Canning strawberries

For canning, select dark red berries of medium size. They must be cleaned of impurities, rinsed with running water at low pressure, or placed in a colander and rinsed with several immersions in a container of cold water, let the water drain and cleaned.

Strawberry compote (option 1)

To prepare the compote, the prepared strawberries must be placed in an enamel basin and filled with 65% sugar syrup.

Syrup preparation.

You need to take 860 g of sugar and 460 g of water per liter. syrup. For 1 kg of strawberries, 600 g of syrup is needed.

Pour the required amount of water into an enamel pot and add sugar. Bring the mixture of sugar and water to a boil until the sugar is completely dissolved, stirring constantly and filter through several layers of gauze. Heat the filtered syrup to 60 degrees, pour the berries over it and stand for 3 hours. During the aging time, part of the syrup will be absorbed into the berries, and part of the juice from the berries will turn into syrup. As a result of this, the berries will decrease in volume, thicken and will be less boiled. After aging, remove the berries from the syrup and place tightly in prepared jars. Pour the filled jars with hot (70 degrees) syrup, in which the berries were kept, pre-boiled for 15 minutes at a syrup boiling temperature of 105 degrees. In a jar with a capacity of 0.5 liters, you can put 340 g of berries and 200 g of sugar syrup. Cover the filled cans with lacquered lids and place them in a container with water heated to 70 degrees for pasteurization. Jars with a capacity of 0.5 liters are pasteurized at 85 degrees - 12 minutes, 1 liter - 15 minutes. After pasteurization, seal the jars, turn them upside down and cool quickly, but not in a draft.

Strawberry compote (option 2)

To prepare the compote, pour 50 g of sugar on the bottom of dry sterilized jars with a capacity of 0.5 liters, put a layer of prepared berries, cover it with sugar and so, alternating layers of berries and sugar, fill the jars. Pour sugar on top with a slide 1 cm high. 120 g of sugar is consumed per jar. Cover the filled jars with gauze and let stand for 2 hours. During this time, the strawberries will release juice, the sugar will partially dissolve in it. The berries self-compact and settle. As soon as the strawberries and sugar settle flush with the top of the neck, the jars must be placed in a pot of water heated to 40 degrees for sterilization. Sterilization time at 100 degrees for 0.5 liter cans is 35 minutes. Cover the pan with a lid during processing. The water should not boil strongly, and the water level in the sterilizer should be 3 cm below the neck of the jar. After processing, seal the cans, turn them upside down and cool quickly, but not in a draft. The quality of the compote improves if it is not sterilized, but pasteurized at a temperature of 90 degrees for 65 minutes.

Strawberries in their own juice

To preserve strawberries in their own juice, it is necessary to sort out the strawberries, place them in a colander and rinse under cold running water at low pressure, peel, put on a saucepan and leave for 40 minutes in order for the water to glass. Then put the prepared berries tightly in sterilized jars. A 0.5 liter jar contains 450 g of berries, and a liter jar - 800 g. When stacking, you can carefully tamp the berries with a wooden spatula. Pour the filled jars with strawberry juice. Cover the filled jars with lacquered lids and put in a container with water heated to 50 degrees and sterilize at a temperature of 100 degrees. Sterilization time for 0.5 l cans - 10 minutes, 1 l - 15 minutes. Sterilization can be replaced by pasteurization at 85 degrees. Duration of pasteurization of 0.5 l cans - 15 minutes, 1 l - 25 minutes. After processing, the cans are hermetically sealed, turned upside down and cooled.

Strawberries in sugar syrup

For canning, you need to sort out fresh ripe strawberries, place in a colander and rinse by immersing the colander several times in a saucepan or bucket of cold water, and then letting the water drain. Rub the prepared berries through a colander with a wooden or stainless steel spoon. Simultaneously prepare the sugar syrup.

Preparation of sugar syrup.

Sugar syrup is prepared at the rate of 1.2 kg of sugar and 300 g of water per 1 kg of prepared berries. Boil it for 7 minutes until the sugar is completely dissolved, filter through several layers of gauze, reheat it to a boil and immediately pour the mashed strawberry mass.

Then the strawberries with syrup must be mixed well and placed to the top in hot jars. Cover each jar with a circle of parchment paper soaked in alcohol, hermetically seal with boiled lids for sterilization or pasteurization. Cool the jars at room temperature without turning. All canning operations must be done very quickly. For this, the parchment circles must be cut out in advance. Their diameter should be equal to the diameter of the neck of the can. In addition to the described sterilization method, cans can be steam sterilized.

Strawberry jam (option 1)

In order to prepare the jam, the berries must be cleaned of impurities, rinsed with running water at low pressure, or placed in a colander and rinsed with several immersions in a bowl of cold water, let the water drain, and cleaned of sepals. Place the prepared berries in an enamel bowl, sprinkle with sugar in layers (1 kg per 1 kg of prepared berries) and stand for 8 hours. After the juice appears, add water - 100 g per 1 kg of berries and put the basin on a small fire. Bring the mass to a boil, stirring often and gently so as not to break the integrity of the berries and cook for 40 minutes. Then pack the boiling jam into well-heated glass jars with a capacity of 0.5 liters. Cover the filled cans with boiled lacquered lids, seal, turn upside down and cool.

Strawberry jam (option 2)

Syrup preparation.

The syrup is prepared at the rate of 1.2 kg of sugar and 275 g of water per 1 kg of prepared berries. The container with this mixture must be put on fire and the mixture must be boiled until the sugar is completely dissolved. Filter the finished syrup through 3 layers of gauze placed in a colander.

Next, place the prepared berries in an enamel basin, pour hot (80 degrees) syrup, stand for 4 hours, then cook over low heat in three steps. The first boil lasts 30 minutes, after 2 hours, boil again for 30 minutes, stand for another 2 hours and cook until tender. If the jam is ready, a drop of syrup dipped on a saucer does not spread when it cools. Pour the finished hot jam into heated jars, cover with varnished lids, seal hermetically, turn the neck down and cool. To increase the shelf life, the jam prepared by the first and second methods can be pasteurized.

Increased shelf life.

To increase the shelf life, ready-made hot jam should be packaged in dry hot jars, covered with sterilized dry lids, placed in a saucepan with water heated to 70 degrees and pasteurized at 90 degrees. Pasteurization time for 0.5 l cans - 10 minutes, 1 l - 15 minutes. Cover the pan with a lid during pasteurization. The water level in it should be 3 cm below the top of the neck of the jar. After pasteurization, the jars are hermetically sealed, turned upside down and cooled.

Canning raspberries

For canning, you should choose medium-sized dark-colored berries. Sort fresh berries, discarding unripe, dented, remove sepals and stalks. Raspberries are often infested with raspberry bug larvae (small white worms). To remove them, the berries must be placed in a basin and poured over for 10 minutes with 1% salt solution. To prepare it, take 10 g of salt per 1 liter of water. Remove larvae floating on the surface with a slotted spoon. After standing in a saline solution, rinse the berries three times with cold clean water or place in a colander and immerse them in clean water three times. Raspberry canned food should be sealed only with lacquered lids, as when using other lids, the color of the berries changes to purple.

Raspberry compote (1 way)

Place the prepared raspberries in an enamel basin, pour over filtered sugar syrup of 55% concentration.

Syrup preparation.

For 1 kg of berries, take 550 g of sugar and 450 g of water, heat to 60 degrees and stand for 4 hours.

After aging, remove the berries from the syrup, place them tightly in clean sterilized jars and pour hot sugar syrup heated to 95 degrees. For pouring, use sugar syrup, in which the berries were previously aged. Cover the filled jars with boiled lacquered lids and put in a container with water heated to 90 degrees for sterilization. Sterilization time at 100 degrees for 0.5 liter cans is 10 minutes, 1 liter is 15 minutes. After processing, the cans are hermetically sealed, turned upside down and cooled.

Raspberry compote (2 way)

Put the prepared berries in jars, sprinkle with sugar layer by layer at the rate of 120 g per one jar with a capacity of 0.5 liters. Pour sugar on top with a slide 1 cm high, cover with gauze and stand for 5 hours. During this time, the raspberries will release juice, the sugar will partially dissolve in it. The berries self-compact and settle. As soon as the raspberries and sugar settle flush with the top of the neck of the jar, cover it with a boiled lid, put it in a saucepan with water heated to 40 degrees for sterilization. Sterilization time at 100 degrees for 0.5 liter cans is 10 minutes, 1 liter is 15 minutes. Cover the pan with a lid during processing. The water should not boil strongly, and the water level should be 3 cm below the neck of the jar. After processing, the cans are hermetically sealed and cooled.

Raspberry jam

Option 1. Backfilled with sugar.

For jam, berries are taken large or medium, ripe, sugary and aromatic. Wild raspberries also make good jam. It has a stronger aroma. Raspberries need to be sorted out, sepals and stalks removed, unripe and dented ones discarded. Raspberries are often infested with raspberry bug larvae (small white worms). To remove them, the berries must be placed in a basin and poured over for 10 minutes with 1% salt solution. To prepare it, take 10 g of salt per 1 liter of water. Remove larvae floating on the surface with a spoon. After standing in a saline solution, rinse the berries three times with cold clean water or place in a colander and immerse them in clean water three times. Place the prepared berries in an enamel bowl, sprinkle with sugar in layers (for 1 kg of berries, 1.3 kg of sugar) and stand for 6 hours. After that, the basin is put on low heat, and after dissolving the sugar in the juice, the fire is intensified and the jam is boiled until cooked for a minimum time. When boiled over low heat, raspberries darken and lose their beautiful bright color. If a drop of syrup, dropped on a saucer, does not blur when it cools, the jam is ready. In a hot state, it is poured into cans, hermetically sealed, the cans are turned upside down and cooled.

Option 2. With syrup filling.

Place the prepared raspberries in an enamel bowl or saucepan, pour sugar syrup prepared at the rate of 1.5 kg of sugar and 700 g of water per 1 kg of berries, and stand for 3-4 hours. Then pour the syrup into another bowl, boil it for 5 minutes and pour it over the raspberries. Shake the basin gently so that the berries are immersed in the syrup, and cook again with a gentle boil until tender. The readiness of the jam is determined as follows: if a drop of syrup dropped on a saucer does not spread when it cools, the jam is ready. In a hot state, it is poured into cans, hermetically sealed, the cans are turned upside down and cooled.

Option 3. With double cooking.

Place the prepared raspberries in an enamel bowl or saucepan, pour sugar syrup prepared at the rate of 1.5 kg of sugar and 500 g of water per 1 kg of berries, bring to a boil, cook for 5 minutes and cool to 25 degrees. Cook the second time for 10 minutes, refrigerate for 10 minutes and cook until tender. In a hot state, it is poured into cans, hermetically sealed, the cans are turned upside down and cooled.

Raspberry jam

Pour the prepared raspberries with sugar syrup prepared at the rate of 1.4 kg of sugar and 750 g of water per 1 kg of berries. Bring to a boil, cook for 15 minutes. Cook raspberry jam without stirring so as not to crush the berries. 2 minutes before the end of cooking, add 1 teaspoon of citric acid and 3 g of gelatin dissolved in water. Remove the floating grains with a slotted spoon. In a hot state, it is packaged in cans, hermetically sealed, the cans are turned upside down and cooled.

Raspberries in their own juice

Put the prepared berries in jars and pour raspberry juice heated to 50 degrees, cover with lids and put in a container with water heated to 50 degrees for sterilization. Sterilization time at a temperature of 100 degrees for 0.5 liter cans - 10 minutes, 1 liter - 15 minutes. After processing, the cans are hermetically sealed and cooled.

Raspberries for tea

Place the prepared berries in an enamel bowl, sprinkle with sugar in layers (1 kg of berries 0.5 granulated sugar), stand for 4 hours until juice appears, then put on low heat, bring to a boil, stirring gently, boil for 7 minutes, pour in a boiling state into well-heated jars, filling them to the top, immediately seal them hermetically and put the jars down with their neck. Cover the top of the jar with a thick cloth to ensure co-sterilization and cool slowly.

Black currant

Black currant jam
(Option 1)

Take prepared currant berries. To make them tender and filled with sugar syrup, and not shriveled, they are blanched for 5 minutes in boiling water. After blanching, drain the water and place the berries in an enamel bowl. In the water that remained after blanching, prepare a syrup of 70% concentration. To prepare a syrup for 1 kg of berries, you need to take 1.4 kg of sugar and 600 g of water. Bring the syrup to a boil and filter through cheesecloth. Pour the filtered syrup into an enamel bowl, bring to a boil and pour the blanched berries into it. The jam is boiled in one go, constantly skimming off the foam. When hot, ready-made jam is packed into jars, hermetically sealed, put the jars with their neck down and cool. With this method of cooking, it is recommended that the jam be slightly undercooked, which will improve the quality of the product.

Black currant jam
(Option 2)

Blanch the prepared berries in boiling water for 3 minutes, let the water drain, put in an enamel bowl and pour boiling sugar syrup. Sugar syrup is prepared at the rate of 1.2 kg of sugar and 300 g of water per 1 kg of peeled berries. After pouring, the berries are aged for 3 hours, after which the jam is cooked until tender. The readiness of the jam is determined as follows: if a drop of syrup dropped on a saucer does not spread when it cools, the jam is ready. In a hot state, it is poured into cans, hermetically sealed, and cooled in air.

(Option 1)

Pass the peeled and washed black currant berries through a meat grinder. Place the chopped berries in an enamel pan, add sugar (for 1 kg of berries, 2 kg of sugar). Mix the whole mass well, put in jars, cover with parchment paper soaked in alcohol and tie with twine. It is recommended to store berries without hermetic sealing in a cool place at a temperature not exceeding 1 degree. Otherwise, fermentation may begin and the taste of the finished product will deteriorate.

Sugar-chopped currants
(Option 2)

Pass the prepared berries through a meat grinder, place in an enamel pan, add sifted sugar (for 1 kg of berries, 1 kg of sugar), mix, put on low heat and heat to 70 degrees with constant stirring until the sugar is completely dissolved. Pour the hot mass into glass jars, cover with lids and put in a container with water heated to 70-80 degrees for sterilization. The sterilization time at a temperature of 100 degrees for 0.5 liter cans is 15 minutes, 1 liter - 20 minutes, 2 liters - 30 minutes, 3 liters - 45 minutes. After processing, the cans are hermetically sealed, turned upside down and cooled. Banks of 3 liters do not need to be turned over.

