Crane-Berries: Pilgrims thought the cranberry flower looked like the head of a crane.Bounce-Berries Cranberries must pass a freshness test called a "Bounce Test." This involves bouncing them over a one inch bar. Only the fresh ones make it over.
Cranberries
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When John “Peg-Leg” Webb poured a load of cranberries down his storage-loft stairs (his wooden leg made it impossible to carry them), he noticed that only the firmest and the finest made it to the bottom—the bruised and spoiled lingered on the upper steps. He realized then that the fruit’s “bounceability” was the perfect test to separate the good from the bad. That was in 1880; today, a bounce test still exists—a cranberry Olympics of sorts—but instead of stairs, many farmers use something called a bounce board separator. The berry contestants are dumped into a hopper, where they face a gauntlet of angled wooden boards. Softer cranberries slouch against the slats, sliding into a box set aside for the compost heap. Somewhat sprightlier specimens make the cut for the juicer, while the top-shelf cranberries—the gold medal winners—catapult themselves in graceful pole-vaulting form to the conveyor belt below. Only these bouncy berries are destined for the table. ~EatingWell
OceanSpray Video:::Cooking with Cranberry::
::Cranberry Reads::
