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Show FAILMadHOMEta UTA B STATE EXTENSION SERVICE AGKlCULTl'RB IIO.V.B ECONOMIC By Mary Lois Reichert Home Demonstration Agent APPLE SLICES The homemakers who want to freeze or can apple slices, for quick use in pie or other desserts, need to take special spec-ial 'precautions lest this delicate fruit turn dark or mushy. Starting with crisp, firm well-flavored well-flavored apples is important for this use, too. To Freeze Apple Slices For Fruit Cocktail Or Uncooked Desserts: Prepare a medium-heavy syrup syr-up by dissolving sugar in water in the proportions of 3 cups sugar to 4 cups water. To each quart of syrup add Vz teaspoon of ascorbic acid (vitamin C). This anti-darkening air for fruit freezing is sold in powdered or crystalline form in many drug stores. Starting with' Vz cup sirup in each freezer container, slice peeled and cored apples directly direct-ly into the cold sirup. Press slices down and add enough sirup to cover. Leave space at top to allow for food expanding expand-ing in freezing: V-inch space in pint containers; 1 inch in quart. Seal and freeze. To Freeze Apple Slices, With or Without Steaming, For Pie or Other Cooked Dishes Slice peeled and cored apples into water contain 2 T. salt per gallon, to prevent darkening. Drain. Place apple slices in a single layer in a steamer and steam IV2 to 2 minutes, depending depend-ing on thickness of slices. Cool in cold water and drain. For a sweetened or unsweetened, pack the slices into freezer containers contain-ers and press down, leaving 12-inch space at top. Seal and freeze. To Can Apple Slices Packing raw gives better flavor and texture than preheating pre-heating the slices and packing them hot. For a raw pack, slice peeled and cored apples into water containing 2 T. each of salt and vinegar per gallon. Drain. Pack the raw slices in home-canning jars to lV-inch of top. Coyer with boiling sugar sug-ar sirup, made in proportion of 1 cup sugar to 3 cups water. Leave V2 inch space at top of jar. Adjust jar lids and process either pints or quarts 15 minutes min-utes in a water bath canner. The hot pack has this advantage, advan-tage, if storage space is limited: About 50 per cent more apple slices may be canned in each jar. To pack hot: After the slices are drained from the salt and vinegar solution, boil the fruit in thin sirup of water for five minutes. Then pack and process in the canner like raw slices. |