Principles of Jelly-Making 1247 



until one is reached that approximates a perfect jelly. Beyond this, with 

 increasing proportion of sugar the product continues to increase in volume, 

 but in texture it becomes softer and softer until finally the pectin appears 

 in lumps in the mass, or a mere sirup results. 



What is the lesson of this succession of products? Simply this: the 

 given volume of juice used for each jelly sample contains a certain quan- 

 tity of pectin in solution, and this quantity of pectin is capable of utilizing 

 profitably a definite proportion of sugar, only. Up to this definite pro- 

 portion of sugar, the jelly producer! from the given volume of juice is 

 decreasingly tough and increasingly palatable, until finally a jelly of 

 ideal texture and appearance is formed; but beyond that definite propor- 

 tion of sugar, the jelly produced is increasingly soft until finally it fails to 

 hold together at all — it fails to "jell." The error is self-evident: too 

 much sugar has been used for the pectin present in the juice taken. No 

 amount of cooking after this will rectify the error; continued cooking will 

 produce a gummy mass. Adding more sugar and cooking will but make 

 the jelly more sirupy. The remedy is to boil up the product with more 

 juice — perhaps even with as much as was used in the first place; but the 

 amount of juice added must depend, of course, on how great the over- 

 proportion of sugar has been. Evidently this addition of juice is for the 

 purpose of supplying sufficient pectin to take care of the surplus of sugar. 

 Needless to say, this made-over jelly, though it may come out fairly well, 

 will not equal in quahty a corresponding jelly made originally with the 

 proper proportion of sugar to juice. 



For most juices of such fruits as those already indicated — that is, 

 those that are rich in pectin and are fairly acidic (sour) — it is found that for 

 Extraction I the correct proportion of sugar to juice by volume usually 

 varies from f : i to 1:1.* Currants and partially ripened grapes yield 

 a juice so well adapted to jelly-making that they will usually demand the 

 proportion 1:1; while f : i is likely to be the correct proportion for red 

 raspberries and blackberries, and for juices from fruits to which much 

 water must be added even to make the first juice extraction — such as 

 sour apples, crab apples, cranberries, and the like. But in any case the 

 jelly-maker must be wary when proportioning sugar to juice. Doubtless, 

 much depends on the condition of the fruit itself; if the juice seems unusu- 

 ally watery (as currants just after a rain), and the alcohol test does not 

 indicate pectin in plenty, then lessen the proportion of sugar. Better err 

 on the side of too little rather than too much sugar if a jelly that " will 



* It is probably unnecessary to explain that the expression f : i means three fourths 

 of a volume of sugar to one volume of juice, while the expression i :_ i means one 

 whole volume of sugar to one of juice. Bearing this explanation in mind, the expres- 

 sions |: I, "2-: I, and so on, are readily understood. 



