STUDIES ON FRUIT JUICES. 



Flat-bottom bottles, ranging in capacity from 1 pint to 2 quarts, 

 form the standard container in which fruit juices are at present 

 offered for sale at retail. Together with the glass fruit jar so widely 

 used in canning fruits in homes, they constitute the containers in 

 which fruit juices are most easily sterilized on the small scale. The 

 bottles may be filled with hot or cold juice as desired. If filled with 

 cold juice, allowance must be made for expansion on heating and 

 the bottles can not be filled as full as when warm juice is used. If 

 filled with hot juice, they may be sterilized by being placed in a bath 

 containing hot water and kept at the temperature desired. If filled 

 with cold juice, it is necessary to place them in a bath filled at first 

 with cold or lukewarm water, which is then rapidly heated to the 

 temperature desired. Starting in this way and using a water bath 

 heated by a steam coil, it is found that about half an hour is usually 

 required for the contents of the bottles to reach the water bath 

 temperature. 



Bottles are easily sealed with corks, patent seals, or porcelain 

 stoppers. Corks, which are best placed in position by means of a 

 corking machine, must be given the treatment already described 

 or one equally effective, before being used. They must be held 

 securely in position during the heating. The method of binding a 

 cloth firmly over the cork and tying it with a string is found to be 

 much more easily applied than that of merely tying it with string or 

 wire or using various types of cork holders. As patent bottle seals 

 do not require tying during the heating, they are more convenient. 

 Porcelain stoppers, tmce correctly fitted to the bottles, are very sat- 

 isfactory in the preparation of fruit juices for home consumption, and 

 by renewing the rubber washers may be used repeatedly. The bottles 

 should be placed on their sides in the water bath, so that the inner 

 surfaces of the corks receive the heat treatment while in contact with 

 the juices. If this precaution is not taken, the chances of spoilage 

 by mold growth are measurably increased. 



On the whole, it is not improbable that fruit jars will prove more 

 satisfactory as containers in sterilizing fruit juices on the domestic 

 scale than bottles, because of the difficulties involved in using corks. 

 Methods successfully employed in heating fruit in jars, or sealing it 

 in jars while hot, work equally well for the corresponding fruit juices. 



Wooden Containers. 



Wooden casks are useful as containers in which fruit juices are to 

 be kept for a limited time after sterilization. It is, however, difficult 

 to sterilize the casks thoroughly before filling them with hot juice and 

 to keep the juices in them sterile after they are filled and sealed. If 

 large casks are used, the juice remains hot for a long time, thus 



