Jam and Marmelade Question

[Charles Kaiser]

Hallo liebe Zivilisten,
I have some Question about Jam. I am looking for recipes of Jam and Marmelade in the civilwar era, because my Father cooks evry year his own jam, and I hope he can made me authentic Jam. How was this jam stored ? In "Steingut"? ( i dont know the exact translation for this, there are some words for this like creamware, crockery, earthenware or stoneware) or Glas, what was the contence of this "containers"
How common was Jam? How did they store Jam in "boxes from Home"

Danke für eure Hilfe (Thanks for your help)

Viele Grüße

[GarrettG1993]

Re: Jam and Marmelade Question

You may want to check with Chris Utley, user name Utley. When he owned Carter & Jasper he sold jams and jellies in period glass jars. Mabey he could tell you a little more.


Hope this helps,
Garrett Glover

[Vuhginyuh]

Re: Jam and Marmelade Question

.............

[Vuhginyuh]

Re: Jam and Marmelade Question

You should be able to find period dated (England or Scotland) earthenware marmalade pots. Look for white glazed pots with black transfer printing. Good pots are currently selling for around $35.00 US

Shards of Keiller & Sons (Dundee) 1863 dated pots have been found at three North Carolina seaports.

A quick Google search should surrender images of period marmalade pots. However, who is to say what you can or can not put in any stoneware or earthenware pot.

[fahnenschmied]

Re: Jam and Marmelade Question

I would like to be able to give a better answer - but at home I have a couple of cookbooks from the 1830s or 40s, at least, that give good directions on how to make and store jams and preserves, including what to put them in and how to seal it. I can't remember any of it well enough to hazard much of a guess though...Whether I can lay my hands on them quickly is a big question. But I have seen references in letters about jam being sent from home...

[Hank Trent]

Re: Jam and Marmelade Question

I would like to be able to give a better answer - but at home I have a couple of cookbooks from the 1830s or 40s, at least, that give good directions on how to make and store jams and preserves, including what to put them in and how to seal it. I can't remember any of it well enough to hazard much of a guess though...Whether I can lay my hands on them quickly is a big question. But I have seen references in letters about jam being sent from home...

There are lots and lots of period recipes online. The Feeding America site at http://digital.lib.msu.edu/projects/...ion/search.cfm has a mix of period and later ones. Google Books has quite a few--try searching for jam or preserves, with Eliza Leslie or Catherine Beecher as the author, or with something like receipt or housewife or cookery or cook in the title, limited to pre-1865. The Making of America sites, especially the Michigan one, also have quite a few period cookbooks, many of which are duplicated on Google Books.

I think what you'll generally find is that jams, marmelades and jellies were typically made by processing the fruit as necessary (mashing, straining, etc.) and boiling it with its own weight of sugar. Preserves were made similarly with a sugar syrup. For home use, it was typical to seal the top of the container with brandied paper and/or paper brushed over with egg, but that won't do for shipping, when a sturdier seal like a cork would be necessary.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

[estephenson]

Re: Jam and Marmelade Question

Corner Clothiers has them listed as available on their website. I also looked through my copy of Widdifield's New Cookbook (1856 Philadelphia) and found an Apple Marmalade recipe.

Pippin apples are the best for preserving. Pare, core, slice and weigh your apples and an equal quantity of loaf cugar. Put the sugar into the preserving kettle, and make a syrup, as directed in article 235;(see below) put in your fruit with the grating of one lemon, and juice of two. As soon as it begins to boil, stir it all the time until it becomes a thick marmalade.

When done, put it in jars or tumblers while it is warm. Tie or paste closely and keep it in a cool place.

This is for present use.

Syrup is one pound sugar to one gill water. after dissolved then boil

[Spinster]

Re: Jam and Marmelade Question

For home use, it was typical to seal the top of the container with brandied paper and/or paper brushed over with egg, but that won't do for shipping, when a sturdier seal like a cork would be necessary.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

Under the heading of experiments--I used the brandied paper method in several crocks at IPW, placing the paper over the liquid (vinegar, holding various pickled items), then tieing the crockery lid in place with string.

