Blender for cherries

[bluedart]

I would like to make some cherry mead and would like to know if I can blend the cherries before starting for ease of getting them out of the carboy.

 

[Bigb20524]

I typically do my primary in a bucket or a wide mouthed jug, if you can get your hands on them wine bags or some pantyhoes work well.

 

[Arne]

Yep, way easier to bag them and do the primary part in a bucket of some kind. Brute makes a 10 gal. garbage can that gives you lots of room for a six or seven gal. batch and still have room for the fruit. Blend them and do a batch, then do another batch in an open container with the fruit bagged. Think you will see why lots of us bag the fruit. Make sure you leave some headspace while doing the primary ferment. Otherwise when you stir, add some other ingredients, disturb the container in some way, the ferment will tend to overflow. Doesnt hurt to put the primary fermenter in a tub or even set it in a big garbage bag. Don't have to pull it all the way up just have it under so if things overflow it can catch some of the mess. A bit of experience talking. Arne.

 

[Rice_Guy]

@Metrinity As Big said. .
if you can get your hands on them nylon wine bags or some pantyhoes work well.. .
a filter funnel WILL clog, I bucket it into the nylon bag lift enough to drip and squeeze the juice out, the mom version was a flour sack hanging from a kitchen cabinet. ,,, fine pulp is a mess to filter

 

[Rice_Guy]

I have a straining bag large enough to fit snugly over one of my narrow-ish 7 gallon primary fermenters. I use it when pressing grapes to catch stray chunks, and it works great for pouring fruit through.

 

[Arne]

I don't crush the cherries as such. I pit them tho so that breaks them up some. Have an antique pitter, dump the cherries in the top, turn the crank and the cherries go out the bottom, the pits out the side. Don't think I would blend them tho, as the pits give a bitter taste and think it would be worse if you cracked them. The ones I have made and left the pits in, the bitterness goes away with time. Can't remember for sure but think it took at least a year for the bitterness to go down. Good luck with yours, Arne.

 

[montanarick]

The dangerous chemical found in the seeds of stone fruits is called amygdalin. Poisoning can occur when the pit and seed are crushed or chewed before swallowing, releasing the amygdalin. Amygdalin is then converted by the body to cyanide. Not good to crush up cherry pits in wine

 

[Scooter68]

Most of the common "Stone Fruits" have substances that are not good for consumption (Including the possible leaching of them into juices) and more importantly can add bitterness or off flavors.

While you probably would never truly get seriously sick from the stones, they are not likely to ADD any desirable flavors to your wine.

For that reason, I'd never put cherries or other fruit stones through a blender. Needless to say those pits also are not going to do your blender blades any favors.

A lot of this sort of thing comes down to folks looking for short cuts or an easy way to do something. In many cases, probably most cases really, things like removing the stones/pits/seeds is done for reasons more than just wives tales of poisons in the things that "have" to be removed. Some things are just going to require a little work to get done right, but; companies like the one who produces "Brewsey"(SP?) are out there willing to 'help' folks looking for the easy way out, regardless of what quality sacrifices might be involved.

I still like the phrase "Sometimes if you want something in the worst way, that's just how you are going to get it.

I'm more than willing to admit that 6 years ago I had hoped that my $50.00 Country Fruit Wine Making kit would provide EVERYTHING I needed to get started. Silly me, several hundred dollars later, practically speaking, I now have pretty much all the hardware needed to make good wine. It's just that labor part will never go away or get REALLY easy, no matter how much money I spend, or how many short cuts I find.