Fruit Drying 93 



picked into ordinary tins the fruit has to be trans- 

 ferred into the dipping tins before being dipped. 



Dipping. Sultanas are dipped in a solution of lye 

 consisting of hot or boiling water into which has 

 been dissolved a quantity of caustic soda. The 

 object of dipping is to slightly crack the skin of the 

 fruit, so that the moisture can the more readily 

 escape while the fruit is drying. 



The strength of the dip used varies according to 

 the nature of the fruit ; % fruit with hard, thick skin 

 requiring a stronger dip than fruit having thinner 

 skin. Sunburnt fruit, or fruit that has been much 

 exposed to the direct rays of sun while ripening, is 

 often dipped at a strength of 1 Ib. of soda to 15 

 gallons of water; while thin-skinned fruit that has 

 ripened in the shade requires a much lighter dip if 

 the fruit is not to be too severely cracked in dipping, 

 of a strength of from 1 Ib. of soda to 25 to 30 gallons 

 of water. However, for all-round general purposes 

 a dip of about 1 Ib. of soda to 20 gallons of water is 

 usually found sufficient for the average class of 

 fruit. 



The temperature of the dip is usually varied 

 according to the temperature of the day. Thus, in 

 the morning, when the fruit is cold, the temperature 

 is kept higher than in the afternoon when the fruit 

 is warm. A temperature of 204 degrees in the morn- 

 ing, 200 degrees at midday, and 196 degrees in the 

 afternoon is used by many growers in hot weather, 

 and a good sample of fruit is usually obtained by 

 this method of varying the temperature. 



On immersing the fruit the nose of the dipping 

 bucket is dipped in first and the lye thrown back 

 over the grapes. The bucket should never be dipped 

 straight down and up, as the grapes on the bottom 

 of the tin will get more dip than is necessary, and 

 will generally be badly split in consequence. The 