It surprised me how much that little layer of paper helped--as I turned the wagon and myself over several times while trying to get past mudholes or down hills, each time I heard the crockery gurgle, and assumed I had a mess in that packing basket. Instead, when I finally opened it, I found much of the vinegar still in the crocks , held inside by that thin sheet of parchment paper.

[Hank Trent]

Re: Jam and Marmelade Question

Under the heading of experiments--I used the brandied paper method in several crocks at IPW, placing the paper over the liquid (vinegar, holding various pickled items), then tieing the crockery lid in place with string.

It surprised me how much that little layer of paper helped--as I turned the wagon and myself over several times while trying to get past mudholes or down hills, each time I heard the crockery gurgle, and assumed I had a mess in that packing basket. Instead, when I finally opened it, I found much of the vinegar still in the crocks , held inside by that thin sheet of parchment paper.

That's good to hear! I never thought it would work. I guess as long as the paper isn't actually punctured, it can withstand a lot of pressure. So now I wonder, was paper a typical way of covering jams etc. in boxes to be shipped, as well as at home?

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

[Virginia Mescher]

Re: Jam and Marmelade Question

That's good to hear! I never thought it would work. I guess as long as the paper isn't actually punctured, it can withstand a lot of pressure. So now I wonder, was paper a typical way of covering jams etc. in boxes to be shipped, as well as at home?

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

I checked my article "Comforts From Home" in the archived section of Virginia's Veranda on our webpage and found the following quote.

A pamphlet published by the Christian Commission in 1863 included the following advice. “How to Pack — Pack in boxes. Barrels are not as good. Secure well. Boxes should not be so large that two cannot conveniently lift them into a wagon. Pack eatables by themselves. Never pack perishable articles, such as oranges, lemons, bread, cakes nor jars of jellies and jams with other goods. Tin cans should be soldered; all other modes fail. Stone jars should be corked and firmly bound with oiled linen or leather over the
cork, and packed closely in saw-dust or hay, in boxes never exceeding a dozen and a half in a box, and nailed strongly, to bear rough handling. Jellies in tumblers, covered with paper, and wines, cordials, &c. in bottles, with paper or other poor stoppers, are liable to spill out, and if packed with other things, sure to injure them. . . . ”

I've used the egg paper method for jelly (in a tumbler) and it works very well for home storage but I don't think it would work for packing unless the paper was covered by a piece of leather and then the leather would have to very tight.

Mary Livermore, in her book, My Story of the War, wrote of the problems of women packing jam, jelly, marmalade in jars and them breaking, and boxes being packed improperly so that the entire contents had to be thrown out. She recommended that the goods be sent directly to the Sanitary Commission at the community depots and that they be in charge of the packing and distribution.

[Spinster]

Re: Jam and Marmelade Question

That's good to hear! I never thought it would work. I guess as long as the paper isn't actually punctured, it can withstand a lot of pressure. So now I wonder, was paper a typical way of covering jams etc. in boxes to be shipped, as well as at home?

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

Hank, I'm thinking this method worked ONLY because I was on such a short jaunt, (around 2 miles) and the crockery remained largely upright, other than my 2-3 spills into the creek crossings and water holes. I'd actually packed the items a week before, but they remained upright and in the refrigerator until 24 hours beforehand.

I was using a hand waxed 'packet paper'-- a sort of parchment paper reproduced for 18th century use. Had the crockery stayed upside down for any period of time,(as a packed box could do in shipping) the paper would have soaked through and failed.

[PogueMahone]

Re: Jam and Marmelade Question

Having never enjoyed the task of canning or pickling anything other than my brain one drink at a time ...

I'm wondering how similar this paper cover is to the "foil" cover used to close small crocks of potted meat as sold by some well-researched sutlers? The paper they use is not modern aluminum foil, but something a bit thicker and having a texture to it's appearance.

How would I obtain/make "Brandied paper"? Could I re-use these little crocks and seal them myself with brandied paper?

[87thLady]

Re: Jam and Marmelade Question

Being from a Pennsylvania Dutch family, my grandmother and I was wondering if any of you tried this method.

Ms Lorraine
87thPa