Chopped currant with sugar
(Option 3)

Mix chopped berries with sugar (1 kg of berries 1 kg of sugar), boil for 7 minutes and seal in a boiling state. Turn the jars upside down, cover with a thick cloth for self-sterilization and cool slowly.

Black currant jam

Blast the prepared berries for 3 minutes with steam or in boiling water. After blanching, slightly crush the berries with a pestle so that they are better saturated with sugar, place in an enamel pan, add sugar and water at the rate of 1 kg of berries, 1.3 kg of sugar and 400 g of water. Mix the mass well, put on fire and cook in one step until tender, stirring constantly, preventing it from burning. The readiness of the jam is determined as follows: if a drop of syrup dropped on a saucer does not spread when it cools, the jam is ready. In a hot state, it is poured into dry heated cans, hermetically sealed, and, without turning over, cooled.

Black currant compote

Products: large ripe black currant berries.

For syrup: for 1 liter of water, 300 g of sugar.

Wash the berries, dry them, remove them from the brushes, fill sterile glass jars, fill with filtered boiling sugar syrup, close with sterile lids and sterilize: 0.5 liter jars - 10 minutes, 1 liter - 15 minutes. Store in a cool place.

Red currants

Red currant jam
(Option 1)

To prepare the jam, the berries must be separated from the brushes, rinsed in cold water, transferred to a basin, filled with hot 70% syrup and left for 6 hours.

Syrup preparation.

To prepare syrup for 1 kg of berries, take 1.4 kg of sugar and 500 g of water. If the berry is sour, then the amount of sugar should be large: 1.5 kg or 1.6 kg.

After insisting, separate the berries from the syrup through a sieve or colander and boil the syrup to a temperature of 107 degrees. Then remove it from heat for 15 minutes. Dip the berries in warm syrup and cook with a low boil until tender. Cool the finished jam in water, pour into jars and seal hermetically.

Red currant jam
(Option 2)

Sprinkle the prepared berries with granulated sugar, for which, take 1.4 kg of sugar per 1 kg of berries, and stand for 6 hours in a cold place. After aging, put on fire and cook intermittently, alternating 5 minutes of boiling and 10 minutes of exposure. Thus, cook until tender. The readiness of the jam is determined as follows: if a drop of syrup dropped on a saucer does not spread when it cools, the jam is ready. The filled cans are hermetically sealed, turned upside down and cooled slowly.

Making sugar syrup

In order for the fruits and the dishes prepared from them to be not too sour or cloyingly sweet, they must have a certain ratio between the amount of sugar and acid. This is achieved by adding different amounts of sugar (different strengths of syrup).

Usually, stronger syrups are used for preserving sour fruits than for less acidic ones. So, for cherries and cherry plums, it is better to take syrup with a strength of 60-65%, and for pears, cherries, grapes, 30-35% is enough. When preparing the syrup, you can calculate in advance. how much sugar should be added to water in order to obtain the required amount of syrup of the required strength.

To facilitate such calculations, you can use the data given in table. 3.

Let's say we need to prepare 5 liters of syrup with a strength of 40% (100 g of syrup with a strength of 40% contains 40 g of sugar and 60 g of water). Table 3, in the line corresponding to this strength, it is indicated that from 1 liter of water, when 667 g of sugar are added to it, 1414 cm 3 of syrup will be obtained.

In order to calculate how much water you need to take to prepare 5 liters of syrup of the specified concentration, 5 liters (or 5000 cm 3) are divided by 1414

5000: 1424 = 3.53 liters of water.

Since 667 g of sugar should be added for each liter of water, sugar is required for 3.53 liters of water

667-3.53 = 2354 g

or approximately 2300-2400 g.

The calculated amount of granulated sugar can be weighed on a scale or measured by volume, knowing that 1 liter contains about 800 g

that is, you need to measure out 3 liter cans or 6 half-liter cans of granulated sugar and dissolve it in 3.5 liters of water.

Sometimes it is necessary to determine the strength of the ready-made syrup, previously prepared and unused. To do this, proceed as follows. An empty glass liter tin can is weighed on the balance to the nearest gram. Then this jar is filled to the brim with a syrup of unknown strength and a temperature not higher than room temperature. The jar of syrup is weighed. From this weight, subtract the weight of the empty can and, dividing the difference by 1000, the specific gravity of the syrup is obtained (that is, the weight in grams is 1 cm 3). Then in table. 3, in the column "Specific gravity", look for the closest value of the specific gravity and in the leftmost column - the syrup strength corresponding to this value.

Let's say that the empty can weighed 441 g; the weight of a can of syrup is 1632 g. Subtracting 441 g from 1632 g and dividing the resulting difference by 1000, we determine the specific gravity - 1.191. In the column "Specific weight" table. 3 the nearest lower value is 1.179 and corresponds to 40%, and the nearest higher value is 1.206, corresponding to 45%. Hence, the strength of our syrup can be approximately taken equal to 42% (more than 40 and less than 45%).

More precisely, the specific gravity of the syrup is determined using a hydrometer (see Fig. 18). The hydrometer consists of a sealed glass tube with a small weight at the bottom and a scale in the upper narrow part. If the hydrometer is immersed in liquid, then it will float in it, being in an upright position. The heavier, denser the liquid, the shallower the hydrometer will submerge.

To measure the specific gravity, the syrup (at room temperature) is poured into a glass cylinder so that there is room for a hydrometer. Then the hydrometer is lowered into the syrup and it is determined to which division the liquid level corresponds. The resulting number is the specific gravity, by the value of which you can always calculate the strength of the syrup. Sometimes the concentration (strength) of the syrup is directly indicated on the hydrometer scale. Such hydrometers are called saccharimeters.

The syrup preparation technique is simple. A measured amount of water is poured into a saucepan and heated. During heating, sugar is poured and mixed with water until completely dissolved. Then the syrup is brought to a boil, after which it is ready to use. Since part of the water boils away during heating, it can be added a little more than the calculated amount.

In some cases, the syrup may turn out cloudy or slightly cloudy due to the fact that there were some impurities in the water or granulated sugar. After preparation, such a syrup must be filtered through a cotton cloth or gauze folded in several layers. If after filtration the syrup remains cloudy, you can apply artificial clarification with egg white. To do this, pre-beaten egg white is added to the syrup, heated to a temperature of about 50 ° C. One egg white is enough to lighten a syrup containing 20 kg of sugar. On average, 4-5 liters of syrup (that is, for one saucepan) requires only 1/4 - 1/5 of the protein of one egg. The protein is mixed well with the syrup. Then the syrup is heated to a boil. In this case, the protein coagulates and rises upward in the form of foam together with impurities. The foam is removed with a slotted spoon, and the syrup is filtered. Instead of egg white, to clarify the syrup, you can use food albumin, which is also added to the syrup in very small quantities (1 g of albumin is enough to clarify 30-40 liters of syrup).

Ready (clarified or unclarified) syrup must be clean and transparent and have a temperature of at least 90 °, since almost all fruits must be poured with hot syrup.

If all the prepared syrup has not been used, it can be left until the next day in a cool place or in the refrigerator so that it does not ferment. It must be boiled before use.

The usefulness of fresh vegetables and fruits has always been known to man, and people have long learned how to perfectly grow and preserve them.

Canned fruits and vegetables are fruits and vegetables that have been processed by high temperature or cold to protect against microbiological spoilage caused by bacteria, mold and yeast that develop under certain conditions (moisture, heat, etc.). If microbes are deprived of these conditions, they cannot develop. It is on this principle that all known methods of preserving food are based.

Home canning is advisable, first of all, when vegetables and fruits are grown on their own plot or harvested in the forest, in the fields. With home canning, you can prepare a product with a special composition, unusual taste, dietary, etc.

During the growth period, while the fetus is associated with the mother plant, the risk of infection of its internal tissues by microbes is small. This is largely hindered by the intact outer shell - the skin. In addition, during growth and development, fruits and vegetables are characterized by increased resistance to disease.

Mechanical damage to the skin during harvesting facilitates the penetration of microorganisms to the internal tissues. After harvesting, fruits and vegetables get into new environmental conditions, which entails a change in vital processes and a decrease in resistance to fungal 3 and bacterial diseases. This is also facilitated by changes occurring during storage in the water regime of tissues.

The plucked fruit remains alive, the previous processes continue in it, but without the influx of substances from the plant. Therefore, in the harvested fruits due to respiration, vitamins, sugar and other important substances decrease. The decrease in the amount of these substances occurs the faster, the higher the storage temperature of the fruit. At the same time, the fruit becomes softer, its color, taste and aroma deteriorate.

Only a few cultivated and wild fruits and berries can be kept fresh for a long time: nuts, winter and late winter varieties of apples and pears, citrus fruits, quince, chokeberry, some species and varieties of mountain ash, and from berries - late ripening: common viburnum, barberry, cranberry , cowberry. Basically, ripe fruits and berries are perishable foodstuffs. Their damage is due to the influence of enzymes and microorganisms.

Enzymes are substances that are found in plant cells in very small quantities. They are catalysts for all biochemical processes in fruits and berries, under certain conditions they can negatively affect them. It was found that low temperatures contribute to a significant decrease in the biological activity of enzymes, and at temperatures above 60 ° C, they are usually destroyed.

The second main reason for the spoilage of fruits and berries is the effect on them of various microorganisms (bacteria, fungi), which develop most actively at a temperature of 20-40 ° C. Cooling vegetables and fruits to 0 ° C and below strongly suppresses the vital activity of microorganisms, and when heated to 70-90 ° C and especially above 100-122 ° C, most of them die (spores of microorganisms die at 180 ° C). The use of certain concentrations of salts and acids also reduces the activity of harmful microflora.

The problem of year-round consumption of vegetables and berries can be solved by a rational method of their processing. When canning, perishable vegetables and fruits are preserved for a long time without deterioration in quality.

The main condition for the quality of canned vegetables and fruit is the timely processing of fresh and good-quality raw materials collected at the stage of maturity optimal for a particular product. Fresh and healthy vegetables and fruits are rich in protective substances, especially vitamin C, mineral salts and pectin, which has an anti-sclerosis effect. Therefore, it is recommended to include a lot of fruits and vegetables not only fresh, but also canned in the anti-sclerosis preventive or therapeutic diet, for example, juices, juices with pulp and compotes.

The quality and nutritional value of canned fruits and vegetables is greatly influenced by the way they are preserved. Freezing is most advisable, in which most natural substances are preserved, especially if fresh fruits are frozen. The second place is taken by heat sterilization.

At home, in addition, you can also easily use the following canning methods: pickling, pickling, pickling, soaking, canning with sugar, drying.

Salting, pickling, soaking

This type of canning is widely known. Pickling cabbage, pickling cucumbers, peeing apples and pears have long been used by the population. This type of processing uses the preservative ability of lactic acid, which is formed in the product as a result of the fermentation of sugar contained in the tissues of vegetables and fruits. This process is caused by lactic acid bacteria, which are always present on the surface of fresh plant materials.

Pickling

Acetic acid (sometimes citric, lactic) is a preservative for pickling. A small concentration of its solution (0.6-1.5%) is sufficient to suppress the vital activity of microorganisms. With this method of canning, the sugar contained in fruits and berries is not consumed in the formation of acid. Acetic acid is added to the filling or directly to fruits and berries packaged in jars. In addition to acetic acid, salt, sugar, spices and various seasonings are added during pickling. To increase the shelf life of pickled foods, it is recommended to expose them to high temperatures.

Canning with sugar

Sugar at its high concentration (60% and higher) retards the development of most microorganisms.

The preparation of such canned food as preserves, jams, marmalades, candied fruits, etc. is based on this property of sugar. The method of preparing these canned foods is relatively simple: fruits, berries and some types of vegetables are boiled in sugar syrup.

Jam - these are mainly berries cooked with sugar.

Unlike jam, jelly, jam, fruits and berries in jam should retain their shape, and the syrup should be viscous, not gelling. During cooking, a significant part of the water is reduced, enzymes are destroyed, a concentrated sugar solution (60-70%) is created, which prevents the development of various microorganisms.

It is better to cook jam in wide and shallow containers from 2 to 6 liters made of stainless steel, brass, aluminum or enameled with intact enamel. You can use dishes made of yellow copper, making sure that there is no green plaque on it inside - poisonous oxides.

When using any heat source, the jam in total should be cooked no more than 25-40 minutes, excluding the holding time.

In the first 5-10 minutes of boiling, the jam must be boiled over low heat, since during this period the greatest foaming is observed, and if the work is overlooked, the contents of the pelvis can overflow. As the formation of foam decreases slightly and the syrup becomes thicker, the fire should be increased, but care must be taken that the jam is cooked evenly and does not overflow over the edge of the basin.

The readiness of the jam can be determined in any of the following ways:

• syrup flows from a spoon with a thick thin thread;
• the cooled drop does not spread on a dry saucer, and if you add syrup, it spreads very slowly;
• when removing the bowl from the fire and stopping boiling, a wrinkled film forms on the surface of the jam, and a drop of it on blotting paper does not form a wet spot;
• if the groove made with the tip of a spoon on a thin layer of syrup poured in a saucer does not immediately disappear;
• if syrup cooled in a spoon, taken with thumb and forefinger, forms a connecting thin thread when unclenched;
• temperature at the end of cooking is 106 ° C.

The berries in a well-cooked jam are evenly distributed in the syrup and do not float, the syrup is clear.

Jams have a high nutritional value and good taste. When cooking jam, the fruits are boiled. They are easily and quickly soaked in sugar. The characteristic feature of this product is its jelly-like consistency.

Jam prepared from a mixture of mashed potatoes of various fruits and berries by boiling with sugar.

Store all these foods in a cool, dry place.

Drying

This method of conservation consists in removing up to 60-70% of the water contained in the tissues from the plant material by drying. So, in dried berries usually 16-25% of water remains, and in vegetables - 12-14%. With such a water content, the concentration of sugar in food increases to a level where microorganisms do not die, but can no longer develop. Ultimately, this provides the possibility of long-term storage of many types of perishable vegetables and fruits.

Cooling

Fruits and berries can be cooled to 0 ° C, but not brought to the freezing point (about minus 2 ° C). At this temperature, most microorganisms die. In conditions of low temperatures (cellars, cellars, household refrigerators), freshly picked vegetables and berries (depending on the breed and variety) can be stored from several days to several months, without significantly losing their nutritional and taste qualities.

