Elderberry question

[Joanie]

<div align="left">I have just filled a 4 gallon pail with beautiful elderberries. (They were 30 yards from my house!!) All the recipes say to destem, How picky do I have to be? I'm usung a fork to pull the elderberries off the stem but some stems stay attatched. Do I need to pull off those teeny tiny stems too? They will eventually go into a strainer bag.

The birds have been in then!

 

[sangwitch]

How about trying a comb? From the referenced article:


When you pick elderberries, snip the clusters just below the fruit itself. Then separate the berries from the stems in a cool and shady spot (or even seated comfortably before the TV The individual morsels are small, as I've mentioned, and the cleaning process takes quite a while. I've heard of using a comb for this purpose but never acquired the knack myself.


The rest of the article just talks about Elderberries and has some receipes.


Edit: recipes. (maybe it's time to install spell check)


http://www.motherearthnews.com/Whole_Foods_and_Cooking/1973_July_August/The_Delightful_ElderberryEdited by: sangwitch

 

[Joanie]

Thanks, Sang! =)

 

[Dean]

Joan, you want those berries to be as stem free as possible. When you ferment fresh elderberries, if the stems are on there, it creates a green sludge that is almost impossible to get off your primary fermenter!

My last batch of elderberry had that, and the cleaning operation was NOT fun after I racked to secondary.

 

[Joanie]

Thanks for the head's up, Dean. That's good to know. The ones I have done are not perfect but they're quite clean.

 

[Harry]

Hi Joan


I too had the green slimee on top of my must, I laid paper towels on top of it and got most of it out ,Then after i racked to my secondary , I cleaned up the goo with cooking oil then soap and water. It worked good for me.My Elderberry wine is a year old and going to let it rest and age for about six more months


Harry

 

[Joanie]

Thanks Harry.

I now know why there's not a lot of elderberry wine out there. The prep time is long and messy!! I still need about 3/4 of a pound to make a gallon! I just can't do any more tonight!

 

[pkcook]

Joan,


I read somewhere if you freeze the elderberries on the stem then put the frozen mass in a plastic garbage bag and inflate the bag and close the top and shake the berries, the berries will separate from the stems. Haven't tried elderberries yet, but this sounded like it would be worth a try.

 

[paubin]

Elderberries being a pain aside, You are lucky to have them growing 30 yards from your house. I'd have gallons of the stuff! Good luck cleaning though. It is best to make sure all the stems are off!


Pete

 

[Cracked Cork]

We tried the freezing thing this year and it works much better than a
comb or fork, plus, I got some food safe bags to line my primary with
so that I can toss them out with any gree goo that shows up.



Crackedcork

 

[MedPretzel]

I made an elderberry wine once (from a kit).


It's really one f the best wines ever.





Keep us posted!

 

[Joanie]

I made myself destem another 3 pounds worth for a second gallon. I put the project on hold for a few days and the little things held up well in the fridge. I was pleasantly surprised. I would have tried the freezer deal but I only have the freezer on top of my fridge and it's full.

I started the elderberry last night and it's finally about cool enough to transfer into the primary this morning.

Has anyone figured out a straining bag holder opener? Luckily my son is home for the weekend to pour for me but I know there will come a time when I won't have extra hands.

Edited by: Joan

 

[grapeman]

I use a large measuring cup/bowl to put the fruit in. I then open the bag around the cup and just pour the contents in.


I've been putting off making some Elderberry wine myself. There are tons of them around here and they are ripe now, but I've heard so many stories about the difficulties in de-stemming and the green goo that I'm reluctant to try it. Maybe I will try it with the new tricks I've read about here. When you pick the clusters, how many does it take to get a pound? If I picked a 5 gallon bucket full- how many pounds would I get?

 

[Joanie]

I got 6 pounds out of half of a 5 gallon pail. I would guess you'd get at least 8 pounds and probably more but I think you will be insane long before you get that far! It only took me 6 pounds before I was nuts! =)

 

[grapeman]

Well I didn't have a lot to do this AM so I went out and picked a heaping 5 gallon bucketfull of Elder Berries. The grass and stuff was wet at the time so I got soaked. I washed them off and got all the leaves, slugs and caterpillars out of them. I popped them in some ziplock bags and stuffed them in the freezer. I read somewhere to freeze them, put them in a garbage bag, shake and pour over a trough lined with wet cardboard or something similar. As they roll down that contraption, the little stems stick to it and you are left with a clean bunch of berries. I gotta look that up again and make it-I'm not going to go the fork or comb routine.

By the way, I got about 10 pounds of berries and stems so far out of the 5 gallon bucket.
More later...

 

[Joanie]

I just now added the yeast so mine's up and running!!

Folks are right about that stem goo tho! Ewww! I poured everything thru a strainer bag. (Thanks for the tip, Appleman! I used a tall pitcher and it worked well!) I let the bag hang over the primary for a couple of hours and then gently squeezed it. I'm glad I was wearing latex gloves! There was sticky green goo all over them plus the handle of my spoon. Yeesh! I threw the gloves away and rubbed the spoon with canola oil and it came right off. Phew! (Thanks for that tip, Harry!)

And here I thought my berries were clean!

 

[Cracked Cork]

www.bestcontainers.com sells drum liners that are a food grade plastic
in small amounts per order to anyone. I have some elderberry in one of
their drum liner bags today and its working just like it was a regular
primary.



Crackedcork

 

[NorthernWinos]

Gee, this green slime thing doesn't sound good....

A few years ago I planted 2 Elderberries, one died and the other would produce beautiful flowers but no fruit...come to find out it needs a mate, so I bought 2 this year, one of each 'sex'...so oneday I might have Elderberries....thought wine was a good idea till I read this Post....
A lady down the road has a row of Edlerberries and the flowers and bushes were so pretty I went in and asked her what they were, then I ordered the first 2 bushes....I mostly liked the plant habit...they grow really fast...will be interesting in a few years to see how they do....might need more plants if I want to make wine oneday...?

 

[Joanie]

Cracked Cork, you must have a lot of Elderberries! The bags sound like a great idea! I only have 2 gallons worth and it's in a 3 gallon pail I got free at the grocery store. I think the liner for the 55 gallon drum might be overkill! =)

I may order a couple of their 12 gallon pails with lids to transport juice tho. Thanks for the website.

Northern Winos, the goo really cleaned right off my spoon where my gloves were when I stirred. I'd get them as stem-free as you can but not worry about the film. The odd thing was they there wasn't any of it on the straining bag I was squeezing. It must just react with plastic.

I think I have 4 or 5 wild bushes and there was more than enough to fill five 5 gallon pails AND still plenty for the birds to eat. =)

 

[Joanie]

Here are the elderberries before I added sugar and water. They really are beautiful but tiny little things! It doesn't look like much at all but it was a ton of work! I'm sure it will be more than worth it.