GRAPE AND OTHER FRUIT JUICES 



179 



Principles involved in making fi-uit 

 juices. 



The making of fruit juices is an 

 outgrowth of the preserving industry. 

 Preserving, as commonly known, is a 

 process of saturating a fruit pulp 

 during cooking, or a partial drying 

 process, so thoroughly with common 

 (cane) sugar that by the action of 

 the sugar alone decay is prevented and 

 the fruit held in palatable condition 

 for months, even years. The art of 

 canning is based on another principle, 

 that of destroying by excessive heat 

 the ferment-producing organisms, in 

 which process sugar is often used to 

 secure a palatable product, its preser- 

 vative effects being a secondary con- 

 sideration. The fruit juices sold for 

 soda-fountain and flavoring purposes 

 are thickened and preserved, in large measure, by 

 the liberal use of cane-sugar, and are more in the 

 nature of syrups than of fruit juices. 



As might be inferred from the above, the first 

 attempts to manufacture fruit juice products util- 

 ized a considerable quantity of sugar ; so, today, 

 many manufacturers are using sugar in larger or 

 smaller quantities, and the home maker of grape 

 juice usually finds it convenient and an insurance 

 against " spoiling," which is but fermentation, also 

 to use sugar in considerable quantity. Sugar does 

 not destroy the basic flavor of the juice, and with 

 some varieties of grapes, or even with the best 

 grapes in cold wet seasons, when the sugar content 

 of the juice is low, its use is essential to produce 

 a palatable product ; but with perfect sterilization 

 this is entirely unnecessary, and its use has an 

 effect on the medicinal value of the juice, and 

 covers up and obliterates the more delicate flavors 



Fig. 264. Press for the manufacture of grape juioe. 



Fig. 265. Empty storage carboys for grape juice. 



and aroma which are preserved by the more scien- 

 tific and careful methods of manufacture without 

 sugar. 



The manufacture of grape juice, and also both 

 apple juice and orange juice, as sold for beverages, 

 is based on the principle of sterilization and per- 

 fect cleanliness, not preservation by sugar or other- 

 wise. Grape juice, as marketed today, is an undi- 

 luted, unadulterated and unpreserved product. It 

 is the pure juice of the grape, sterilized as it comes 

 from the fruit, put up in sterile bottles, handled 

 only in sterilized machinery, and sold to the 

 consumer, still contained in sealed and sterilized 

 smaller bottles. The ordinary housewife can dupli- 

 cate this process in her own kitchen with very 

 little trouble by the observance of the one rule, 

 namely, perfect sterilization of everything that 

 comes in contact with the juice, and the applica- 

 tion of such a degree of heat to the fruit and the 

 juice as will keep it perfectly sterilized 

 at all stages of the process. The commer- 

 cial product is allowed to stand in its first 

 containing vessels, after being drawn from 

 the presses, for at least three months to 

 settle, and is then drawn away from the 

 sediment, which formerly was thrown away 

 but is now a valuable by-product. In the 

 kitchen this settling must be provided for, 

 if best results are to be secured. A second 

 sterilization is necessary when the juice is 

 changed from the settling vessel to the 

 smaller bottles. 



Details of the processes. 



Fruit juices, other than grape and apple 

 juice, are made by cooking fresh fruit, 

 pressing it and adding sugar to the juice, 

 and cooking or evaporating it down to a 

 consistency of thick cream, in which con- 

 dition preservation is not difficult. This 

 product is used for flavoring in the manu- 

 facture of confectionary and baked goods, 

 and as the flavoring part of the commonly 

 sold soda-fountain beverages. Apple juice 

 is made by pressing apples as for cider but 