Freezing

Cooked fruits and berries can be quickly frozen at minus 30-35 ° C and stored frozen (at minus 18-25 ° C) for a long time.

Packaging of products intended for freezing. Fruits, vegetables and other products that can be frozen at home and stored for a long time must be properly packed before placing in the freezer. The used packaging and packaging materials should be selected so that they are resistant to low temperatures, close as tight as possible, and do not transmit odors to the products. When freezing at home, a variety of packaging is used. Some can be used several times as long as they are intact and completely clean.

Strong packaging. When freezing, do not use metal, glass or porcelain containers. Most often, cups made of aluminum or plastic materials are used with a height of no more than 40 mm. After filling almost to the top with fruits, vegetables or prepared food, they should be closed as tightly as possible with a well-fitting lid or aluminum foil, which is secured with self-adhesive tape. It is allowed to use durable cups of the same size, which can be placed on top of each other. Large cups also work, but are more difficult to stack. Boxes, bowls or cups made of waxed cardboard are of little use. The most suitable is a special cookware made for freezers.

The indicated packages are filled a few mm below the lid so that after closing, there is as little space as possible above the product. Air also prevents cold from entering the product. Overfilled packaging will increase the volume after freezing and may damage the packaging.

Mark on the package. Before freezing, it is very beneficial to make marks on each wrapped product: write the cooking date or other important data.

Rules for freezing and storing food. Although freezing is a perfect and technologically simple method of preserving, it must be done in such a way that the nutritional value of the food is not compromised and energy consumption is economical. This can be achieved by following certain rules.

Raw materials for freezing must be of good quality, fresh, healthy, clean and not hot.

Freeze quickly, as microorganisms can multiply, undesirable enzymes in the nucleus of the fruit and inside the package or the formation of large ice crystals can occur, which can harm mainly raw fruits. Therefore, only a small amount should be frozen immediately.

The product must be well packed so that it is protected from exposure to oxygen from the air, the top layers of the product do not dry out and discoloration, and so that it does not absorb unwanted odors.

During storage of frozen foods, they should not be allowed to defrost and re-freeze, so that the water on the surface of the fruit does not form frost and the so-called. burns.

However, it may happen that the power supply is cut off or the freezer breaks down. If food is thawed, it must not be frozen again. They must be thermally processed as soon as possible, i.e. boil, fry or stew.

Preserving with high temperature

This is the most efficient and perfect preservation method. There are two variants of this method: 1) heating at temperatures below 100 ° C (80-95 ° C) - pasteurization; 2) heating at a temperature of 100 ° C and above - sterilization. Sterilization is a more effective way of preserving than pasteurization.

Pasteurization allowed only when the canned food contains a sufficient amount of acid. You can also allow pasteurization in cases where a higher temperature (used during sterilization) adversely affects the quality of the canned product, if the canned food is intended for short-term storage.

So, for example, when preparing compotes, it is advisable to keep the shape of the fruit. If the fruits are boiled at the sterilization temperature, pasteurization is allowed. However, in the case of low acidity of the fruit, it is necessary to increase the acidity of the product by adding food acid. But, as a rule, you should only use the sterilization method.

It must be borne in mind that at home it is almost impossible to obtain a temperature above 100 ° C during canning. Meanwhile, the temperature of 100 ° C is not always sufficient for complete sterilization of canned food. Some microbes form spores that can easily withstand temperatures of 100 ° C and above. These include, for example, the causative agents of botulism. These are microbes that secrete a dangerous, potent poison. Botulism sticks are in the soil in the form of spores and can get on fruits and berries, and if they are poorly washed, into the canned product. It has been established that the spores of some soil microorganisms die only at temperatures of 120-125 ° C. So, botulism spores tolerate the temperature of home sterilization and in a hermetically sealed jar, without access to air, they can germinate into vegetative forms (sticks), which multiply and, in the course of their life, release a poisonous toxin into the product that is dangerous to human life. To avoid the appearance of botulism, preventive measures must be strictly observed.

The high concentration of acid in canned food retards the development of these microbes. Therefore, sour fruits and vegetables (tomatoes, sorrel, rhubarb, cranberries, mountain ash, lingonberries, currants, gooseberries, cherries, etc.) can be preserved at home without fear.

When preserving low-acid foods (carrots, peas, beans, cucumbers, beets, etc.), it is necessary to add food acid (citric, tartaric, malic, lactic, acetic). These types of raw materials cannot be used to prepare canned food such as natural, i.e. no acid added. It must be remembered that acid, salt and sugar not only improve the taste of canned food, but also increase their stability during storage.

Sterilization modes (temperature and time) are set for each type of canned food, and they cannot be changed arbitrarily.

The attempts of some fans to change the recipe of canned food are also not commendable: to reduce the amount of acid, table salt, etc. These substances are added not only to improve the taste of products, but also as preservatives. With a decrease in their number, the stability of canned food decreases during storage, since when developing a sterilization regime, the acidity of canned food and the content of table salt, sugar, etc. in them were taken into account.

When making compotes, vegetables in sour or sweet and sour filling, fruit juices and purees, pastes, etc., it is necessary to heat the entire contents of canned food, depending on the type of product, at the following temperature:

• 70 ° C for 10-20 minutes;
• 75 ° C - 5-10 min;
• 80 ° С - from 1 to 5 min.

For non-acidic canned food, such as peas or beans in salted filling, a much higher sterilization temperature should be used. It is also necessary to destroy the spores of bacteria, which in a non-acidic environment can germinate, multiply and lead to spoilage of canned food. To destroy the spores, either short heating at a high temperature or prolonged heating at a low temperature is required.

Typically, an internal temperature of 120 ° C is sufficient for 3 minutes.

Another option is resterilization, which is carried out as follows: non-acidic canned food is boiled in water at a temperature of 100 ° C for 30 to 60 minutes, and after 24-48 hours, boiling is repeated again for 20 to 50 minutes or more, depending on the type and volume of canned food. ... It is assumed that spores germinate between the two sterilizations, which are then destroyed by the second sterilization at 100 ° C. Due to the fact that spore germination depends on many factors, such sterilization for non-acidic canned food is not always absolutely reliable, especially if the product is stored at temperatures above 15 ° C. Therefore, 1-2 days after the second sterilization, another third is carried out, and the canned food subjected to such processing does not deteriorate during long-term storage.

A special type of heat sterilization is hot filling. In this simple and quick way, fruits are harvested for future use, from which in winter you can make jam, jam, jam, jelly, marshmallow, juice, mousse, jelly, fillings for pies, dumplings, etc. Hot filling is also good for preserving fruit and berry juices.

Its technology is as follows. The prepared fruits are placed in a saucepan or basin, water is added and brought to a low boil. Stir gently and cook for 5-15 minutes.

A little boiling water is poured into sterilized jars so that they do not cool down before bottling. Then the water is poured out, the containers are quickly filled with the hot product, immediately sealed and placed on the lids for cooling.

When filling hot, it is advisable to use two- and three-liter cans, since in this case the required heating mode is better provided. If smaller ones are used, after filling with the product, they must be pasteurized (half-liter cans - 6-7 minutes, liter cans - 12-15 minutes).

Recently, one more type of sterilization is widespread - multiple (two or three times) hot filling of the product. The method is suitable for preserving whole sour fruits and berries (plum, cherry plum, cherry, gooseberry, etc.). The product placed in the jar is poured with boiling water, kept for several minutes (from 5 to 15) and drained using a special lid so that the contents of the jar do not fall out. Then the filling is boiled again for 1-2 minutes and the jar is again poured for 5-15 minutes. This is done several times, based on the conditions and duration of storage. Salt, sugar, spices, vinegar are added to the last water. In this way, compotes, pickles and even marinades can be made.

Canning at home is carried out as follows. First, glass jars are washed and sterilized. Tin lids are boiled in water for at least 10-15 minutes. Prepared vegetables and fruits (sorted, washed, peeled, chopped) are placed in a sterilized glass container and poured with hot filling or syrup. The level of food in the jar (including the filling) should be 1.5-2 cm below its top edge. Then the cans are covered with boiled tin lids, placed in a saucepan with warm water, the level of which should not be lower than the contents of the container. A wooden or metal lattice or a piece of linen folded in half is placed at the bottom of the pan to protect the cans.

The water in the saucepan is brought to a boil, and from this moment sterilization begins for the time recommended for this product. Fruits and jars contain air after they have been capped, which is undesirable since it supports enzymatic reactions. With the help of heating, the air from the fruits and containers is displaced, and therefore, after cooling, a rarefied medium is formed in the jar - a vacuum, as a result of which the lid is tightly adhered to the jar. The higher the heating temperature, the more vacuum is formed inside.

At the end of sterilization, the jar is immediately removed from the pan, without removing the lid, placed on the table and quickly sealed using a seaming machine. The rolled up cans are immediately turned upside down or laid on their side until cooled. A hermetically sealed can is considered if there are no loosely pressed parts of the lid or individual burrs left.

Sorting

The harvested vegetables and fruits are sorted according to quality, ripeness, color, shape and size. Broken, wrinkled, rotten, overripe or unripe and damaged by pests and diseases, fruits and berries are not suitable for canning.

Washing and drying

Sorted vegetables and fruits are thoroughly washed under running water. Very contaminated fruits are washed with a brush or brush. Delicate berries are immersed several times in water in a colander or sieve for 1-2 minutes.

The washed fruits are dried in the air by placing them on a dry cloth or paper.

Shredding

The skin is removed from the washed and dried fruits, removing it with a thin layer, sepals, stalks, bones (where necessary), core.

Plums, tomatoes, apricots, etc. are preliminarily doused with boiling water so that the skin can be easily removed.

Apples, pears and quince are cut into halves, quarters, sometimes into circles, cubes, wedges, etc. To prevent the prepared fruits from darkening, they are dipped in a 1-2% solution of sodium chloride (10-20 g per 1 liter of water) or in a 0.5-1% citric acid solution (5-10 g per 1 liter of water ), but not more than 30-40 minutes.

The products are crushed and cut into pieces of a certain shape and size, depending on the chosen method of canning (circles, cubes, strips). When making juice, crush (crush) the fruit finely enough to extract as much juice as possible. However, the mass should not have a mushy consistency, as this makes it difficult to squeeze out the juice. The berries are crushed in a saucepan with a wooden pestle.

Blanching

When preserving berries, very often they need to be blanched, i.e. for a very short time (from several seconds to several minutes) immerse in boiling water or hold over steam. The blanching regimes given in the recipes should be strictly adhered to.

Blanching water can be used to prepare syrups and fillings.

For blanching, whole or chopped fruits are placed in a wire basket, covered with a lid so that they do not float, and immersed in water preheated to 85-100 ° C. The higher the water temperature, the shorter the blanching period should be: in boiling water for fruits with low acidity 6-10 minutes, and in water heated to 85-90 ° C (for sour fruits) - 4-6 minutes. Sometimes citric acid is added to the water for blanching (1-2 g per 1 liter of water). To avoid excessive softening of the fruits, immediately after blanching, they must be immersed in cold water for 1-2 minutes. This makes it easier to separate the skin from the pulp in apricots and plums.

Properly processed fruits become elastic. If the cross-section of the fruit shows the border between the treated and untreated part, then the blanching was too short. After blanching, the fruits are immediately chilled in cold water so that they do not boil over.

When blanching with steam in steamers, the loss of valuable nutrients is significantly reduced.

Dishes and equipment

At home, glass containers are best suited for blanks: jars of various capacities (0.25-5 liters), bottles and bottles (for wine). It is suitable for all products, is strong enough, ensures tightness, and can be reused.

For large quantities of processed products and for such types of canning as salting, pickling, soaking, you can use enameled pots, buckets, wooden barrels (barrels).

The most widespread method of sealing (closing) cans hermetically was and still remains the method of "rolling". Tin lids (for marinades and pickles it is better to use lacquered or tinplate lids) with rubber gaskets are quickly fixed to the can with a manual seaming machine. These covers are disposable. It is advisable to coat them with anti-corrosion grease.

Recently, cans with a threaded closure type have been successfully used in home canning. In this method, a tin lid with a screw thread and a sealing gasket (or without it) is screwed onto the neck of a can with screw-shaped protrusions. Such cans are convenient for preparing canned food obtained by the pasteurization method, as well as preserves, jams. They can be used multiple times.

Canned food that is "stable" during storage and does not require hermetic sealing, or canned food that is not intended for long-term storage, can be closed with plastic lids or parchment paper (tracing paper) with a dense (preferably rubber) tie. In addition, boiling water preheated polyethylene lids are used.

Glass bottles and jugs are sealed with cork or polyethylene stoppers and poured over with sealing wax, resin or paraffin. When storing juice, you can use rubber teats as a cork.

For cooking preserves, jams and other similar products, a copper or brass cooking bowl with a wide bottom is required. You can also use an enamel basin, but always without damaging the enamel.

Juicers of various designs, presses, a juicer, and a steamer are used to prepare juice. If you do not have these devices, you can prepare juice by squeezing it out of chopped fruits, vegetables and berries through a dense strong cloth or cheesecloth folded in 2-3 layers.

For sterilization, you need 1-2 aluminum low pans of 8-10 liters each and one high pan or tank (you can use a bucket). A wooden grate and a piece of cloth are placed on the bottom so that the jar does not crack or break.

The mass of some products, in grams

Preparing dishes

A prerequisite for obtaining high-quality workpieces is a thorough preparation of the dishes.

Glass containers are washed with a warm solution of baking soda at the rate of 1 teaspoon per 1 liter of water, then rinsed with cold water. After that, it must be sterilized over steam for 10-25 minutes, depending on the capacity, using a kettle or any household appliances. You can sterilize several cans at once in the oven, gradually increasing the temperature over 30 minutes. In this case, dry cans are installed with the neck up. When igniting, the bottles must be closed with cotton stoppers, which are removed only when they are filled. Fruits are placed only in dry dishes.

Cover clean cans and bottles with a napkin or towel.

Enamel dishes are thoroughly washed with a hot solution of baking soda.

Glass and metal lids with gaskets and stoppers are sterilized for 10-15 minutes before sealing in boiling water with baking soda.

Barrels made of hardwood - oak, beech, aspen, linden - are processed as follows: if they are new, they are soaked, i.e. fill with cold water, changing it every 2-3 days for 2-3 weeks. At the end of the soak, the rivet swells and the barrels become airtight. Then the barrels are washed with a hot solution of low concentration caustic soda and rinsed repeatedly with warm and cold water (tansy can be added). Barrels that have already been used are thoroughly washed before and after soaking.

