The farm cook & rule book

Adding too much sugar produces a soft jelly, while not enough produces a tough, stringy product. Experiments have shown that the sugar should be added gradually after the juice begins to boil. It does not need to be heated in the oven first if stirred into the juice carefully. Watch for Jellying Point Care must be exercised in watching for the jellying point, for jelly cooked too long is stringy and tough and frequently it is dark in color. Uncooked jelly is syrupy and soft and it has a tendency to sour. By dipping some of the jelly in a spoon, allowing it to cool a few minutes and pouring it gently from the edge of the spoon, one can determine when the jellying stage is reached. If the juice runs off like syrup, it is not cooked enough, but if it breaks in flakes or sheets off, the jellying stage is reached. A safe way of determining when the jelly is cooked enough is to use a thermometer. When the temperature of the boiling mass is 221 to 223 degrees Fahrenheit or 106 degrees Centigrade, the jellying point has been reached. The hot jelly is skimmed, poured into sterilized glasses which have been boiled in water 12 minutes and set in a warm place, such as a sunny window, to cool. When firm, it is sealed with paraffin, labeled and stored in a cool, dark place. In sealing, pour the hot paraffin on top of the jelly and run a small pointed knife around the edge of the glass while the paraffin is still hot. Sterilize the glass covers in boiling water before putting them over the jelly. Wrapping glasses in paper helps to keep out light and prevent fading. Straining the Juice After the fruit is cooked to a pulp, strain the juice through dampened flannel without squeezing. This juice makes the best jelly. Then return the pulp to the stove, add cold water to cover and boil 20 minutes. Strain through the flannel again without squeezing. Make jelly as with the first extraction of juice, making the pectin test first to determine how much sugar to add. Cloudy jelly usually is the result of cooking the juice too long with the fruit or not using sufficient care in straining it. Best results are obtained in making 8 glasses or less at a time. The kettle used should have a capacity four times as great as the volume of juice to be cooked. Cooking too much juice at one time frequently results in a slower cookery, thus a destruction of pectin and a loss of color. Apple Jelly Wipe, quarter and core apples. Cover with cold water and heat slowly until the apples are a pulp. Drain through dampened flannel and do not squeeze. Boil the juice about 10 minutes, add % as much sugar as juice and boil 10 minutes. Skim, fill glasses, and when cool, seal with paraffin. After straining the juice from the apple pulp, return it to the stove, cover with cold water and boil 20 minutes. Strain this juice through flannel and make the pectin test to determine how much sugar will be needed. Make jelly with it just like the first extraction of juice. Crab Apple Jelly- Make as apple jelly, using crab apples instead of the apples. Small Fruit Jelly