Frozen starfruit quistions

[jamesjr]

Ok so i just recently got a lot of starfruit. I cleaned and cut up 4.5 lbs worth to make a gallon batch. But where I'm confused is the process of when i take it out of the freezer. Do I mash it up leave it in the pieces I have? Also no fermentation bag. U might get a kick out of this but I was thinking NEW pantyhose? Lol same concept right. Any way I'm going to follow a recipe ive seen on here unless y'all have suggestions I'm all ears
( also to the people who dont like new people asking quistions I'm sorry but Ive searched and can't find what I'm looking for)
Thanks in advance y'all

 

[cintipam]

Panty hose or knee highs are used by many. please be sure to clean and sanitize them before stuffing the fruit in.

Great thinking since you didn't know it was used by many! If you squeeze carefully you might get a second use out of the hose. A lot of folks also use the paint strainer bags you can get at Home Depot for about $4 for a 2 pack. Clean, sanitize, and use a sanitized ziptie to close.

About your starfruit, jealous you have enough to use in wine. I'd say cut into chunks is all you need. Everyday you'll need to squeeze the bags(sanitize your hands or used sanitized gloves), and if it doesn't seem to be breaking down well by day 3 you can squeeze it really hard to break it up more.

It sounds really good. I'd love to hear how starfruit turns out in a wine.

Pam in cinti

 

[jamesjr]

Ok great so thaw put in bucket, pitch starter squeeze daily. That will take up 90 percent of the room in the bucket so I guess ill put bag in and pour water on top? . As of now I only have 2 gallon buckets And ya I own a landscaping company and we couldnt agree on a price so I said to him let me get as much starfruit as I want all year round and we got a deal he said its either u or the birds will get them so I got as much free star fruit as I can handle he's got 3 big trees. I got about 20lbs and only using 4.5lbs lol friends and family will put it to use

 

[Arne]

A quick note on squeezing. I very seldom squeeze much. Maybe very lightly if there is lots of fruit and I think they yeasts are not getting to the middle of the bunch. Seems like when you squeeze it very hard you get more solids out of the bag and into your wine. Just leaves more to try and clear later. If your buckets are too small, try splitting the batch and use two buckets til you rack from primary or pull the fruit bags out. Arne.

 

[Stressbaby]

Starfruit

I've made starfruit a few times. I do not freeze my starfruit whole. In fact, I slice my starfruit as paper thin as I can manage, then freeze. I use 6#/gallon. Starfruit wine is good but only if you manage the acid (get the pH down around 3.3) and backsweeten. Leave the pH up and it is insipid.

 

[jamesjr]

Ok so if I do squeeze try to keep it minimal and light. And the i have no idea on how to measure ph and or keep or get it down. What would I measure with and what would I add to lower it?

 

[BernardSmith]

You might want to add pectic enzyme to breakdown the fruit. Freezing the fruit and then thawing it breaks open the cells in the fruit (like a frozen pipe) and allows far more of the juice to express without any need to apply much pressure to press. The enzyme will help break down even more of the fruit and so enable more of the juice to flow. Never made wine from star fruit but unless there is a better reason to dilute fruit with water than to increase the volume, (orange juice benefits from some dilution) IMO it is better (best?) to make the wine from the fruit juice itself . If that means you have a 1/2 gallon rather than 1 gallon... then so be it but 1 gallon of thin tasting wine is not better than 1/2 gallon of a far more pleasant and pleasurable wine..

 

[jamesjr]

Very good point I dont want a diluted wine

 

[jamesjr]

And stressbaby do u add water if so how much and what process?

 

[Stressbaby]

Correction: I looked, and on my last batch I used 7#/gallon.

I do add water. I know "straight juice" is a popular theme here, but I have never made it from straight juice and probably never will. I don't feel that my starfruit wine at 7#/gal is underflavored; also, starfruit to me has an astringency, separate from sweet/sour, almost vaguely tannic, which comes through in the wine a bit and I'm afraid with straight juice it would be overpowering.

Here is the recipe I used for my last batch. Next time I'm going to try subbing in some citric acid instead of acid blend.

Primary Fruit: 7# carambola
Secondary Fruit: 1 can Welch's white grape concentrate
Sugar: 1# 2oz
Campden: 1 tab at start
Yeast nutrient: 3/8t Fermaid K divided
Yeast energizer: 1t GoFerm
Pectic enzyme: 1t
Acid blend: 4t
Opti white: 2g
Water: 10c

Thinly slice starfruit; freeze until ready to make the wine.
Thaw starfruit. Add to straining bag. Add grape concentrate, sugar. Heat water and pour over fruit. When cool, add Campden, acid blend (or citric or mix). Wait 12 hours, then add pectic enzyme. Wait another 12 hours, thenn add Opti-White. Rehydrate yeast (I use K1-V1116) and pitch. Usual care.

 

[jamesjr]

Ok great thanks for all the help all that was exactly what I was looking for