Crabapples...

Nov 01, 2003 3 Replies
R

Hi folks,



I've got a huge pile of crab apples, mmmm... Tomorrow I'm all set to follow Jack K's recipe at



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soaking the apples, then crushing them and fermenting on the pulp. I planned to use 6lb of apples to the gallon, plus a couple of pounds of eating apples for a bit more sweetness.



But a thought crosses my mind; it may be a daft thought, but it's there now: boiling the apples, quite thoroughly, and straining off the juice - as I've been doing already this evening to make crab apple jelly. Would I be missing out on tannin from the skins and pips by doing it this way round, or will the boiling see to that? And presumably it'll need some fairly heavy pectic enzyme treatment, too?


TIA cheers, robin


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N

Boiling will extract a lot of flavour. It will also destroy a lot of important "stuff" and guarantee a pectin haze. Ferment your apples on the skins, and press when the ferment ends --- about 20 days if you go at room temperature, 10 days if you heat it to 70F.

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R

In message , Negodki writes

"and guarantee a pectin haze."

Chilling words...

Many thanks for pointing that out. I've crushed them all with the recommended length of 4x4 timber, and they sit waiting for the yeast tomorrow.

cheers, robin

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