Fruits may be canned with, or without sugar, but it is a saving of both time and fuel if a syrup composed of the proper proportions of sugar is used to fill up the can, rather than plain water. However, if sugar is prohibitive in price and fruit must be canned, it may be done by the plain water process. In this case the unsweetened fruit should be drained from the juice before serving, the right quantity of sugar added to the juice and the whole boiled together for a few minutes, the fruit being added in time so that it may be thoroughly sweetened. By this method, however, the fruit is always over-cooked by the second heating and the fruit loses brilliancy both of flavor and color.

Syrups of different densities are used in the canning of fruits, the choice depending on the tartness of the fruit and the richness of the result desired. The following table gives the amounts of sugar and water needed in preparing syrups of different percentages; the syrups will hereafter be designated in this chapter by the density, or percentage.