Clean barrels are dried and heated from the inside over electricity.

Using a wide brush, the inner surface of the barrel is covered with a layer of molten paraffin, to which a third of the rosin is added for a more reliable seal. Recently, food-grade plastic film hermetic liners have been used.

Canning additives

In most canned food, various substances are added to taste, improve the appearance of the product, to protect it from spoilage.

Vinegar

Acetic acid can be used in the form of a weak vinegar with a strength of 5-9% or in the form of vinegar essence with a strength of 80% (sometimes 30-70%). Most often, you have to use strong vinegar essence.

Lemon acid

It has a pleasant taste, unlike vinegar, tastes softer and less irritating to the gastric mucosa. Therefore, it is added instead of vinegar to the filling of canned vegetables for stomach patients, with a diet, etc.

Citric acid is normalized by weighing or approximate measurement.

Citric acid is sold in different packaging and should be stored in a dry place.

Lemon juice

Fresh lemon juice or sterilized canned juice is a good addition to canning: it improves the acidity and flavor of the product. It contains from 5 to 8% citric acid, which is as soft, healthy and nutritious as crystalline citric acid, since it contains sugar, vitamin C and other substances. Juice is added first of all, if it is necessary to improve the taste, flavor the product, for example, compotes (pears, pumpkin), in which you can put all the sliced ​​lemon.

Salt

It is added for flavor to vegetable products and exclusively for canning. It should be stored in a dry place, as it absorbs moisture from the air and hardens, as a result of which it is poorly standardized. Over-salted foods are unpalatable, unhealthy, so the salt must be weighed and measured when re-added.

1 kg of salt dissolved in a liquid takes up a volume of about 0.40 liters.

Sugar

Refined beet sugar is added to improve the taste of most canned foods.

All types of sugar are suitable for canning, since refined beet sugar (and cane sugar) always contains at least 99.8% sucrose, so the sweetness of all types of sugar is the same. The most common sugar is granulated sugar, and powdered sugar is used for quick solubility.

When added, the sugar is weighed. In some cases, mainly with repeated portions, sugar is measured with appropriate measures. Moreover, for granulated sugar and powder, the volumes are different.

After dissolving, 1 kg of sugar has a volume of about 0.6 liters. Before the season comes, you should stock up on sugar so that you always have enough of it.

Spices

The taste and aroma of canned vegetables must be maintained with the help of spices, which are added in their natural form or as an extract infused with vinegar. In some products, ground spices are used, which should not be stored for too long, so as not to fizzle out the aromatic substances. Keep the spices in a dry place, otherwise they will mold very quickly.

Spices should be used carefully so as not to overdo it, but also not to reduce the aroma. The spice addition is subjective on a case-by-case basis, so it is not easy to come up with a recipe that suits everyone. Any housewife has the opportunity to increase or decrease the rate of spices, sometimes supplementing with other types instead of those given in the recommendations.

In addition to the well-known imported and domestic spices (black and allspice, red pepper, cloves, bay leaf, mustard seed, cinnamon, nutmeg, nutmeg, etc.), various aromatic herbs are added for taste: dill, parsley, marjoram, etc. ., and most importantly - onions, garlic, horseradish.

However, overuse of spices is unhealthy, and certain types of spices are prohibited on diets. They can be replaced with others that are harmless to health. You can always use aromatic herbs and plants.

Spices should not be bought for future use, as the aromatic substances from them fizzle out, and they can become moldy, especially in a damp and warm room. Whole and dry spices are stored in screw-top jars.

Storage features and causes of canned fruit and berry spoilage

The best temperature for storing canned food is 0-12 ° C, although it is known that after sterilization they can be stored at room temperature (15-25 ° C). If the product is well sterilized, it will not deteriorate even at temperatures above 25 ° C.

The most favorable storage temperature is close to 0 ° C, at which the course of all chemical processes slows down.

The room where canned food is stored must be dark and dry.

Defect in the prepared canned food can be found already in the first 10-15 days of storage. If the period of heat treatment is shortened, vegetables are poorly washed, this can lead to the fact that some of the microorganisms did not die and after a few days began to develop, eating the contents of canned food. Gases emitted cause the tin lids to swell.

The second reason for premature spoilage of canned food can be a leaky closure of cans. Microorganisms penetrate the inside of the jar and begin to develop rapidly, finding a good nutrient medium there. The contents of the jar begin to ferment, the syrup or fill becomes cloudy, and gases emitted can rip the lid off.

Canned food with signs of spoilage must be opened immediately. Canned fruits, compotes, mashed potatoes, juices that smell and taste of yeast can be put in a saucepan, boiled and used to make jelly or mashed potatoes. If the contents have an unpleasant, putrid odor, it should not be eaten.

CANNED FOOD

The assortment of canned food includes over 500 names, of which about 120 names of canned meat, 150 fish, 70 vegetable, 150 fruit; 22 names of canned juices and several types of canned milk.

Fruits are preserved in the form of compotes, preserves, jam, marmalade, fruit sauces, mashed potatoes and marinades.

Natural canned vegetables, canned snack foods (in tomato sauce, with vegetable oil), concentrated tomato products (tomato paste, tomato puree), vegetable purees, sauces and marinades are produced from vegetables.

Canned juices are made from fruits and berries, as well as fresh tomatoes.

In addition, they produce canned fruits and vegetables for baby and diet food.

The assortment of canned meat includes stew, beef goulash, lamb, fried meat, beef meatballs, pork meatballs, lamb stew, pork chop, fried pork cutlet, pork hodgepodge, pork cutlets (chopped), fried tongues beef, pork tongues, lamb tongues, brains, kidneys, fried liver, etc.

Among the pâté canned meat - pâté with butter, pâté with pork lard, pâté pork with porcini mushrooms, pâté from brains and liver.

Among canned food there are also sausages with cabbage, sausages in tomato sauce, sausages in broth; there are also canned ham.

Canned meat and vegetables are produced from beef, lamb, pork, minced meat with peas, beans, lentils, with the addition of fat, onions, and spices.

There is a fairly rich selection of canned chicken meat.

Canned chicken is a delicacy, dietary, very nutritious product. The best roasted chicken meat, covered with concentrated chicken broth, is preserved.

We have so many different types of fish, and the fish canning industry is developing so intensively that the list of canned fish alone would take too much space in our book. Therefore, we will confine ourselves to brief information about canned fish according to their groups.

Natural canned fish are prepared from Far Eastern salmon fish (sockeye salmon, chinook salmon, coho salmon, pink salmon, chum salmon), less often from sturgeon and whitefish.

Natural canned fish is consumed in the same way as boiled fresh fish of the same name (for example, as boiled sturgeon or beluga). They should be served with a salad, vegetable or other side dish, or sauce.

The assortment of canned fish snacks is very rich - in oil, in tomato, in marinade. At the cannery, the fish is preliminarily subjected, depending on the type of canned food and the recipe of preparation, to various processing: fried, salted, smoked, baked, dried, dried. As a result of withering, the skin of the fish acquires a silvery hue, while smoking gives it golden tones; for frying, the fish is pre-doused in flour, which is why an appetizing crust forms on it.

Various fillings (tomato sauce, flavored vegetable oil or a mixture of vegetable oils) are added to canned fish snack bars, then the cans are rolled up (sealed) and sterilized.

In oil, canned food such as sprat, sardines is most often made, as well as pre-smoked - cod, herring, and in tomato - gobies, small and red fish.

A kind of diet canned food is produced on trawlers in the Barents Sea: natural cod liver or in tomato. Natural cod oil released from the liver during sterilization tastes extremely pleasant and does not have the usual aftertaste of fish oil. The boiled liver made from these canned food is one of the most delicious, tender and highly nutritious snacks.

In addition, cod liver has medicinal value, as it contains more than 60% fish oil and is rich in vitamins.

Note that sprats and sardines in oil are, perhaps, unsurpassed canned fish snack bars.

A group of fish preserves in a spicy salting and in a marinade stands out from the rest of the canned food. Preserves differ from canned food in that they are not sterilized, but only hermetically sealed. Preserves are less durable than canned food - they should be kept cold.

The well-known sprats, anchovies, marinated herring and other similar canned snacks are not sterilized; therefore, according to the method of preparation, they are classified as condoms.

Canning- this is the most popular topic for villagers or other remote places where they have to live on their own.

LUNCH CANNED FOOD

The food industry produces a varied assortment of canned meals - canned first and second courses, completely ready to eat.

The following first courses are canned: borscht, Ukrainian borscht, pickle, beetroot soup, fresh cabbage soup, sauerkraut cabbage soup, pickle with meat, sauerkraut cabbage soup with meat, daily cabbage soup with mushrooms, green cabbage soup from spinach, green cabbage soup and sorrel.

Among the canned second courses - vegetable hodgepodge, vegetable and mushroom hodgepodge.

Without exception, all canned meals are prepared from the highest quality products and represent a completely ready-to-eat dish, which, before serving, you just need to dilute with boiling water and boil (first courses) or reheat in a pan (second courses).

These canned foods are made from vegetables harvested at the stage of ripeness when they are especially tasty and nutritious and contain the highest amount of vitamins and mineral salts.

FOOD CONCENTRATES

Food concentrates - concentrated food products - are sold compressed into tablets and briquettes or in the form of powder mixtures. They are partially or fully prepared for use.

One of the main tasks of the food concentrates industry created during the five-year plan years is to help the housewife prepare lunch, breakfast or dinner with a minimum expenditure of labor and time, as well as to provide good, healthy, quick and convenient food to the participants of long-distance expeditions, polar explorers, winterers, tourists, pilots, geologists, hunters, sightseers.

The assortment of concentrates includes first, second and third courses.

Among the first courses: pearl barley soup with mushrooms, pea and bean puree soup, fruit soup with rice, potato soup, cabbage soup and borscht made from dried vegetables.

Among the second courses: porridge (buckwheat, millet, pearl barley, rice, barley, oatmeal, from oatmeal, from corn grits), noodles, krupenik, rice pudding.

The third dishes are all kinds of jelly cooked on natural fruit and berry juices (extracts) with sugar and starch (blackcurrant, cranberry, cherry, plum, apple, etc.).

There are also meat, dairy, fish, egg concentrates (meat and chicken bouillon cubes, powdered milk, egg powder, etc.).

The concentrate labels indicate the composition of the dish and how it is consumed.

For example, let us point out that the briquettes of the concentrate "Pea puree soup" contain 75.5% peas, wheat flour - 5%, dried carrots - 2%, dried onions - 3%, fat - 10%, salt, ground pepper.

The briquette only needs to be kneaded, covered with water and cooked, stirring, for 10-15 minutes, while the preparation of pea soup in the usual way takes several hours.

The composition of concentrated jelly contains pahtal (28-32%), sugar (64-65%), fruit and berry extracts (6.5-7%). To show the degree of concentration of these products, here are some figures. Thus, the moisture content of fresh eggs is 75%, and the moisture content of egg powder is 6-7%; 1 liter of milk powder corresponds to 8 liters of whole milk; 1 kg of dried vegetables corresponds to 8-10 kg of fresh vegetables. Concentrate "Pea puree soup" for one bowl of soup weighs 75 g, and the contents of the plate are 450 g. A tablet of dry jelly for making a glass of jelly weighs 33 g, and the jelly from this tablet is 200 g.

HOME PRESERVATION

Home canning is fun. You can cook many of those canned food that are sold in stores in your apartment yourself, and create completely new ones, according to your own taste and according to your own recipes.

In winter, it is very pleasant to serve homemade canned food to the table.

What is canned food and why can they be stored for a long time

It is known that almost all food products are perishable. Food spoilage is caused by microorganisms. There are three main groups of microorganisms - bacteria, molds and yeasts. All of them can exist, eating the same foods that humans eat. At the same time, they decompose food and release various substances (acids, gases, etc.), the presence of which is a sign of spoilage.

Germs are everywhere, so they can easily get onto food. Since all microbes are very small in size and cannot be seen without a microscope, they remain invisible on food.

For the vital activity of microbes, it is not enough just to have food. Certain conditions are necessary for microbes to feed.

If microbes are deprived of these conditions, they will not be able to develop.

Almost all known methods of preserving and processing food products are based on this. One of the main conditions for the existence of microbes is the presence of moisture. With a low moisture content in the product, they cannot absorb dissolved substances and, therefore, cannot feed, although they do not die. Drying of food is based on this. When cooking jam, jam, jam or syrups from fruits and berries, very little moisture also remains in them and a very high concentration of sugar is created, that is, conditions unfavorable for microbes arise.

If the food is acidic, most microbes cannot exist in it. This is used for pickling, when acetic acid is added to fruits, vegetables and other products. Pickling and pickling vegetables, wetting fruits and berries is based on the same principle. Only in this case, acid is not added, but it is itself formed in fermented vegetables and fruits as a result of the action of certain types of microbes, the so-called lactic acid. These microbes feed on the sugars in vegetables and fruits and secrete lactic acid. When a lot of lactic acid accumulates, unfavorable conditions are created for all other microbes, and then for the lactic acid themselves, and their vital activity ceases.

The best, or optimal, temperatures are different for different microbes, but basically they are in the range of 10-50 °. If the product is cooled to 0 °, the development of all microbes is sharply slowed down. This is used when storing food in a refrigerated state. Frozen foods are even better preserved.

All of these methods lead to the limitation of the vital activity of microbes, which at the same time remain in the product, but cannot develop. If these limiting conditions are removed, the microbes will begin to act again. For example, if you heat frozen or chilled fruits, they quickly go bad.

Quite different happens with strong heating. At the boiling point (100 °), most microbes die. True, not all die - there are especially resistant types of microbes (bacteria) that emit special formations, the so-called spores, which can withstand even prolonged boiling; after cooling, new microbes can grow out of them. But you can heat the product above 100 °, for example to 115-120 °, at this temperature, bacteria and their spores will be destroyed in a few tens of minutes. This is the basis of the so-called food preservation by sterilization.

Sterilization means de-supply, that is, the destruction of living organisms. In the case of canning, we are talking about microorganisms that, once destroyed, can no longer cause spoilage of the product.

But if the sterilized product is cooled, other microbes from the air will again get on it, then it will again be subject to spoilage. To prevent this from happening, the canned product is placed in a can, which can be sealed hermetically, that is, so that air cannot enter or exit the can. The air itself is not dangerous, it is important that new microbes do not enter the cans together with the air to replace those destroyed during sterilization.

