Preserving Florida Citrus Fruits


use milk of lime. Lime water contains only a few tenths of 1
percent of lime in solution and will not injure the peel.
 Place the prepared peel in a kettle and cover with a mixture
consisting of 2 parts of water and 1 part of clear lime water,
cover and boil for half an hour. Pour off the liquid, again cover
with water and boil for half an hour. Do not use lime water
after the first cooking. Where lime water is not available, use
plain water for all cooking. Repeat the boiling with fresh water
each time until a piece of the peel, when removed, cooled, and
tasted, has about the same bitter taste as desired in the finished
product. The final product will be a little less bitter than the
peel at this stage, as some of the bitterness disappears on further
cooking. Usually three treatments will be sufficient where a
rather bitter flavor is desired; five or six produce a mild flavored
peel; more than that number will result in a product without
grapefruit flavor-not to be desired. When the peel has reached
the desired flavor, pour off the water and drain the peel; the
excess of water can be removed by gentle pressure.
 Now prepare a syrup, using equal parts of granulated sugar
 and water, and cover the peel with it. Boil very slowly for an
 hour or so, and allow the peel to remain in the syrup over night
 or longer if convenient. Finally, boil again until the syurp
 becomes thick, stopping the cooking at the usual point for jelly
 making; on a candy thermometer this is about 219 to 2220 F.
 The peel is satisfactory even if taken off before it reaches this
 point; over-cooking tends to make it hard. While hot, drain the
 syrup from the peel as completely as possible, shaking repeatedly
 to remove the last drops. Now roll the peel in powdered sugar,
 separating any pieces that stick together. Cool and allow to
 remain in the air for several days to dry. Then place in air-
 tight jars or cans where it will keep for months. A better keeping
 and softer product will result if one of the commercial invert
 sugars is used in place of cane sugar.
 This peel makes a fine center for chocolates and can be used
 as a substitute for citron in baking.
 Grapefruit Peel No. 4.
 Prepare peel as in Method No. 1. Boil sugar and water until
 the syrup will spin a thread. Add the peel and cook until trans-
 parent. Pour this into containers and let it stand for 10 days
 or longer. When ready to finish, lift from the syrup, put on .a
 rack and sun. If the day is clear and dry a few hours will com-
 plete the product. This product remains in good condition for
 several weeks.