PICKING
Figs to be dried should never be shaken from the trees, for if bruised and injured they will sour during the drying and become unfit for use. A few figs spoiled in this way will check or prevent the sale of a box of fruit that is in other respects good. Pulling the figs from the trees will also injure them in a similar way. The ripe figs should therefore be cut from the tree with a knife or shears and carefully placed in boxes or trays. Of course, many half-dried figs that drop from the trees may be utilized, but they should first be examined to determine whether they are in good condition, and they must be freed from soil and sand. Our figs do not, as a rule, drop at perfect maturity, but either before or after it. Only the Smyrna figs drop when fully ripe.
For the higher growing varieties a convenient instrument called the “fig cutter” may be used. It consists of a forked stick across which has been nailed a strip of tin plate. Below this is a small bag kept open by a wire. With this “cutter” the higher figs may be reached by running the fork up under the fig, severing it from the branch and causing it to drop into the bag below.
SULPHURING
Of late years sulphuring figs before drying has become a very common practice among growers. It consists in exposing fresh fruit to the fumes of burning sulphur in air-tight tray holders of varying sizes. The sulphur fumes cause the figs to become semitransparent when dried, and to present an attractive appearance to the buyer. But nothing is more deceptive, for this very handsome appearance hides a more than worthless interior, not only detestable to the taste but also injurious to the health of the consumer. Few persons will buy such fruit a second time. Besides giving a semitransparent appearance to the fruit, the sulphuring prevents fermentation of the figs while drying. This, of course, is of value, and in fact is the only advantage in the process. A short and light sulphuring may therefore be admissible with varieties which otherwise would not dry and cure without souring.
For convenience, the box in which the figs are to be sulphured should not be more than 5 feet high nor more than 7 or 8 feet wide. This will admit two trays abreast. The trays slide on a rack or on a cleat nailed to the sides of the box, and need not be farther apart than just sufficient to clear each other when charged with a single layer of figs. The door must be air-tight, in order that the sulphur fumes may not escape. Two feet of space should be left between the bottom tray and the sulphur pan. The latter, a heavy piece of sheet iron, is heated, but not to redness, and placed on noncombustible supports in the bottom of the box. Two handfuls of sulphur are thrown upon this iron and when it is burning the doors are tightly closed. Exposure to the sulphur fumes for fifteen minutes is sufficient to prevent fermentation during the drying process and leave the figs with a minimum of sour taste. If sulphured longer they become too acid. After removal from the box the figs should be immediately exposed to the sun. Black figs should never be sulphured.
DIPPING FRESH FIGS
Instead of being sulphured to improve their color and soften their skins, figs may be dipped into a hot solution of salt or saltpeter, or even lye. Unless, however, they are immersed for a long time this dipping will rarely prevent fermentation, though it will prove advantageous in other ways. Figs with a rough and tough skin are especially benefited, the principal effect of the dipping being to soften the skin. But this dipping should be practiced only on figs of inferior quality, the best grades not being improved either by dipping or sulphuring.
In dipping, the figs should first be placed in a perforated bucket and rinsed in cold water, to free them from dust. They should then be transferred to a kettle containing boiling lye, made of 1 pound of potash to 10 gallons of water. An immersion of from one-fourth minute to one minute suffices; the time being regulated according to the size of the figs and the pliability and thickness of the skin. Boiling salt water may be substituted for the lye water for the dipping of some figs, different varieties requiring different solutions to secure the desired result. After dipping, the figs are dried without rinsing. If salt or saltpeter is used instead of lye, 1½ pounds of either to 50 gallons of water is a proper quantity. Lye is generally used, but the writer prefers salt or saltpeter, either of which gives good results as regards pliability of skin, while the salty taste generally improves the flavor.
DRYING ON TRAYS
For convenience in handling, wooden or paper trays are commonly used for drying figs in the Western States. By their use the fruit can easily be stacked and sheltered in wet weather. The trays are of various sizes, but a small size, such as 2½ feet by 3½ feet, or 3½ feet by 4 feet, is preferable, as when filled with fruit it can easily be handled by one man, while a larger size requires two men. The drying ground should be a clean space outside the orchard, where the trays may be exposed to the uninterrupted rays of the sun. The figs require all the sunshine obtainable, and the drying ground must therefore be free from the shade of trees or buildings. The drying floor may consist simply of beds of soil elevated a foot above the general level. A drying floor 4 feet wide may be raised 8 inches additionally along one side. The slope toward the sun thus given will insure greater heat. Trays may be placed on strips of wood or scantlings supported by low sawhorses. The sawhorses should be long enough to support two rows of trays abreast. Three scantlings or strips will be required for each pair of sawhorses. They should be of even lengths, as long as obtainable, and the middle one should be larger than the outside ones; 2 by 4 inches for the middle one and 2 by 3 inches for the side scantlings will be found convenient sizes. The figs should be placed singly on the tray, with their eyes all toward one side, and this side of the tray should be slightly raised in order to prevent the contents of very juicy figs from running out during the process of drying. The raising of the trays is the most easily accomplished by placing the 2 by 4 inch supporting strip in the middle of the sawhorses and the 2 by 3 inch strips on either side. Immediately after sulphuring, if that is practiced, or after dipping, the fruit should be spread and the trays distributed on the racks where they will have the full benefit of the hottest sun. This distribution of the trays should be finished before noon each day to secure the best color of the dried product.
The figs must be turned twice a day at first and once a day in the later stages of drying. The turning requires much work and expense, as it can be done well only by hand labor. An inferior product may be turned by placing an empty tray face downward upon a filled one and inverting them, leaving the fruit on the new tray. To produce the best grade of dried fruit, the figs should not touch one another on the trays during the process of drying. During the turning, all inferior figs, such as those that ferment and puff up, should be culled out and used for vinegar. Figs which show a slight froth at the eye are turning sour and should be removed.
Covering the figs must not be neglected, if a choice article of dried fruit is to be produced. If white figs are left out over night uncovered, they will be discolored. Rain and dew are very damaging and the fruit should be protected from them. This is best accomplished, in California, by stacking the trays one on top of another when rain is expected. The top and sides of the stacks should then be protected with empty trays. If permanent drying beds of gravel and cement are made, a mechanical device for covering the trays with a horizontal canvas curtain can be used, and in this way they can easily be covered every night.
DEGREE OF DRYNESS
It is very important that drying cease when the figs have reached the proper stage for packing. They must on no account be overdried nor should they be removed from the trays too soon. The proper degree of dryness can be detected by pressing the figs between the thumb and finger. They should be soft and pliable, with the contents distinctly pulpy, and when squeezed the fig should not resume its former shape, but remain pressed. It should be plastic, not elastic nor dry. Underdried figs will spoil in packing, while overdried ones are hard, leathery, and worthless as food or delicacy. The trays must be gone over every day and the properly dried figs taken off, the spoiled ones being removed at the same time. The time required for drying varies from four to sixteen days. Drying within six or seven days yields the best quality of product.
SWEATING AND EQUALIZING
Dried figs are greatly benefited by being sweated or equalized as regards moisture. This is accomplished by placing them in sweat boxes holding 75 pounds or more. The boxes are stacked up one across another in such a way as to insure a free circulation of air. This is to prevent the sour fermentation, which would spoil the figs. The room where the sweat boxes are stored should be closed and the walls should preferably be of brick. Daily examination of the contents of the boxes should be made, so that any inclination of the fruit to ferment and heat may be detected. In a few days an improvement in the texture of the figs will be noticed, the overdried ones having attracted moisture from those that were underdried and all having become more pliable.