I've just picked 6Kg Damsons, 2Kg Plums and 1Kg hawthorn berries from the hedge in the local playing field.
I will be making wine and Jam, but here is my question which I ask every year, and can never remember the answer!!
When the wine making book says 1.75Kg damsons .... continues to list the other ingredients
and in the instructions says stone the fruit.
Does that mean 1.75Kg before or after stoning??
And does anyone have any tips to ease the task of stoning?
Cheers,
Sue
Just picked
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Millymollymandy
- A selfsufficientish Regular
- Posts: 17637
- Joined: Tue May 10, 2005 6:09 am
- Location: Brittany, France
Re: Just picked
Don't know the answer - but boy the UK is WAAAAAAAY ahead of where I live in Brittany this year. 
As this is wine related you might be best putting this in the Home Brew section, so I'll move it there and leave a shadow thread so you can find it!
As this is wine related you might be best putting this in the Home Brew section, so I'll move it there and leave a shadow thread so you can find it!
http://chateaumoorhen.blogspot.com/boboff wrote:Oh and just for MMM,(thanks)
Re: Just picked
Weights in wine recipes are always unprocessed weight (unless specifically stated otherwise). So, your 1.75 kg of damsons should be weighed exactly as they come off the tree. Don't worry too much about precise amounts - a 100 grams here or there makes no difference.
Stones - there's a moot point. Several years ago, I patiently watched a few pounds of damsons rot because I couldn't be bothered to go through the tedious destoning procedure. Next time I did the wine, I just slashed the fruit and started it off fermenting. Three or four days later, I stuck my (scrupulously clean) hands in the bucket, squeezed and mashed everything I could find, and a few hours later I had a raft of floating stones which were easily removed. The wine turned out well, tasting just like all the other damson wines I'd tasted. However, fermenting on the stones for an extended period is very likely to alter the taste of the wine (peach stones, for instance, impart an almond flavour), so don't exceed that three or four days unless you really want the stone flavour. And don't omit the slashing either - that allows the yeast to get in and the juices to get out.
Wine-making purists will scream in protest at what I've just said. However, what's important - the process or the end-product?
Mike
Stones - there's a moot point. Several years ago, I patiently watched a few pounds of damsons rot because I couldn't be bothered to go through the tedious destoning procedure. Next time I did the wine, I just slashed the fruit and started it off fermenting. Three or four days later, I stuck my (scrupulously clean) hands in the bucket, squeezed and mashed everything I could find, and a few hours later I had a raft of floating stones which were easily removed. The wine turned out well, tasting just like all the other damson wines I'd tasted. However, fermenting on the stones for an extended period is very likely to alter the taste of the wine (peach stones, for instance, impart an almond flavour), so don't exceed that three or four days unless you really want the stone flavour. And don't omit the slashing either - that allows the yeast to get in and the juices to get out.
Wine-making purists will scream in protest at what I've just said. However, what's important - the process or the end-product?
Mike
The secret of life is to aim below the head (With thanks to MMM)