Recent content by prairiewine

Mine were frozen. I had about 21 pounds, steamed them in shifts by removing the pulp and replacing it with fresh berries. In the end I added all of the remaining pulp and steamed that until I got what I could. The whole process took about 6 hours...and I only got about 9 litres of juice...and...

It was actually used, so I'm pretty sure it was 'seasoned' already. It's actually older than me...it was made in 1976!

Well I made a decision on this. I really didn't have the wallet for a new stainless steel juicer, but I did find an aluminum Mehu Maija on kijiji last week for $60...so I bought it. Thought I'd try it out even though it's aluminum just to see if I liked the steam process vs. the usual...

Thinking about getting a steam juicer after reading about how people are using them on this site. Two questions: 1. Is it really important to get stainless steel? I find the price points for stainless steel are at least $150, whereas aluminum models can be found for $65 or so. Is the added...

Chokecherries can be very messy to work with, because there is so little fruit on each cherry you need alot of them. I don't have a steam juicer, so I have to get my hands a little dirty. I'm not a fan of 'set' recipes (although I do appreciate getting ideas from them), and I'm playing...

Yeah that's my only reservation about the former method. However, life is all about risks and this is one worth taking I suppose. I can always try it the other way next season. The only problem is trying to figure out the best specific gravity to stop the fermentation at. Think I'll try 1.020...

That would be ideal...but I've only got enough left for a 11.5 Litre batch (pretty sure that's 3 US Gallons). I think I'll try it the 'purist' way this year, and try it the other way next year depending on the result.

I've been making wine for several years from the native fruits up here in Canada. I have alot of chokecherries this year and I am going to try making a Chokecherry Port. This will be my first attempt at a port style wine. It seems to me that most 'purists' believe the only way to make a true...