Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 163, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 July 1913 — REQUIRES CARE IN CANNING [ARTICLE]

REQUIRES CARE IN CANNING

The Strawberry, on Account of-Its Evanescent Flavor and Color Is ' Hard to Handle. On account of its evanescent flavor and, color, there is no fruit that requires more care in its canning or preserving than the strawberry? In selecting the berries, be sure that they are ripe, dry and 'freshly gathered. For this reason it is better to wait for the home-grown berries. Those that have laid in the market overnight are scarcely worth the trouble of handling. Be sure the cans to be used are sterilized, tops and all, and the rubbers new. If you are preserving according to the American custom, allow sugar, pound for pound, but never allow the berries that are to be canned to stand in the sugat*. as it extracts the juice and toughens the fruit. Pack the fresh berries into the cans, Bhaking down well, but taking care not to crush. Hqve ready a hot sirup made from v sugar and the juice squeezed from smaller berries, and slowly pour In the hot sirup over the fresh berries in the jars, leaving as much space at the top. Have a common wash boiler a third fulU-of water that is about the same temperature ap that of the jars holding the hot sirup. Set the cans on a wooden rack, place straw or kitchen towels between the cans to prevent their hitting each other. Put the can covers on the jars, but leave off the rubbers. Bring to a boil, and as soon as the sirup in the jars rises, Bhowing that the contents are scalding hot, lift the jars out on a dry board. . fei.

Fill each jar brimming full with the scalding sirup that is left in the saucepan, put on the rubbers and screw on the covers as tightly -as possible. When cold, tighten again, wrap each one in paper and set in a cool, dry, dark closet or cellar where the temperature does not rise above seventy degrees. *