So, the method of preserving food products by sterilization in sealed cans is based on a combination of two conditions - sealing, i.e. tightly sealing the product in cans, excluding air access, and sterilization - heating the product together with the can in order to destroy microorganisms inside the can.

Usually, canned food is heated at a temperature of 100 ° or higher during sterilization. Lower temperatures can be used for some products. Such heating is conventionally called pasteurization, although there is no fundamental difference between these names.

After sterilization, no live microbes remain in the jar. And new microbes cannot get into the jar. Thus, the reasons for spoilage of the sterilized product are eliminated, and canned food can be stored for many years at normal room temperature without any spoilage.

It is precisely by combining both of these requirements - hermetic sealing and sterilization of products - that all various canned foods are produced in industry - vegetables, fruit, fish, meat, etc.

What canned food can be made at home

Although a wide variety of microbes can and actually appear in any product, not all of them are capable of developing, even if the temperature is favorable for them. Meat and fish contain almost no acids in their composition. In such a neutral environment, various bacteria easily develop, which cause spoilage of meat and fish products with the formation of a putrid odor. But the same bacteria do not act on fruits and berries, which are distinguished by noticeable acidity.

The deterioration of fruit and vegetable products is mainly caused by mold and yeast, which can grow in acidic environments and feed mainly on sugar, an important component of fruits and berries.

Mold and yeast are killed by boiling in a relatively short time. Bacteria form spores, so canned meat and fish have to be sterilized - heated at temperatures above 100 °. The same is true for most vegetables that are not acidic (except tomatoes, sorrel and rhubarb).

To raise the temperature above 100 °, it is necessary to heat in special devices. Such devices, called autoclaves, are used in the canning industry. We do not yet have autoclaves for canning at home.

Jars of homemade canned food are heated in ordinary pots or other utensils. The temperature of water in a saucepan during boiling cannot rise above 100 °, therefore, in cans it will also not be higher (practically - even a few degrees lower). This heat can easily kill mold and yeast, but it takes many hours boiling to kill bacteria.

Taking all this into account, it is possible to recommend making canned food at home from all types of fruits and berries, from tomatoes, rhubarb and sorrel.

All other vegetables can also be canned, but with the obligatory addition to them of the required amount of acetic, citric or lactic acid: This produces canned food with a slight acidity (much less than in pickled vegetables), but they can be sterilized in boiling water. It should be remembered that, due to the lack of autoclaves, making canned meat and fish at home is not only not recommended, but even should not be allowed. The fact is that in meat and fish products, in addition to the usual heat-resistant putrefactive bacteria, there can be botulism bacteria that are dangerous to health, which can cause severe poisoning. It is very difficult to destroy these bacteria by ordinary boiling. But canning fruits and vegetables is absolutely safe.

Containers and equipment for home canning.

Good canned food can be obtained in various containers if it is hermetically sealed.

For home use, either special glass jars with glass lids, or ordinary canned glass jars, sealed with tin lids.

Many types of canned food can be bottled. The special jars shown in the figure, in addition to the glass lid, are also equipped with a wide elastic rubber gasket ring to ensure tightness when closing and a spring - a clamp or clamp to hold the lids on the jar during sterilization. These cans are manufactured by our industry. It is very convenient to sterilize canned food in these jars, so they should be recommended for use in the first place.

Ordinary glass cans are available in every household, and their purchase is not difficult. These cans are sealed using rubber-ring tin lids available from hardware stores. The rim of the mouth of cans has a strictly defined diameter (83, 70 or 58 mm). The lids are made to the exact size to ensure that the cans are completely sealed. On sale you can find white and yellow lids, coated with a persistent food grade varnish. Lacquered lids are used to seal sour fruits and berries, as well as pickles, less sour (apples, tomatoes) can also be sealed with unlacquered lids.

Seal cans with tin lids using the manual seaming machine shown in the figure. The machine consists of a steel roller, a chuck, a pressure fungus and a handle. If there are no cans, many canned food made from small fruits and berries or from cut pieces of vegetables and fruits, as well as various puree products and juice can be made in bottles (dairy or regular narrow-necked). To seal milk bottles, circles with a diameter of 32-33 mm must be cut out of tin (from cans or lids). Such a circle is tightly laid on the ledge-side, which is on the inside of the neck of the milk bottle, and from above it is completely poured with molten sealing wax or resin made up of 2 parts of bitumen, 5 parts of rosin and 3 parts of paraffin (you can choose another composition yourself). Ordinary narrow-necked bottles are sealed with corks, pressing them below the level of the upper edge of the neck, and from above they are also completely poured with sealing wax or tar.

For work, you must have: an aluminum or enameled pan for 3-5 liters for blanching; a sterilization pot (high), in which you can place 3-4 or more cans, covering it with a lid; slotted spoon; colander; kitchen knife; a spoon - a tablespoon and a teaspoon; a plug - all made of stainless metals.

It is advisable to have a thermometer to determine the temperature of water in a saucepan and canned food in cans during sterilization, as well as when blanching fruits and vegetables.

If you do not have a gas stove, you can use kerosene stoves, kerosene stove, kerosene stove or a regular stove for heating and sterilization.

Preparing fruits and vegetables for canning

The method of pre-processing fruits, berries or vegetables depends on their type and on what kind of canned food we intend to get from them. This will be discussed in detail later.

There are, however, general techniques and processes that are inevitable in all or most of them. So, any vegetables and fruits must be washed to completely remove dirt (especially carefully - roots and herbs); then peeling, pits, seeds and other inedible and inedible parts follows.

When cutting fruits and vegetables into pieces or slices, one should strive to ensure that the slices are the same, this will not only improve the appearance of canned food, but they will warm up more evenly during sterilization.

For the same purpose, fruits and berries preserved as a whole are pre-sorted by size so that in one jar there are approximately the same fruits.

A very important pretreatment process is blanching, that is, short-term (1-5 minutes) scalding or cooking vegetables and fruits in water while boiling or at a slightly lower temperature (or steam). Blanching in fruits and vegetables destroys enzymes that can cause browning (eg apples, potatoes, mushrooms). In addition, most of the germs are destroyed, so sterilization is easier. Air and part of the moisture are displaced from the fruits, they decrease somewhat in volume and therefore they can be more placed in the jar. If, for example, you put raw apples in a jar, they will still decrease in volume, but already in the jar itself. This will result in a lot of liquid and few fruits in the finished canned food.

One way or another, prepared products are packaged in jars. The fruits preserved in whole or in pieces are poured with syrup, and vegetables with brine, and if they are prepared in the form of mashed potatoes or juice, then they are simply poured into jars.

Syrup, brine, juice or puree must be poured into jars hot so that the temperature of the canned food is already high enough by the beginning of sterilization, then it will take less time to heat it up to the sterilization temperature.

It is necessary to fill the cans so that the free space above the product to the upper edge of the cans is 1.5-2.0 cm.

This is where the preparatory part of the work ends and the most important one begins - sterilization (or pasteurization), that is, heating to destroy microorganisms.

Capping and sterilizing cans

For each type of canned food in cans of different capacities, the required sterilization duration in minutes and the temperature in degrees are set. Most often, homemade canned food is sterilized at 100 °, that is, in boiling water. Depending on the cans in which canned food is made, the procedure for working is somewhat different.

Canning in glass jars with glass lids

The filled jars are covered with glass lids so that the rubber ring fits between the lid or the neck of the jar. Using a clamp or a spring, the lids are pressed tightly against the jar. In advance, water is heated in a saucepan to 50-60 ° and sealed jars are placed in this water. Water is taken in such an amount that it covers all the jars with lids. A wooden grid circle or a piece of cloth is placed at the bottom of the pan under the jars so that the jars do not burst upon further heating. Continue heating the pot with the jars and water until the water in the pot boils. The moment the water boils in the pan is considered the beginning of sterilization. From this moment, the cans are kept boiling for as many minutes as indicated for this type of canned food. Boiling should not be violent, since this is not necessary, the temperature of the water in the pan will still not rise from this4. It is recommended to cover the pan with a lid during sterilization so that there is less heat loss and so that vapors do not escape into the room.

With this sterilization, fruits and vegetables in jars are heated by the water in the pan, and the microbes in them die. If the pressure in the can increases as a result of the expansion of the liquid and the formation of vapors, the lid will slightly rise and excess vapors and air remaining there will be forced out of the can into the gap formed. After that, the lid will return to its place and water from the pan will not get into the jar. When the required sterilization time is over, the cans are taken out of the water and, without removing the clamps, are placed for gradual cooling in air or cooled with water.

You cannot remove the clamps from hot cans. When the jars cool down, the glass lids stick tightly to them; then you can remove the clamp and store the canned food. The lids are held on to the cans because a rarefied space (vacuum) forms underneath. To open such a jar, it is necessary with a knife to slightly press inward on one side of the rubber ring (or, if there is a tongue on the ring, pull on it and pull out the ring slightly). Then the outside air will enter the jar and the lid will open by itself.

Jars with glass lids are the most convenient for home canning: no tools (except for a spring) are required to seal and open them.

Canning in glass jars with tin lids

These banks are the most widespread in our country. Sterilization of canned food in them is done differently. First, the cans are filled in the same way as described above; then they are only covered with tin lids, but they are not rolled up and placed for sterilization in a pan with heated water, but in such a way that after installing all the cans, the water does not reach the lids by 1.5-2 cm. After that, the beams continue to be heated to a boil and keep the set number of minutes at a low boil. At the end of sterilization, carefully remove the jars from the pan, without opening their lids (this is done with a towel so as not to burn your hands). They put the jars on the table and seal them with lids using a seaming machine, then put the sealed jars for cooling upside down, with the lid down. This is done in order to additionally prosterilize the lids with hot cans. In addition, if the seaming was done incorrectly, a leak can immediately be detected in an inverted can.

Thus, in cans with tin lids, canned food is first sterilized, and then they are sealed.

If you first seal the cans, and then put them in a pan with water and heat to a boil, then the expansion of air and vapors will generate increased pressure and the lids will be torn off the can, that is, all work will be nullified and the products will be spoiled.

Canning in bottles

Prepared juices, mashed potatoes and other products are poured hot into bottles, not topping up by 3-4 cm. Filled bottles are placed in a deep saucepan or a bucket of heated water so that the water in the bucket does not reach the top of the bottles by 3-4 cm.

Milk bottles are covered on top with cut-out tin mugs, then heated to a boil, sterilized at a slow boil, removed and sealed, pouring tar on top of mugs or corks. After that, the bottles are cooled, but not turned over, so that the hot tar does not drain from the corks.

CANNED COMPOTES

Making sugar syrup

For canning, compotes are prepared somewhat differently than for direct consumption (as described in the section "Sweet dishes").

You can prepare fruits and berries in the same way, but when canning it is impractical to add so much water to the fruit. When making compotes in jars, you should pour the fruits with a stronger (concentrated) sugar syrup, but in smaller quantities. In a jar, the fruits should occupy 2/3 of the volume, and the syrup 73, that is, just enough to fill the gaps between the fruits. The strength of the syrup for different fruits is different. The more acidic the fruit, the more sugar should be in the syrup, then the taste of the compote will be good. Sugar in compotes does not have any preservative effect. Instead of syrup, you can pour the fruits in a jar with just water or juice from the same fruits. The syrup is necessary only so that during sterilization the heat quickly and evenly penetrates into all the fruits in the jar, as well as so that the cooked and softened fruits in ready-made canned food do not turn into a shapeless mass during storage and transportation (the fruits seem to float in syrup). But compote, prepared with pouring water, is too sour, you still have to add sugar to it. Therefore, it is better to immediately prepare canned food, ready to eat.

The syrup is prepared in advance. It is believed that 200 cm3 in a cube of syrup is consumed for one half-liter glass jar of canned compotes. When preparing syrup of various concentrations, the following table should be followed.

The water is heated in a saucepan, sugar is added and the heating is continued with stirring until the sugar is completely dissolved, then brought to a boil. The hot syrup is filtered to separate the fine suspended particles that are sometimes found in granulated sugar. Pour fruit in jars with hot syrup. If the syrup has been prepared for a long time and has cooled down, it must be heated again before use.

APPLE COMPOTE

Apples are best taken with white, green and yellow skins (red apples become dark and unattractive after sterilization). They should be ripe, but not yet soft. Compote is obtained from sour and sweet-sour varieties better than from sweet ones.

Wash the fruits, cut in half and carefully cut the seed nest from each half with a teaspoon with pointed edges. The fruit does not need to be peeled from the skin (optional). Immediately lower the halves into the water so that no darkening occurs on the slices.

Take so many halves that they are enough for 2 or 3 half-liter jars, place in a wire basket or wire basket and dip in boiling water for blanching. You can blanch the apples by wrapping them in a piece of cheesecloth. It is important that all fruits are simultaneously immersed in and out of hot water. After blanching for 2-3 minutes, remove the apples with a basket or cheesecloth, put them in cold water for a few seconds. Blanched apples should still be quite firm, but have already lost their original dullness (as a result of the displacement of air from the tissues of the fruit). Place the halves neatly in washed and scalded jars with the cut down.

It is better to do this with a fork, so as not to touch the fruit with your fingers. Pour the stacked apples with hot syrup with a concentration of 30-35%. Sterilize half-liter jars in boiling water for 15-20 minutes (counting from the moment the water boils in a saucepan), liter jars - 20-25 minutes (longer for less ripe fruits).

We remind you that jars with glass lids are sterilized in a sealed form, and with tin lids - not sealed, but only covered; they are sealed after sterilization.

If there are a lot of apples, you can make compote from them in three-liter bottles (cylinders). Sterilization time is 40-50 minutes. All waste from apple peeling (skin, core) should be used to make applesauce.

For 10 half-liter cans - apples 4 kg, sugar 600 g.

PEAR COMPOTE

Pears should be ripe but not soft. They must be washed and cleaned of the seed nest in the same way as apples. From autumn pears of the Bessemyanka variety and others with tender pulp, good compotes are obtained when canning with a seed nest. They can be simply cut in half lengthwise and placed in jars after blanching. Tough pears should be well cleaned from the core, which contains many stony cells.

After blanching for 3-5 minutes at 95-100 °, pour the pears with syrup of 30% concentration. Sterilize half-liter jars in boiling water for 20-25 minutes, liter jars - 30-35 minutes, three-liter jars - 50 minutes.

For 10 liter cans - 4.5 kg pears, 600 g sugar.

