Blackberry juice

[Jerry1]

I steam most of the fruit I use so I am not dealing with any pulp. I have not steamed blackberries in the past. My question is has anyone steamed blackberries and if so how many pounds of berries did it take to make up a gallon of juice? I know it will vary depending on the juiciness (that a word?) of the berries. The reason for the question is there is a fruit stand not far from me that sold the juice last year. If memory serves it was $32 per gal. I have 6 gal in the freezer that I was going to use for this purpose. Got them from my orchard. Have been informed by the "boss" that I can't have them all. I have made blackberry before from a kit and one time from scratch. I prefer the scratch method. My recipe calls for 5 lbs of berries per gal of wine. There for I'd need 25 lbs of berries. I'm thinking this should equate to about 1 gal of juice. Anybody know?

 

[jamesngalveston]

i am going to juice 100 lbs of blackberries today are tomorrow, i will let you know how much juice i get .

 

[Jerry1]

Are you going to steam or press? Where did you get 100lbs of berries? That's a heep of pickin'.

 

[SBWs]

I normally get about 1 pint of juice from a pound of wild blackberries.

Steamed 12 lbs got 5 qt & 2 pt jars
Steamed 21 lbs got 9 qt & 5 pt jars
Steamed 26 lbs got 12 qt & 6 pt jars

 

[jamesngalveston]

jerry i am going to cook them down....in a big 35 gallon stainless cooker.
i have a large piece of land on the west end of galveston, we had about 15 acres of blackberries this year..and they were loaded. not really sure how many we got, i would say between 400 and 600 lbs..we let nature have the rest...
i offered them to anyone to come pick for free, how many showed up.
0,
i guess they would rather pay for them rather then work for them.

 

[Jerry1]

Isn't it miraculous the number of people that will show up for something that's free so long as they don't have to do any work. A little work involved and they no longer want what your giving them. I have a small run of blackberries, two rows that equal approx 120 ft. Use to have both rows full with out any irrigation. Two years ago we did not get 1/2 of our normal spring rains and I couldn't get enough water to them. Lost all but 6 plants. I now have irrigation in and approx 20 plants taking root. Won't get any berries to speak of until next year. Tried to get cuttings to grow, but I guess my thumbs are not green. Had to buy 16 plants. Had four come up voluntarily and I moved them as soon as they were big enough. Don't believe that crap that anybody can grow blackberries. Will be interesting to see what your cook down releases from a lb vs steaming. With the other responses we can have a comparison and maybe work out an average. Later.

 

[jamesngalveston]

when hurricane ike came through we didnt see a single blackberry bush for 3 years...then like magic...thery were taking over...

 

[dralarms]

All mine are dried up around here. I bought blackberry juice from home winery.com. a 1/2 gallon jug that makes 5 gallons is 30.95. Its real blackberry juice and makes great wine and jelly too.

 

[Julie]

James,

I would be leery about cooking the juice down. You are taking the change of creating a pectin haze, plus you are also cooking some of the flavor away.

 

[dralarms]

James,

I would be leery about cooking the juice down. You are taking the change of creating a pectin haze, plus you are also cooking some of the flavor away.

Agreed! I did an apple and the flavor is lacking some due to cooking the apples down some. Next time I'll use the steam juicer. I don't seem to loose flavor that way.

 

[Jerry1]

dralarms, is the juice you buy concentrated? 1/2 gal of juice doesn't seem like much to make 5 gal of wine. I know steamed juice appears to be thicker than pressed. To my eyes anyway. It appears to me that steaming releases some of the moisture from the berries back into the environment. Don't see how that's possible when using steam to extract juice.

 

[Thig]

It would be interesting if someone could take two gallons of berries from the same crop, press one and steam juice the other. I would like to know which one you get the most juice from and if steam juicing decreased the SG below what the pressed one was.

 

[Julie]

dralarms, is the juice you buy concentrated? 1/2 gal of juice doesn't seem like much to make 5 gal of wine. I know steamed juice appears to be thicker than pressed. To my eyes anyway. It appears to me that steaming releases some of the moisture from the berries back into the environment. Don't see how that's possible when using steam to extract juice.

yes the juice he gets is a concentrate.

dralarms, I buy the blackberry juice from them as well, have you ever oaked your blackberry?

 

[Jerry1]

Thig, seriously doubt if steaming would change the SG unless my thought is correct about releasing some of the moisture.

 

[jamesngalveston]

ok,...julie dralalrms, you talked me out of it....i am starting this big batch of dragon blood, and no room for a day are two..
i dont have a steam juicer, i can make a press..rather quickly...i will press them.
thanks for heads up...guys and girls....lol

 

[Thig]

Thig, seriously doubt if steaming would change the SG unless my thought is correct about releasing some of the moisture.

That's possible, that is the reason I would like to see a "controlled" comparison. Everything the same except one pressed and one steam juiced.

 

[jamesngalveston]

i have a home made press that does a good job...when I bagged my berrys for the freezer we weighed 5 lbs and vacuumed bagged so i know my weights are good...
I am running behind..but i just took 20 bags out to thaw..will press on friday.

 

[rhythmsteve]

i wouldn't cook the berries, but if you're going to steam them i'd be very careful, like Julie said your cloud up your juice with Pectin HAze

 

[dralarms]

yes the juice he gets is a concentrate.

dralarms, I buy the blackberry juice from them as well, have you ever oaked your blackberry?

No, I haven't yet.

 

[Julie]

No, I haven't yet.

Hungarian oak, you will love it!!!!