washing fruit

[Jim P]

Do you haveto wash blackberries or grapes before freezing them to be used at a later time , and is it necessary to wash them if you plan on using them fresh ?


Why do you have todestem all of the grapes since they will only be in the primary for a short time ?


A Hint to pass along.
During my last fermentation , I placed my primary bucket into a tall square ice chest , and filled the ice chest with cool tap water to the level of my primary juice. I was able to control the fermentation temperature , by adding frozen water bottles , and by draining and adding more water to the cooler.

 

[hannabarn]

Wow Jim!! Where do you live?? I have to use a heating pad to keep my temps around 75 degrees! Yes, I would wash the berries and grapes before freezing, if for no other reason than to get the little critters out!!!

 

[Jim P]

Thanks for your reply.


I live in Pflugerville Tx , just nort of Austin , and we have seen some mid 90 degree temps in the past couple ofweeks.
I was able to control the temp within +/- 3 degrees.

 

[Wade E]

I would give them a quick rinse just to get any bugs out and possibly any sprays.

 

[Waldo]

Give them a good washing and let them drain well in a collander and then freeze them

 

[grapeman]

On the grapes, the stems contain tannins and can pass on herbaceous flavors undesireable in the wine. Standard treatment to take them off the stems- at least for reds.

 

[hartm]

Freeze the fruit on a cookie sheet and then consollidate in a bag after frozen. That way you can get the fruit apart easier when you need them. This works well if you plan on using a little at a time.






I always wash my first, too.

 

[xanxer82]

I didn't bother washing my mulberries. I hand picked them so little to no critters and no sprays are used on that tree. I figure anything else will drop off after racking. Just think of all the bees abd bird poo you get on grapes.