Quince compote

Quince should be preserved peeled and with the seed nest removed. Since its flesh is quite tough, after cleaning, the fruits must be cut into small slices (1.5-2 cm) and blanched in water at a boiling point or slightly lower (85-90 °) until softened. This takes about an hour.

Place the slices tightly in jars and pour over 40% syrup. Sterilize in the same way as pears.

For 10 half-liter cans - quince 7 kg, sugar 600 g.

CHERRY COMPOTE

For canning, it is better to take cherries with a dark color, fully ripe. It must be sorted by size and color, washed and packed tightly into jars without blanching. Immediately after laying the cherries, turn the jar over and drain the water collected at the bottom, then pour the cherries with 60% syrup. Sterilize half-liter jars in boiling water for 10-12 minutes, liter jars for 15-18 minutes, three-liter jars for 25-30 minutes. Instead of sterilization, sour cherries can be pasteurized at 85 ° (half-liter jars for 20-25 minutes). At the same time, great pressure does not form in the cans, and even glass cans with tin lids can be sealed in advance and then heated.

For 10 half-liter jars - 4.5 kg of cherries, 1 kg of sugar.

CHERRY COMPOTE

Canned yellow and red cherries. They are prepared in the same way as cherries. The pouring syrup should have a sugar concentration of 30-35%. Sterilize half-liter jars in boiling water for 15-20 minutes, liter jars - 20-25 minutes, three-liter jars - 45 minutes.

For 10 half-liter jars - sweet cherries 4.5 kg, sugar 550 g.

APRICOT COMPOTE

It is impossible to preserve very soft apricots, as they will lose their shape during sterilization. The surface of apricots is often damaged in the form of dots and spots. If there is a lot of damage, the fruits are discarded so as not to worsen the appearance of the canned food.

Wash apricots, but do not blanch. Put small apricots in jars whole with seeds, large ones - cut in half along the groove and remove the seeds. It is recommended to break a few seeds and put the kernels in a jar with halves of the fruit to give the compote better flavor.

The filling syrup should be 40-50% concentration. Sterilize half-liter jars in boiling water for 10-12 minutes, liter jars - 15-18 minutes, three-liter jars - 30 minutes (or pasteurize half-liter jars at 85 ° C for 20-25 minutes, liter jars - 30-35 minutes).

For 10 liter jars when canning whole fruits - apricots 3.5 kg, sugar 850 g (when canning in halves - apricots 4.5 kg).

PEACH COMPOTE

Peaches must be peeled with a sharp stainless steel knife. For easier peeling, peaches can be blanched for 5 minutes in boiling water, then chilled immediately in cold water. Cut large peaches in half and preserve in pitted halves, and small peaches whole with pits. The concentration of the syrup is 35-40%. Sterilize half-liter jars in boiling water for 15-20 minutes, liter jars - 20-25 minutes, three-liter jars - 45 minutes.

For 10 half-liter jars - peaches (halves) 5 kg, sugar 750 g.

DRAIN COMPOTE

Select ripe, but not soft, well-colored plums and blanch at 85 ° for 3-5 minutes until slightly softened. To prevent cracks in the compotes on the skins of the plums, it is recommended to prick the fruits with a pin or fork made of stainless steel before blanching. If the plums are large, they can be preserved in halves, pitted, like apricots.

Put in jars whole plums or halves pour 30-40% syrup. Sterilize in boiling water in the same way as apricots.

For 10 half-liter cans - 4.5 kg drain, 600 g sugar.

COMPOTE FROM CHARLES AND TKEMALS

Since both of these varieties of plums are very acidic, they can be preserved by pouring 65% syrup. Otherwise, the preparation is the same as for other plums, canned with whole fruit with pits. Tkemali, whose acidity is especially high, should be sterilized less: half-liter jars for 5 minutes in boiling water (or 15 minutes at 85 °), liter jars for 7-8 minutes (or 25 minutes at 85 °). Dogwood compote is also prepared, but not blanched.

For 10 half-liter jars - 4 kg of fruit, 1.3 kg of sugar.

STRAWBERRY (OR STRAWBERRY) COMPOTE

Strawberries are somewhat more difficult to preserve than other fruits and berries. When boiling (sterilizing), strawberries greatly decrease in volume, therefore, in the jar, despite the dense packing, there may be few berries and a lot of syrup. In addition, the berries can lose their characteristic color, become pale. To get a good compote, you need to take strawberries of such varieties, in which the entire pulp of the berries is painted red, and not just the surface.

Peel the strawberries of stalks and leaves, wash, pour into a basin and pour 65% sugar syrup, covering all the berries, then leave for 3-4 hours. During this time, part of the water from the berries will turn into syrup, and the sugar will penetrate into the berries, which will become smaller and denser as a result. Then the berries must be tightly packed in jars, and the syrup must be heated to a boil and pour the berries in the jars with them. Pasteurize half-liter jars at 85 ° for 15-20 minutes. Strawberries should not be canned in larger jars.

Strawberry compote should be stored in a cool, preferably in a dark place, as in the light its color is lost during storage.

They also make compote from wild strawberries.

For 10 half-liter jars - strawberries 4 kg, sugar 1.3 kg.

RASPBERRY AND BLACKBERRY COMPOTE

If white small larvae of a raspberry bug are found on the collected raspberries, the berries should be dipped for 5-10 minutes in a cold weak solution of salt (100 g of salt per bucket of water). The larvae will emerge and must be removed.

After that, the berries are prepared in the same way as strawberries. You can instead put the washed berries tightly in jars and pour 60% syrup. Sterilize half-liter jars for 8 minutes in boiling water.

Compote is also made from blackberries.

For 10 half-liter cans - raspberries. 3.5 kg, sugar 1.2 kg.

BLACK CURRANT COMPOTE

Usually, when picking black currants, large and small berries, ripe and somewhat unripe berries fall into one basket, many leaves and other impurities fall. Therefore, first, the currants must be passed through an inclined table or board, as shown in the figure. In this case, all the impurities and part of the underdeveloped berries will linger on the table, and the good ones will roll down into the exposed basin. Wash the berries, put them tightly in jars, lightly tamp them with your hand, and pour 60% syrup. You can do otherwise: pour the berries in a saucepan with 20% syrup, heat to a boil and leave overnight. The next day, separate the berries and put them in jars, heat the syrup to a boil with added sugar (100 g per 1 l) and pour the berries in the jars with them.

Banks pasteurize at 90 °: half-liter 13-18 minutes, liter 20 minutes.

For 10 half-liter jars - currants 3.5-4 kg, sugar 1.4 kg.

BLUEBERRY AND BLUEBERRY COMPOTE

All these berries are prepared in the same way as black currants.

Put the sorted and washed berries tightly in jars and pour over 40% syrup or keep in a bowl with 20% syrup as indicated for currants.

Sterilize half-liter jars in boiling water for 10 minutes. For 10 half-liter jars - 4 kg of berries, 1 kg of sugar.

Lingonberry compote

Compote is made in the same way as other compotes, but the syrup for pouring is taken at 50-60% concentration. Jars are sterilized in the same way as with currant compote.

For 10 half-liter jars - 4 kg of berries, 1.3 kg of sugar.

GRAPE COMPOTE

Select all rotten and underdeveloped berries. Wash the good berries, put them tightly in jars and pour over with 30% syrup. Sterilize half-liter jars in boiling water for 10-12 minutes, liter jars - 15-18 minutes, three-liter jars - 35-40 minutes.

For 10 half-liter jars - 5 kg of grapes, 400 g of sugar.

Gooseberry compote

The berries are ripe, but firm. During sterilization, gooseberries often burst, this deteriorates the appearance of the compote. To prevent this from happening, you need to prick the berries with a pin or a pointed match, and then boil them a little in a syrup of 50-60% concentration and, together with this syrup, pour into jars so that there is no excess syrup.

Sterilize half-liter and liter jars in boiling water for 15-20 minutes.

For 10 half-liter jars - 4 kg of berries, 1 kg of sugar.

FIG COMPOTE

Select mature fleshy seedlings with a small seed cavity. Washed and peeled figs, blanch in water for 5-7 minutes at 70 °, put in jars, pour 40% syrup. Sterilize half-liter jars in boiling water for 12-15 minutes, liter jars - 15-20 minutes, three-liter jars - 45 minutes.

For 10 half-liter jars - figs 4.5 kg, sugar 600 g.

MANDARINE COMPOTE

Perfectly ripe tangerines are peeled and sliced, simultaneously removing all white fibers, threads and films. Blanch the slices in water for 30-40 seconds at 85 °, cool and place tightly in jars. Prepare a 40% syrup. When cooking, add the peel from several fruits to get a compote with a good aroma. If compotes from other fruits are also canned, it is also useful to add tangerine peel to the syrup, because valuable aromatic substances are contained in the peel. Sterilize in the same way as fig compote.

For 10 half-liter cans - tangerines as much as 9 kg, sugar 450 g.

RHUBBY COMPOTE

Although rhubarb is a vegetable, it resembles fruit in its acidity and taste. You can make a good canned compote from it.

Sort the rhubarb stalks by size and color (green and pink), cut off the top thin and coarse part, as well as a small piece near the base, where the stalk attaches to the plant. Cut the petioles into equal pieces 2–3 cm long, soak in cold water for 10–12 hours (overnight), then remove, blanch in boiling water for 1 minute, cool and place tightly in jars, pour 50% syrup. Sterilize in boiling water (you can pasteurize at 90 °) half-liter jars "15 minutes, liter jars - 20-25 minutes, three-liter jars - 30-40 minutes.

For 10 half-liter jars - 3.5 kg rhubarb stalks, 1 kg sugar.

MELON COMPOTE

Melons should be taken with dense pulp, not friable, but ripe and aromatic. Wash the melons, peel and seed nests, and cut the pulp into rectangular pieces, 1.5-2 cm thick and 8-9 cm long (the height of the jar) or into cubes.

Prepare a syrup of 35-40% concentration and in it blanch pieces of melon for 3-4 minutes at 80 °, put in jars and pour the same syrup. Sterilize half-liter jars in boiling water for 20 minutes.

For 10 half-liter cans - melons 6. kg, sugar 600 g.

ASSORTED COMPOTES

This is the name of compotes from a mixture of different fruits and berries in one jar. Not all blends are good. If, for example, you mix cherries or red plums with apples, the apples will turn pale pink, and the cherries will also become pale. It is recommended to mix such fruits and berries that do not have readily soluble dyes. For example, you can mix apples, pears and quince (peeled or peeled, cut into cubes or small equal slices) with tangerine slices, apricot halves, with yellow cherries, green grapes, rennlodes, etc. according to your own taste. To give the compotes a better appearance, pieces of fruit and whole fruits must be carefully placed in jars, evenly distributing fruits of different colors. You can put several ripe rose hips in a jar, after removing the seeds from them. This will greatly decorate the compote. Pour such compotes with medium strength syrup - 30-40%.

Sterilize- as much as is recommended for the most difficult to sterilize type of fruit included in the mixture. If there is not a sufficiently complete set of fruits to make a good mixture, you can separately preserve early fruits, for example, cherries or apricots, in advance, and add them to the assorted compote in the fall. You can also use factory-made compotes, for example, tangerine.

BLACK CURRANT WITH SUGAR

Currants are highly acidic. If you add a lot of sugar to it, then sterilization is not required to preserve it.

Sort the currants on an inclined table as described above. Separate all small frail berries, and skip the good ones in a meat grinder or crush them in a saucepan with a spoon or wooden pestle.

For 1 kg of currants, add 2 kg of sugar and mix thoroughly. Put the resulting mixture in clean jars, seal with lids and store in the cold. Black currants with sugar can be prepared not only in cans, but also in any other dishes - clay pots, pots, etc. In these cases, instead of tin lids, parchment or cellophane is used for closing.

If, during storage in the warm season, it turns out that signs of fermentation (foam, alcohol smell) appear in individual cans with black currants, transfer the contents of such cans to a saucepan, boil, pour hot again into cans and seal.

You can also store uncrushed currant berries by sprinkling them with granulated sugar (2.5 kg of sugar per 1 kg of berries) and tamping them tightly in a jar.

FRUIT PUREE

Puree can be made from any fruit. Most often, applesauce is made.

Wash the apples without peeling the skin and seed nest, cut into halves or smaller pieces, put in a saucepan. Add peelings (skin and core), if they remain after cooking compotes. Pour a little water into the bottom of the pan so that the fruits do not burn, heat to a boil and boil until softened. While hot, wipe the fruits on a special hand rubbing device shown in the figure, or through a colander using a spoon or wooden pestle. Collect the seeds, skins and other coarse parts remaining on a sieve or colander in a separate bowl, add a little hot water to them and wipe again to use all the pulp.

Heat the resulting puree in a saucepan until boiling and pour it hot into prepared jars (along the shoulders).

Sterilize half-liter jars in boiling water for 15-20 minutes. In liter and three-liter jars, if the puree is poured at a temperature close to boiling (not lower than 95 °), the puree can be immediately sealed and not sterilized.

Also prepare and preserve puree from all other fruits and berries.

Juicy and tender berries (strawberries, raspberries) can be wiped without preheating.

FRUIT PUREE WITH SUGAR

Add 10% sugar to the mashed fruit mass (and if the fruits or berries are very sour, for example currants, cherries, then 15%), heat in a saucepan to a boil, boil for 5-10 minutes; then pour the puree hot into jars or bottles and sterilize in the same way as described above.

All fruit purees, both sugar-free and sugar-free, can be canned in milk bottles.

NATURAL BERRIES WITH SUGAR

Blueberries, lingonberries, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, currants can be preserved as follows.

Sort the berries and, taking away all the seeds, sepals and other impurities, wash, then pour into a saucepan, on the bottom of which pour a little water to avoid burning, heat to a boil and boil for a few minutes so that all the berries are evenly boiled. You can add 10-15% sugar before heating. While hot, the berries, together with the released juice, are poured into jars or bottles, trying to ensure that the juice and berries are evenly distributed over the jars.

Sterilize half-liter jars and bottles for 10 minutes. Liter and three-liter cans, if the mass was poured very hot, can be sealed and not sterilized.

PASTEURIZED JAM

Above, in a special section, it was already mentioned how to cook various jams from fruits and berries at home. To preserve such jam for a long time, it is best to pour it into cans, seal it and pasteurize or sterilize it. To do this, you need to proceed as follows.

