Putting Food By - Janet Greene [49]
• Adjustment for my altitude_________________.
PREFERRED: HOT PACK
Simmer prepared peaches in hot syrup for 2 minutes. Drain, reserving syrup.
In jars. Fill with hot peaches, leaving ½ inch of headroom. Add boiling syrup, leaving ½ inch of headroom; adjust lids. Process in a Boiling–Water Bath (212 F/100 C)—pints for 20 minutes, quarts for 25 minutes. Remove jars; complete seals if using bailed jars.
• Adjustment for my altitude_________________.
In plain cans. Fill with hot peaches, leaving only ¼ inch of headroom. Add boiling syrup to the top. Exhaust to 180 F/82 C (approx. 13 minutes); seal. Process in a B–W Bath (212 F/100 C)—No. 303 cans for 15 minutes, No. 401 for 25 minutes. Remove cans; cool quickly.
• Adjustment for my altitude_________________.
Peaches, Brandied
GENERAL HANDLING
Boiling–Water Bath only. Use Hot pack only. Use jars only (because they look so pretty: which is part of their fun).
The peaches should be small to medium in size, firm-ripe, and with attractive color; blemish-free of course. Wash. Using a coarse-textured towel, rub off all their fuzz. Weigh them.
For every 1 pound of peaches, make a Heavy Syrup of 1 cup sugar to 1 cup water. Bring syrup to boiling and, when sugar is dissolved, add the whole peaches and simmer them for 5 minutes. Drain; save the syrup and keep it hot.
HOT PACK ONLY, IN JARS ONLY
Without crushing, fit peaches in hot jars, leaving ½ inch of headroom. Pour 2 tablespoons of brandy over the peaches in each 1-pint jar, using proportionately more brandy for quarts. Fill jars with hot syrup, leaving ½ inch of headroom; adjust lids. Process in a Boiling–Water Bath (212 F/100 C)—pints for 20 minutes, quarts for 25 minutes. Remove jars; complete seals if necessary.
• Adjustment for my altitude_________________.
Pears
Bartlett pears are ideal for canning, to serve alone or as a salad or in a compote. They will be too soft for successful canning, though, if they’ve ripened on the tree: use ones that were picked or bought green (but full grown) and allowed to ripen in cool storage, between 60 and 65 F (16 and 18 C), or at cool room temperature until they just give when firmly pressed in the hand, generally 1 to 3 days.
Very firm-fleshed varieties like Seckel and Kieffer are often spiced or pickled; they make a good product if they are firm-ripe and simmered in water till nearly tender before packing with syrup. The so-called winter pears—such as Anjou and Bosc—are usually eaten fresh but can be canned if firm-ripe.
GENERAL HANDLING
Use a Boiling–Water Bath. Hot pack preferred. Use jars or plain cans.
Wash and peel; cut lengthwise in halves or quarters. Remove stems; core (a melon-ball scoop is handy for this). Treat pieces against oxidation with either of the solutions described for apples.
Make Thin or Medium Syrup.
Small pears maybe canned whole: peel them, but leave the stems on. It takes about 9 small whole pears to fill a pint jar or a No. 303 can.
HOT PACK ONLY
Quality suffers when pears are packed Raw. Simmer fruit in syrup for 2 minutes; drain, reserving hot syrup.
In jars. Fill with hot pears, leaving ½ inch of headroom. Add boiling syrup, leaving ½ inch of headroom; adjust lids. Process in a Boiling–Water Bath (212 F/100 C)—pints for 20 minutes, quarts for 25 minutes. Remove jars; complete seals if using bailed jars.
• Adjustment for my altitude_________________.
In plain cans. Fill with hot pears, leaving only ¼ inch of headroom. Add boiling syrup to the top. Exhaust to 170 F/77 C (approx. 10 minutes); seal. Process in a B–W Bath (212 F/77 C)—No. 303 cans for 15 minutes, No. 401 cans for 25 minutes. Remove cans; cool quickly.
• Adjustment for my altitude_________________.
MINT VARIATION
Prepare as above; the pears may be cut up or left whole. To Medium Syrup, add enough natural peppermint extract and green food coloring to give the desired taste and color.
Simmer the pears