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To Bottle Gooseberries

A method of preserving Warrington gooseberries in bottles with syrup and wax.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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To Bottle Gooseberries

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Gather Warrington gooseberries in the morning and pick them into dry, clean bottles.

  2. Fill the bottles with syrup and cork them tightly, securing with string.

Scald

  1. Place the bottles upright in a large pot filled with cold water up to the necks of the bottles.

  2. Cover the pot and bring the water to a boil, then remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes.

  3. Check that the fruit has risen about an inch from the bottom of the bottle to ensure it is scalded.

  4. Allow the bottles to cool completely, then refit any corks that may have loosened.

Seal and store

  1. Dip the nozzle of each bottle in hot bottle-wax mixed with melted bees' wax.

  2. Store the finished bottles in the cellar, arranged like wine bottles.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Warrington gooseberries
The fruit that is preserved whole in the bottles, forming the main contents.
Syrup
Fills the bottles around the fruit, carrying sweetness and moisture through the preserving process.
Bottle-wax
Forms a sealed coating over the bottle nozzle that helps keep air out of the preserve.
Bees' wax
Mixed with bottle-wax to make the sealing coating firm and airtight.

The step that matters

Scalding in the water bath. The fruit must be heated enough to drive air out and seal the contents; if the water is not brought to a boil and held, the fruit may not scald and the preserve may spoil. Checking that the fruit has risen confirms it was heated through.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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