Cook the jam, it is better to undercooked it a little. The signs of the readiness of the jam listed above (p. 370) are of decisive importance for its preservation only when packed in a leaky container. For pasteurized jam, it is not the degree of boiling that is important, but the destruction of microbes when heated and hermetically sealed, making it impossible for other microbes to enter from the outside.

Slight undercooking is even convenient, since there are almost never cases of candying such a jam during storage.

Pour the boiled jam hot into prepared and also hot glass cans, trying to evenly distribute the fruits and syrup over the jars.

Sterilize jars in boiling water - half-liter for 15 minutes, liter for 20 minutes - or pasteurize at 95 ° for 5-8 minutes longer.

You can also make pasteurized jam or jam.

WATERMELON HONEY

Ripe sweet watermelons wash, cut with a knife into 2-4 parts, select the pulp from them in a basin, chop it with a knife, rub through a sieve or colander. Pour the resulting juice into a saucepan and put on fire. At the beginning of boiling, a reddish foam will appear on the surface of the juice. Remove the foam, and strain the hot juice through cheesecloth or a rare cloth and put on fire again to boil. Carry out boiling at a not very strong boil and constant stirring so that the juice does not burn. It is necessary to boil until the volume of the juice is reduced by 5-6 times. A drop of ready-made watermelon honey taken from the pan should not spread when cooled.

Boiled watermelon honey can be stored in an unsealed container, but it is better to pour it hot immediately into canned glass jars and roll them up with lids.

CANNED VEGETABLES

Since most fresh vegetables do not have a noticeable natural acidity, they can be canned at home either with the addition of food acids, that is, in the form of marinades, or after the formation of acidity during fermentation and pickling. Tomatoes can be well preserved in their natural form.

PASTEURIZED VEGETABLE MARINADES

How to pickle vegetables was discussed in a special section. Any of the pickled vegetables can be packaged, pasteurized by heating in hot water and sealed hermetically. Such marinades will turn into canned food and can be stored for years without fear of damage and not necessarily in the cold, but at normal room temperature. In addition, for pasteurized marinades, you can take much less vinegar, which will only improve their taste.

Prepare vegetables in the usual way as described above. Sorted and washed vegetables, cut into equal pieces or wedges or whole, put in glass cans. At the bottom of the jars, put spices and herbs (black and allspice, red bitter pepper, garlic, tarragon, dill, parsley, etc.) according to your own taste.

Place the vegetables and spices so that the jars are filled up to the shoulders and the pieces do not stick out.

Prepare the vinegar marinade pouring. It should be borne in mind that one half-liter jar takes about 0.2 liters of marinade filling, that is, it occupies about 40% of the volume of the jar, the remaining 60% are vegetables and spices.

The filling contains salt, sugar and vinegar or acetic acid 80% (essence).

Add 50 g of salt and 50 g of sugar to 1 liter of water. After their complete dissolution, when heated to a boil, boil for 3-5 minutes and strain hot through a cloth. Add 15 cm3 (or 2 teaspoons) of strong 80% acetic acid for each liter. Pour vegetables in jars with such a hot filling liquid so that they are completely covered with liquid.

After that, you can cover the cans with tin lids (and finally seal the cans with glass lids), put in a saucepan with heated water and sterilize in boiling water (counting from the moment of boiling) half-liter and liter cans for 5-7 minutes, and three-liter cans for 20 minutes. If it turns out that after sterilization the vegetables have become softened, instead of sterilization, they can be pasteurized at 85 ° for 20-25 minutes.

Acetic acid, sold in triangular bottles, is easy to measure with a scale marked on one of the edges. The distance between two long lines corresponds to 20 cm3, and between the short ones (from the side) - 5 cm3.

If a few jars of marinades are being prepared, then you can not do the vinegar marinade pouring in advance, but prepare only a solution of salt and sugar as described above. Pour the vegetables in the jars with this solution and start pasteurizing them. 1-2 minutes before the end of pasteurization, slightly open the tin lid of the jar and pour strong acetic acid directly into it from above, 6-7 cm3 (full teaspoon) on a liter jar (a full teaspoon), half a liter jar - half as much. Close the lid immediately, and when the can is removed from the pot, roll it up and turn it several times to evenly distribute the vinegar.

Rolled up pasteurized cans can be stored for a long time under normal conditions.

In the described way, pasteurized marinades are made from various fruits and berries.

CANNED CUCUMBERS

Canned cucumbers differ from pickled cucumbers in that they contain less vinegar. In addition, a certain range of spices, mainly local herbs, are adopted for the common, commercial canned cucumbers.

It is necessary to make the same canned food at home as follows. Wash young dense cucumbers with small underdeveloped seeds, soak in cold water and leave for 6-8 hours. At the same time, the density and crunch of the fruit pulp is better preserved. Prepare in advance a mixture of finely chopped spicy plants, adhering to approximately the following ratio (in grams per liter jar): horseradish leaf - 6, celery leaf - 6, dill - 10, parsley - 3, mint leaf - 1, garlic - 1. Lighter and it is more convenient to put all the spices in the mixture into the jars. At the bottom, put half of the relying rate of spices. In addition, add 10-12 grains of black pepper, ¼ part of a pod of red hot pepper and one bay leaf to each liter jar.

Place the cucumbers tightly in the jar, and the rest of the chopped herbs on top.

Prepare the filling by dissolving 60 g of salt (two incomplete tablespoons) in 1 liter of water. You don't need to add sugar. Pour cucumbers in jars with hot pouring and sterilize half-liter jars in boiling water for 3-5 minutes, liter jars for 5-8 minutes. One minute before the end of sterilization, lift the tin lids and pour 5 cm3 (an incomplete teaspoon) of strong acetic acid into each liter jar. Take out the sterilized jars, roll them up and turn them over in your hands several times so that the vinegar dissolves evenly. If softened cucumbers are obtained in canned food, the following cans can be not sterilized, but pasteurized for 10 minutes at 90 °.

(Immediately after the end of sterilization, refrigerate the jars with cucumbers to avoid excessive boiling and softening.

For 10 half-liter jars - cucumbers 3-5 kg, salt 250 g, acetic acid 80% 35 cm3 (one third of a triangular bottle).

CANNED PATISSONS

Small, newly formed squash ovaries, no more than 7 cm in size, yellow or white, separate from the stalks, wash, blanch for 1 minute in boiling water and immediately cool by immersing in cold water. Prepare spices and herbs, as well as marinade dressing in the same way as for canned cucumbers. Sterilize the squash in jars in boiling water (half-liter jars for 5 minutes, liter jars for 8 minutes), then immediately cool.

Canned squash can be used in all cases instead of canned cucumbers. Distinguished by a beautiful patterned shape, they are a good table decoration.

For 10 half-liter jars - 4 kg squash, the same amount of salt and vinegar as for cucumbers.

CANNED SALT CUCUMBERS

How to pickle cucumbers was discussed above. However, it is very difficult to keep lightly salted or pickled cucumbers in good condition at home. Their storage requires a cold room with temperatures close to zero. In a warm room, cucumbers will become soft over time, their acidity will increase all the time, since lactic acid fermentation continues in them. To better preserve cucumbers without having a cold room, they should be preserved in jars. Remove freshly salted, firm, crunchy and not peroxidized cucumbers from the barrel and rinse in a freshly prepared salt solution (1 tablespoon of salt per liter of water). Prepare glass jars, i.e. rinse and scald them. Put a little dill, garlic and red pepper at the bottom of the jars. It is better to take dill fresh or dried, and garlic and pepper can be taken from a barrel with pickled cucumbers, if they were put there when salting.

Pour the cucumber pickle from the barrel into a saucepan, heat to a boil and filter through cheesecloth or other loose cloth to separate the cloudy sediment.

Put cucumbers in jars and pour over hot brine. If there is not enough cucumber pickle, add a little freshly prepared saline solution (the same one in which the cucumbers removed from the barrels were washed).

Sterilize jars of cucumbers in boiling water - half-liter and liter for 15-20 minutes (depending on the size of the cucumbers: large ones are sterilized longer), then refrigerate. When sterilized, cucumbers may boil somewhat and turn out to be softer than the same, but uncanned cucumbers.

It should be noted that microbes are destroyed in canned food and no fermentation processes, acidity increase, etc. will take place in cans. Fermentation continues in barrels. Therefore, after long-term storage, for example, by spring, canned cucumbers will have the best quality.

CANNED SURROWED CABBAGE

Sauerkraut is canned for the same reasons as pickles: if you just leave it in a barrel, it will freeze in a cold room, and in a warm room it will become completely sour by spring.

It is necessary to preserve sauerkraut when it has the best quality - a pleasant specific taste and aroma, dense, but not hard consistency. This usually happens 15-20 days after fermentation.

Remove the cabbage together with the brine from the barrel, heat in a saucepan to 90 ° and transfer hot to prepared, also hot jars. Seal the jars with lids and leave to cool in the air.

If at the same time the cabbage turns out to be too soft, you can use another method. Transfer the cabbage from the barrel to a sieve, and let the juice drain into a saucepan or basin. Heat the juice to a boil and pour into jars of 100-150 g per liter jar. In the same jars, pack the cabbage to the top so that the brine is visible from above. Cork the jars and sterilize in boiling water for 25 minutes.

CANNED CABBAGE JUICE (BRINE)

Cabbage brine sometimes remains in surplus when sauerkraut is consumed. In autumn and early winter, it tastes very good and is loved by many. In addition, the brine has a refreshing effect and contains valuable nutrients, the same and almost the same amount as cabbage: vitamin C, lactic acid, mineral salts. At this time, it can be preserved: strain the brine through a cloth, heat in a saucepan to 85 ° and pour into jars or bottles heated to the same temperature, keep the sealed jars in water at 85 ° for 20-25 minutes for pasteurization, and then cool.

CANNED SORREL

Sorrel has a high natural acidity, so preserving it is not difficult.

Sort fresh sorrel and rinse thoroughly, because on the leaves, especially after rains, there is a lot of adhering sand and earth; blanch in boiling water for 3-4 minutes and rub through a sieve or wiper. Heat the resulting puree in a saucepan until boiling, pour it hot into jars and sterilize in boiling water for 60 minutes (half-liter or liter jars).

You can preserve untouched leaves. In this case, they must be blanched for no more than a minute, and then tightly packed in jars and sterilized.

In the absence of conditions for sterilization, you can preserve the sorrel in the cold with salt. Wash sorrel and chop lightly with a knife. Mix with clean dry salt - for 900 g of sorrel -100 g of salt. Fill jars or small barrels with this mixture tightly, seal. It is advisable to store such a product in the cold (at a temperature not exceeding 10 °, but not allowing freezing).

For 10 half-liter cans - sorrel 5 kg,

DILL GREENS, PETRUSHKI AND CANNED CELERY

Carefully sorted and washed greens cut with a knife into pieces 1.5-2.5 cm long and mix thoroughly with salt -% and 750 g of greens 250 g of salt. Fill the jars with the mixture and leave them uncorked for 1-2 days. During this time, the greens will settle somewhat. Add some more salted herbs on top (you can take from other jars) and seal the jars. It is advisable to store them in a cool place. Canned greens do not ferment, therefore their natural aroma and color are well preserved. Such greens can be used in winter wherever fresh herbs are usually used. Since there is a lot of salt in it, the dish to which it is added can be not salted or salted less.

CANNED TOMATO PUREE

Prepare tomato puree as described in the "Pickles and other preparations" section.

Pour the boiled mashed tomato mass without adding salt in the hot state into prepared cans and sterilize in boiling water - half-liter cans for 25 minutes, liter cans for 35 minutes.

TOMATO JUICE

Tomato juice is best made at the same time as tomato puree. The fact is that tomato juice must contain pulp containing carotene. But if you add all the pulp from the fruits of tomatoes to the juice, you get a thick mass - mashed potatoes. Therefore, it is better to do so. Cut or mash ripe tomatoes, boil in a saucepan until softened. Place the hot mass on a sieve or wiper and start wiping. When about half of the boiled mass put on a sieve is wiped off, stop wiping, leave the liquid juice collected at the bottom with a small amount of pulp for canning, and wipe everything that remains on the sieve into another dish and boil the resulting viscous mass with a lot of pulp until puree is obtained. ...

Heat the juice to a boil, pour it hot into jars or bottles and sterilize in boiling water - half-liter jars for 30 minutes, liter jars for 40 minutes, three-liter jars for 60 minutes.

TOMATO SAUCE

To boiled tomato puree add 150 g of sugar per 1 kg of J & sugar, 20 g of salt (two-thirds of a tablespoon), 1 clove of garlic, one teaspoon of strong acetic acid, 15 grains of black and allspice pepper, 15-20 cloves , as well as a piece of cinnamon and nutmeg.

Pre-grind or grind all spices with a hammer and mix with tomato puree (or put in mashed potatoes in a tied gauze bag). Along with spices, sugar and salt, boil the puree for 10-15 minutes; then add the vinegar, stir and pour the hot sauce into the jars. Sterilize half-liter jars in boiling water for 30 minutes, liter jars - 50 minutes.

WHOLE CANNED TOMATOES

It is better to preserve ripe small tomatoes, round or plum-shaped, with dense fleshy pulp and a small amount of seeds.

Tomatoes can be canned peeled or with skin. The best quality is canned food from peeled tomatoes.

Take good tomatoes, wash, put in a colander and put in a pot of boiling water for 1-2 minutes, quickly remove the colander and immediately immerse in cold water for 1-2 minutes. Cracks will appear on the fruits, the skin will lag behind the pulp, and this will facilitate its removal.

You can remove the skin by hand, using a knife, trimming it in those places where it did not lag behind. Put peeled fruits tightly in jars. Separately from the mashed tomatoes, prepare the juice (see above), with which to fill the gaps between the whole tomatoes in the jars. You can add salt to the juice to taste.

Sterilize half-liter jars in boiling water for 35 minutes, liter jars - 40 minutes.

When canning tomatoes with skin, they are not blanched, but immediately after washing, they are placed in jars and poured with juice, and then sterilized.

Instead of pouring juice, you can use a mild saline solution (one tablespoon of salt per liter of water).

CANNED MUSHROOM

In the section "Procurement of mushrooms" was described in detail how to pickle or pickle various mushrooms. Such mushrooms cannot be stored for a long time, especially in warm weather.

They can be canned in jars just like fruits and vegetables.

Put peeled, washed and cooked in a saucepan ready pickled mushrooms hot in prepared jars, evenly distributing the mushrooms and the liquid (mushroom juice) released during heating.

