196 



Fruit Bottling. 



[JUNE, 



plain cold water should be added, until the fruit is entirely 

 covered. Next, the rubber ring, which helps to make the 

 bottle air-tight, should be carefully laid, without twist or 

 wrinkle, on the rim specially made for it, in the neck of the 

 bottle; upon the ring should be placed the glass or metal 

 disc, which can be held in position by the second finger of 

 the left hand, while the metal ring is screwed on with the 

 right hand, but is left slightly loose to allow for expansion. 



A dozen or fourteen bottles so filled constitute "a charge" 

 for the Steriliser (see figure), in which they are placed 

 in neat rows; cold water is poured into the vessel, until it 

 reaches nearly to the shoulder of the bottles ; the lid is put on, 

 and the thermometer with the long bulb inserted through the 

 opening made to receive it in the middle of the lid (c). The 

 temperature should be carefully noted at this point; it is 

 usually about 60 or 65 degrees. It is clearly indicated on the 

 porcelain dial of the thermometer, which should stand out 

 above the lid of the steriliser, as seen in the accompanying 

 illustration. The distended tube containing the bulb of the 

 thermometer calls for notice, because when it is placed in 

 the middle of the bottles, where the process of sterilisation is 

 going on, it registers the exact degree of heat upon the white 

 dial. 



Heat is next applied to raise the temperature of the contents 

 of the steriliser. It can be applied by a gas ring, an oil 

 stove, steam, or a kitchen fire, and the temperature of the 

 water bath is thus slowly raised until it is sufficiently high 

 inside the glass jars to kill the germs. The exact degree of 

 heat required varies with the fruit to be sterilised, and cannot 

 be stated with absolute exactness. It is largely a matter for 

 experiment. Some fruits and most vegetables require sterilis- 

 ing successively two or three times to destroy effectively the 

 different germs. 



The temperature should only be allowed to rise quite 

 slowly — not more than two degrees a minute; otherwise the 

 skin of the fruit is made hard and the inner part not acted 

 upon satisfactorily; or, if skinned, it is likely to burst. 



The hot air or steam by which the bottles in the steriliser 

 are now surrounded causes the water or juice inside the 



