How to treat fruit before adding?

[tripleoh]

Should fruit (raspberries, blueberries, cherries in particular) be crushed/minced/etc., or thrown in whole? The recipes I see read "add fruit," but don't say how the fruit should be treated. I would think that whole cherries would ferment much differently than crushed or minced cherries.

Thanks.

 

[chams]

Should fruit (raspberries, blueberries, cherries in particular) be crushed/minced/etc., or thrown in whole? The recipes I see read "add fruit," but don't say how the fruit should be treated. I would think that whole cherries would ferment much differently than crushed or minced cherries.

Thanks.

I think the idea is to burst the cell walls, so many people freeze, then thaw them.
Then, soak them in a bit of k-meta or campden tablet water with pectinase for 24 hours before pitching yeast. You can chop, blend, crush them or whatever you're ready to deal with.
Some put them in a grain bag or some let them float loose.
Some put fruit in the secondary instead of primary, or both.
Have fun experimenting is my method.

 

[fatbloke]

Mincing fruit isn't recommended. As its usually very messy and the pulp can be a bugger to remove.

Pit/stone fruit is often pitted before freezing.

The freeze thaw method is to break the cell walls to allow the yeast to get to the juice and sugars quicker.....not always necessary, but can help.

Seed fruit can also be frozen and thawed, then its up to you whether you squash it down before adding but that can also get messy, so either loose or in a bag......

Some will sulphite the fruit as above but I've not had any problems in just checking it in an active fement

 

[Chevette Girl]

I mash the fruit (rough chop of large fruit, try to pierce each berry for something small like currants or blueberries), put it in a bag, put the bag in the must and add pectinase, give it 24 hours for the pectinase to do its thing and then check the SG and add the yeast. If it's a fruit that's likely to spoil before I get the yeast in there, I'll sometimes steam it first or use 1 campden tablet per gallon 24 hours before I add the pectinase. So far the only fruit I find I have to do this with regularly is pears, I don't bother steaming, boiling or sulphiting any other fruits unless my batch is less than optimum and I've got apples that are starting to ferment on their own or fruit that's been baldy bruised through rough handling.

 

[akueck]

When I used cherries I just pitted them, gave them a gentle squeeze with a potato masher, and tossed them in. The yeast do the rest. ;D

 

[chams]

Like I said, you'll have to deal with however you treat the fruit
Your first racking should give you a clue as to how you'll deal with fruit next time.

 

[Crowing]

Does pectinaze need time to work? My cyser is totally clear and I used the enzyme right before pitching.

 

[Chevette Girl]

Hey Crowing, don't be afraid to start a new thread asking a question that's only slightly related to an old thread, rather than resurrecting something like this one. Go ahead and say "I was searching for <whatever you were looking for> and found this <link to really old thread> and had a question: ".

New threads are the same price as old ones

And in answer: most of the recipes I see recommend 24 hours with pectinase before you pitch. A nice Dutch guy named Luc has done a bunch of experiments with pectinase exploring the various "established procedures" (does it work in the cold, does it work with campden tabs, does it work in alcohol, does it work during vigorous fermentation etc), check his blog out: http://wijnmaker.blogspot.ca/2008/01/avonturen-op-het-pecto-pad-deel-2.html