Cover the jars filled with mushrooms up to the shoulders or slightly higher, cover with tin lids and put in a saucepan with heated water for sterilization. Sterilize in boiling water (counting from the moment the water boils in a saucepan) half-liter jars for 20-25 minutes, liter jars - 25-30 minutes.

It's time to start harvesting vegetables and fruits in order to pamper yourself with sweet and tasty preparations on cold winter evenings.
The production of preserves, jams, marmalades, marmalades, jellies, candied fruits is based on the use of high concentrations of sugar. In 60-65% sugar solutions, a high osmotic pressure is created. Such products contain 65-70% dry matter and can be stored for a long time without pasteurization and sealing. The fact is that microorganisms in such a solution become dehydrated and die. However, sugar canned foods have a big drawback - they taste sugary-sweet. If you harvest them with a lower sugar content, then you definitely need to pasteurize.

COOKING JAM

Jam- our national product, in other countries it is almost never produced. Jam Are fruits cooked in sugar syrup. In a good jam, the fruits are not boiled, and the syrup is easily separated from them. This high-calorie processed product can be stored for a long time. However, it lacks ascorbic acid and some other vitamins, which are destroyed during prolonged heat treatment.

The best quality fruits and berries are used to make the jam. Unripe fruits do not have the appropriate taste and aroma, and overripe ones are boiled. Berries for jam are selected of the same size and the same degree of ripeness.

The jam is boiled so that the fruits do not wrinkle or deform. This is achieved if the sugar syrup evenly impregnates the fruit, and the cell juice passes into the syrup at about the same rate. If the fruits are unevenly or not completely saturated with syrup, then they will float into the jam. This can happen if the jam has been cooked over high heat. At high temperatures, the juice inside the fruit boils and the penetration of the syrup is difficult. If the juice comes out too quickly, then the fruits do not have time to soak in the syrup, wrinkle and deform. A number of techniques are used to achieve rapid and mutual diffusion of syrup and cell sap. Some fruits are pre-blanched, peeled, pricked, etc. For many fruits, multiple boiling is used. The total duration of all brews should not exceed 30 minutes. To reduce the duration of heating the fruits and thereby prevent them from boiling, sometimes instead of two or three boils, only the syrup is heated, with which the fruits are poured.

Fruits, which are well saturated with sugar, are cooked in one go. The cooking time in this case should not exceed 40 minutes. Some berries are pre-sprinkled with sugar and kept for 8-10 hours.

Jam is cooked in a special cooking bowl or in an enamel saucepan with low walls. Simultaneously boil no more than 2 kg of fruits or berries. This kind of jam cooks quickly and turns out to be more aromatic. In all cases, cooking is carried out only on low heat. As a result of the coagulation of the protein substances of the fruit during cooking, foam is formed, which collects dirt from the syrup and floats on the surface of the jam. Remove it with a spoon or slotted spoon.

The readiness of the jam is usually determined on a cold saucer: if the drop of jam does not spread, it is ready. In a well-cooked jam, the syrup is transparent and easily separates from the fruit, and the fruit is evenly distributed in the syrup and does not float. Overcooked jam has thickened syrup, brown-brown color.

Most accurately, the readiness of the jam can be determined using a technical thermometer. When the temperature of the boiling jam rises to 104-104.5 ° C, the jam can be considered ready if it is then pasteurized. If the jam is not pasteurized, the boiling point is brought to 106.5 ° C.

There are three ways to preserve jam. The first method is hot filling. The jam is laid out hot in heated sterile jars, immediately sealed and turned upside down until it cools. The second method is pasteurization, as a result of which the jam is more stable in storage: it does not become sugar-coated, does not ferment, does not grow moldy. The third method is cold filling. In this case, in comparison with the two previous methods, the sugar consumption is increased by about 10%. On top of the chilled jam laid out in jars, parchment circles moistened with vodka are placed. Banks are tied with parchment paper or sealed with plastic lids.

If the cooking process was not carried out correctly or the container was not clean enough, the jam may deteriorate. If the sugar was taken less than the norm or the jars were wet during packing, mold may appear on the surface of the jam. It can still be corrected if the mold has developed slightly and the jam has not soured. The mold is carefully removed, the syrup is separated from the fruit, a little sugar is added and brought to a boil. Fruits are placed in boiling syrup, boiled for several minutes and packaged by hot filling into dry heated jars. If the jam is sugared, put it in a cooking bowl, add 1 tbsp. a spoonful of water for 1 kg of jam, heat to a boil and put in jars while hot.

COOKING JAMES AND CONFITURES

Jam Is a jelly-like mass containing whole berries or fruits or their pieces boiled in syrup. Unlike jam, the syrup in jam does not separate from the fruit, and the fruit is soft and boiled. In appearance, jam is similar to confiture, the only difference is in consistency - the confiture is denser.

In many countries, jam is the main type of canned fruit with sugar. For its preparation, fruits containing a sufficient amount of pectin are used, which, in the presence of sugar and organic acids, forms a jelly-like consistency of jam.

Most of all pectin substances are in unripe fruits. However, to obtain good quality jam, fresh, well-ripened fruits and a small amount of sour, unripe fruits are taken. Jams from low-gelling fruits are prepared with the addition (10-15% to the mass of the main raw material) of a pectin preparation or juice containing a lot of pectin.
Jam can be prepared in two ways. The first method is to prepare jam from raw materials rich in pectins. To speed up the gelling process, the fruits are blanched for 10-15 minutes before cooking. The blanching water is filtered and used to prepare the syrup. After blanching, the fruits are boiled with a little water so that they quickly let the juice out. Usually, 50 ml of water is added to 1 kg of ripe fruits, and 100 ml to 1 kg of unripe fruits. If the fruits are soft and well-ripened, do not add water. Boiled fruits are covered with sugar or poured with sugar syrup. Black currant berries are lightly crushed during cooking so that they are better saturated with sugar.

In the second way, jam is made from fruits and berries that contain little pectin substances. Such fruits are first heated with sugar, and then poured with pectin extract or juice.

All operations for making jam are carried out quickly in order to prevent the destruction of pectin substances. Cooking is carried out from the very beginning over high heat in order to immediately kill the enzymes that destroy pectin. Therefore, to make jam, they take dishes with a wide bottom and low walls. For the same reason, the maximum portion of fruits and berries should not exceed 1.5 kg. Sugar is added in small portions so as not to interrupt the cooking process.
The readiness of the jam can be determined by how it flows from the spoon. If the jam drips off, continue cooking. The finished jam flows down from the spoon with a "thin thread". If you cool a full spoonful of ready-made jam and tilt it, it will fall off in chunks.

Alternatively, place a drop of jam on a plate and cool. The finished jam forms a wrinkled skin on the surface of the drop. When rubbed, the finished jam does not stick to your fingers.

The best way to determine the readiness of the jam is with a technical thermometer. If the jam is to be pasteurized and hermetically sealed, then the cooking is stopped at a mass temperature of 104-105 ° C. Ready jam immediately, hot, is laid out in sterile jars, pasteurized and sealed. If the jam is going to be packaged cold (without pasteurization), then the cooking is stopped at a mass temperature of 106.5-107 ° C.

Confiture- a kind of jam. It is a jelly in which whole fruits or their pieces are evenly distributed. It is prepared from fresh or frozen fruits.

Jam boiling usually consists of two operations: boiling the syrup and boiling the fruit in syrup. The quality of the jam largely depends on the quality of the syrup. The syrup is prepared from water (or juice) and sugar in the ratio of 1 glass of liquid to 1 kg of sugar. First, the liquid is heated in the dishes, then the sugar is dissolved with stirring, after which the syrup is boiled until tender. The readiness of the syrup is determined by pouring it off a spoon: when the last drop stretches, forming a "thread", the syrup is ready.

The fruits are placed in syrup in batches, slowly warming up. For mixing, the confiture is periodically removed from the heat and the dishes are rotated in a circular motion.

Cooking fruits and berries can be single (for small berries), multiple (for large fruits) or stepwise. When boiled quickly, sugar slowly penetrates into large fruits, so they often wrinkle. With repeated cooking, when heating alternates with cooling, the fruits retain their shape and consistency better.

If the fruits are evenly distributed in the syrup and do not float to the surface, the jam is ready. Hot jam is placed in jars along the edge of the neck. Closed with lids or tied with cellophane dipped in vodka. Store at room temperature.

COOKING JELLY, POVIDLA, MARMALADE,
TSUKATOV

Jelly obtained by boiling clarified fruit juice with sugar. At the same time, the gelling ability of the juice is of great importance: the more pectin in the juice, the better it gels. The jelly is good if the juice contains about 1% pectin.

According to the gelling ability, fruit juices are divided into four groups:

very well highlighted juices: from black currant, quince, as well as from the skin and cores (seed nests) of apples; well-gelling juices: from sour apples, cranberries, lingonberries, blueberries, red currants; medium-gelatinous juices: from cherries, raspberries, plums, apricots, strawberries; slightly gelling juices: from wild strawberries and strawberries, from pears and cherries.

To improve the gelling properties of juices, they are often mixed with pectin extract or pectin-rich juices. Pectin extract is added in small portions, 100-150 g each, until the juice acquires the necessary gelling properties.

The gelling properties of the juice are determined as follows. Pour 2 tablespoons of alcohol or acetone and 1 tablespoon of fresh juice into a glass beaker. The contents of the glass are shaken. Pectin coagulates under the influence of alcohol or acetone. By the formed clot and determine the gelling ability of the juice. If one clot has formed, the juice belongs to the first group (very well gelling); two or three clots indicate that the juice belongs to the second group (well gelling); if a lot of clots have formed, the juice belongs to the third group (medium-non-gelatinous). Low-gelling juices do not form clots at all.

The amount of sugar added to the jelly depends on the pectin content in the juice: the more pectin, the more sugar is required. This speeds up the jelly preparation process. On average, 600-700 g of sugar are added to 1 liter of juice.

The jelly is prepared in a wide-bottomed pot to speed up the boiling process. First, the juice is heated to 70-72 ° C, then sugar is dissolved in it, brought to a boil and cooked until cooked in one go. The whole process of heating and cooking should not exceed 20-30 minutes, otherwise the pectin is destroyed.

The readiness of the jelly can be determined on a cold saucer: if a drop of jelly does not spread on it and quickly solidifies, the jelly is ready. A drop of ready-made jelly, dipped in cold water, turns into a ball. You can also navigate by the volume of juice: by the end of cooking, about 2/3 of the original volume of juice should remain.

The finished jelly is poured hot and immediately hermetically sealed.

Jam obtained by boiling fruit puree with sugar. For the preparation of jam, it is also advisable to take fruits and berries containing a lot of pectin substances. If there is a little pectin in the raw material from which they want to cook jam, then add applesauce (at least half the volume). Depending on the amount of added sugar, the jam can be of different consistency. It can also be prepared without sugar.

For jam, only ripe fruits are used. They are sorted out, damaged parts are removed, washed thoroughly. Prepared fruits are boiled with a little water under a lid and rubbed through a sieve.

The resulting puree is boiled down to half the original volume. Sugar is added at the end of cooking in small portions with constant stirring of the mass. To prevent the jam from burning, the cooking utensils are placed on an asbestos gasket or a flame divider. Jam is cooked with constant stirring, usually in one go. However, it is preferable to cook it for several days, bringing it to a boil daily. The finished jam is separated from the spoon in pieces.

Jam is packed hot. Using a long knife, air bubbles formed during filling are removed from the mass. They seal it after a few days, when a crust forms on the surface. Well-cooked jam can be stored for a long time without pasteurization and sealing.

Marmalade is called a product of a jelly-like consistency, which is made from fruit puree and sugar. Fruit puree should be finely grated from one or more types of fruit containing many pectin substances.

The consistency of the marmalade depends on the amount of added sugar. The so-called hard marmalade is obtained with an equal ratio of sugar and puree. Soft marmalade contains 300 g of sugar in 1 kg of puree.

For homemade marmalade, well-ripened and even overripe fruits are chosen. They are washed, cleaned, seeds and seeds are removed. Prepared fruits are boiled with a little water until mushy. If they have not been previously cleaned, the mass is rubbed through a sieve.

The best marmalade is obtained from sour apples, currants and gooseberries. If you want to get hard marmalade from aromatic, specific to taste fruits, poor in pectins, add pectin extract or applesauce.

In marmalade, which is prepared from insufficiently acidic fruits, 1 g of citric acid is added to 1 kg of puree. Vanilla, cinnamon and other spices are added to improve the smell.

The quality of the marmalade largely depends on the cooking mode. During cooking, about 30% of the water evaporates. Therefore, the faster this moisture evaporates, the shorter the cooking process and the better the quality of the marmalade. You should try to cook in small portions, in a bowl with a wide bottom and low walls. To prevent the marmalade from burning, it is periodically stirred with a wooden spatula.

From time to time, check the readiness of the marmalade. If a drop dropped on a cold saucer thickens and does not blur, the marmalade is ready. Hard marmalade is considered ready if there is a trace of a spoon on the bottom of the cooking utensil.
The easiest way to determine the readiness of marmalade is recommended for beginner canners. It is generally accepted that hard marmalade is ready when its mass after boiling is equal to twice the mass of added sugar. Soft jujube does not boil down to that extent.

Hot marmalade is packed in clean, dry and hot dishes. The surface of the marmalade is covered with a piece of parchment soaked in alcohol and covered with plastic lids or tied with parchment paper. Hot soft marmalade is laid out in sterilized hot jars and immediately sealed with tin lids.

After filling, the marmalade is slowly cooled. To do this, jars of marmalade are placed in warm water and cold water is added in portions. Slow cooling helps to maintain the normal consistency of the marmalade and improves its quality. During cooling, do not move the dishes with marmalade.

Candied fruit- these are candied fruits or their slices, dried and sprinkled with fine granulated sugar. Fruits and berries for candied fruits are prepared in the same way as for jam. And they also boil them until fully cooked, even overcooking them a little. Then the fruits and berries are separated in a sieve or colander. When the syrup drains (after about 2-3 hours), the fruits are laid out in one layer on a sieve and dried in an oven or oven at 40-50 ° C. When the fruits are slightly dry, they are thoroughly sprinkled with fine sugar on all sides and dried. Drying lasts 12-18 hours. Store fruits in an airtight container at room temperature. The syrup, drained from the fruit, is used to make jam, jam, preserves, etc.

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