[Sca-cooks] preserving fruits without sugar
Jadwiga Zajaczkowa / Jenne Heise
jenne at fiedlerfamily.net
Tue Jun 26 14:39:43 PDT 2007
> - Is it possible to make jam using honey in place of sugar, or to leave the
> sugar out entirely? (I don't care if it's not as sweet -- in fact, I'd
> prefer that -- but I imagine some sugar would be necessary to get the stuff
> to gel properly and to preserve it.)
Preserving fruit in very boiled-down fruit juice, especially with pectin
added, can be done. It's a tedious process, though.
> - I've seen some descriptions of whole fruits preserved in honey -- I think
> in Platina or Apicius, but all my books are still in storage so I can't
> double-check that. Basically, they say to put whole, cleaned, raw fruits (I
> think figs, grapes?, apples and pears were mentioned) in jars/vessels, pour
> honey over the top, seal it and it'll last for weeks. I'm a little
> skeptical -- but maybe it's not any less reliable than the modern tradition
> of keeping cooked fruits in sugar syrup. Has anyone ever tried this, or
> know if it works?
Using honey to seal out exterior air on fruits-- specifically apples and
pears, as well as grapes-- is a well known pre-refrigeration preserving
technique. Basically, the decay process runs out of oxygen and
slows to a crawl/stops. (This is often used with Apples and Pears,
which, after all, usually keep quite well if kept in a cold cellar, so
there's not much risk.) The books on the history of preserving that I
have been working from all mention this and similar oxygen-excluding
techniques...
--
-- Jadwiga Zajaczkowa, Knowledge Pika jenne at fiedlerfamily.net
"I thought you might need rescuing . . . We have a bunch of professors
wandering around who need students." -- Dan Guernsey
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