABLES

1. Select product of uniform size and ripeness.

2. Wash; prepare in usual way.

3. Cut fruit in halves, quarters or smaller sections; cut vegetables in narrow strips two and a half inches long.

4. Drop in a sirup cooked until it spins a thread. To prepare ginger sirup, add a few roots of ginger to the sirup.

5. Cook until transparent.

6. Drain.

7. Dry in slow oven; Finish drying over kitchen range.

8. Roll in granulated sugar. (May be omitted for fruits.)

This method is recommended especially for candied apples, peaches, pears and carrots.

In a properly constructed sun drier, all fruits will dry in from 3 to 12 hours, under normal summer conditions. Time depends on dryness of atmosphere, suns.h.i.+ne and wind. Products dried in a sun drier, no matter how crude, are superior to those dried in the open without protection of some kind. Products dry more rapidly in high alt.i.tudes than at sea level.

Racks in oven can be used. Plates or platters can be used in oven. A stove drier hung over the stove can be used. A water-bath or other commercial drier can be used with the stove.