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  • From: Douglas Woodard <dwoodard@becon.org>
  • To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [NAFEX] Fruit preserves
  • Date: Mon, 01 Sep 2008 19:20:11 -0400

In the past I have been very pleased with frozen fruit sauces made from peaches and plums. In "Commercial Fruit and Vegetable Products" by W. V. Cruess (McGraw-Hill, 1924, 1938, 1948, 1958) I found a recipe using 5% lemon juice (I used the bottled product) plus 1/8 cup sugar per cup of fruit and I liked the result. It goes well with yogurt or porridge. You can spread it on thick, fairly dense bread or toast.

A small amount of added sugar and acid intensifies the flavour of fruit.

I expect that this recipe would can satisfactorily.

I found the Cruess book very useful. I see that it has been reprinted by Agrobios of Jodhpur, India (2000, 2004); also that Applewood Press has this year published a book titled "Home and Farm Food Preservation" by William Cruess which I suspect is basically an extract and reprint.

There are other thickening agents besides pectin although they do not produce as attractive a product.

Around 1980 I read up on botulism and pH. It seemed that there was a little uncertainty about pH levels between 4.0 and 4.4, especially with high-protein materials like meat and beans. pH levels not over 4.0 seemed to be regarded as safe. If you are canning anything but fruit puree or small chunks I would recommend that you read up on the latest scientific opinion, and think about pressure canning. I wouldn't take chances with botulism.

Doug Woodard
St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada




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