# Steam-Juicing Elderberries?



## smokegrub (Jul 2, 2009)

Has anyone steam-juiced elderberries? Thoughts/recommendations?


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## Cracked Cork (Jul 2, 2009)

Hi Smoky, we have steamed elderberries, we got about a gallon of juice from about 10 pounds of berries, "about" is as close as I can get as we never actually kept records for them, just juiced until I got enough juice to do whatever we wanted. The acid levels will be lower for some reason, at least for us it was very low after juicing. If you can get enough elderberries try to make a 100% juice wine, its really worth it. We juice the berries, add sugar to the hot juice to melt it. We let it cool, take an acid reading and then add acid, nutrient, oak and the yeast. I dont usually add KMeta to the steamed juices as its basically sterilized and t he yeast will get a fast start. 

TRY IT YOU WILL LIKE IT  

Crackedcork


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## Waldo (Jul 2, 2009)

Cracked, do you seperate them from the stem before steaming


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## Cracked Cork (Jul 2, 2009)

Yes we separate t hem from the stems by hand picking them. We havent tried steaming with the little stems in them yet, it just seems that maybe some nasty tasting stuff would come out of the stems. CC


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## Waldo (Jul 3, 2009)

Thanks cracked..I was just remembering them "purple fingers" i got from last year and was hoping that maybe just mytbe I was doing it the hard way


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## Cracked Cork (Jul 3, 2009)

Purple fingers just show you arent afraid to get your hands dirty making a good wine Crackedcork


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## Boyd (Jul 3, 2009)

Try using a paint brush comb such a the one made by Purdy. Has stainless teeth.

Works slick getting the berries off the stems.


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## Waldo (Jul 4, 2009)

Thanks Boydd..where would one most likely find this item? I looked at Wally World and could not find it..I was so disappointed, hell I thought they had everything


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## Cracked Cork (Jul 4, 2009)

For our cultivated elderberries the problem is that not all of the berries on a flowerhead are all ripe at the same time. Some even look ripe but are still hard and not soft and take more of a tug to get off the stem than a ripe berry. If the berries are ripe they come off easily with your fingers and you can leave the unripe ones on the stem. No you dont pick each ripe berry off individually, you run clusters through your fingers at a time. The ripe ones come off easy, the green ones, red unripe ones stay on the stem. Any other method is going to give berries that are not ripe mixed in with the ripe ones. 

If you dont care if the unripe ones get mixed it the easiest was is to just freeze them and knock them on the ground in a bag to get the fruit. As has been mentioned on here you can then sift them through a screen to get out some of the stems and then use a sorting table to separate the berries from the little stems. YOu can get a lot of berries fast this way, but you will still get a lot of unripe berries.

Crackedcork


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## Boyd (Jul 4, 2009)

Menards, HOME Depot, or Lowes should work. Maybe a paint store such as Sherwin Willams.

There are lots of wild elderberries around here. I only pick them when their stems are bright purple and don,t have a large problem with unripe berries.

Must turn out ok. Wine doesn't last long after it is ready. A bottle of wine lasts me for over a week, but lots of people come by for a few bottles.


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## smokegrub (Jul 6, 2009)

Thanks for the feedback. We are currently away from home and this is the first time I had to check in.


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## redderthebetter (Jul 12, 2009)

I have a couple of questions to tag on to this discussion. I have an elderberry started from steamed juice about 2 months ago. Yeast was pitched 11 May, racked to secondary 18 May, and again on 1 June. Everything seems fine. The color is pretty much the same as was the must when I started out. Can I expect this to lighten up in the next few months? I am going to rack it agian in August with a bit of oak. We just returned from a 2 week vacation and I noticed mold forming in the airlocks. I can't remember if I used tap water, that I normally use, or if this was a bit of sanitizer I put in them. I'm not too concerned about the wine. Has any one else had this happen? Can you remember what you had used when it occured? I may revert to a bit of vodka fo future airlock fills.


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## Cracked Cork (Jul 12, 2009)

RedderBetter, I make a concentrated solution of KMeta and put it in a squirt bottle with a little tube on the front of it and just squeeze a little bit in when its needed. Are you sure its mold and not the sanitizer precipitating out?

Why would you want your elderberry to turn lighter, isnt redder bedder? The oak in the elderberry is very nice.

Crackedcork


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## gaudet (Jul 12, 2009)

Cracked Cork said:


> Yes we separate t hem from the stems by hand picking them. We havent tried steaming with the little stems in them yet, it just seems that maybe some nasty tasting stuff would come out of the stems. CC



To add to this, the stems, leaves, and roots of elderberries can contain cyanide compunds. Perhaps not the nasty stuff cracked is talking about, but nasty in its own right. 

C&amp;P from this site http://www.home-remedies.info/herbal-medicines/elderberry.htm 

<h2>Contraindications And Precautions </h2>


Berries of the
dwarf elder species (S. ebulus) are contraindicated. Because all green
parts of the elder plant are poisonous, avoid consumption of the leaves
and stems. Avoid using elderberry in pregnant and breast-feeding
patients. Use elderberry products cautiously because of the risk of
cyanide toxicity. 
<h2>Special Considerations </h2>


Monitor
fluid intake and output of patients who experience adverse GI reactions
from elderberry The dwarf elder (S. ebulus) is regarded as particularly
poisonous. Large doses can cause diarrhea, vertigo, and vomiting (signs
of cyanide toxicity).


*Alert:* Cyanide
poisoning can result from ingesting the bark, roots, leaves, and unripe
berries of the elder plant. Children making pipes or peashooters from
the hollowed shafts of the elder can suffer cyanide poisoning.
Ingestion of 60 mg of cyanide has caused death in humans. Emesis and
gastric lavage are recommended for known elder plant ingestion. Amyl
nitrate, sodium nitrate, and sodium thiosulfate can also be used when
cyanide toxicity is suspected. 


Instruct the patient to
keep this plant out of the reach of children and pets and to have the
telephone number for the nearest poison control center readily
available. 


Advise the female patient to avoid using elderberry during pregnancy or when breast-feeding.


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## boozinsusan (Oct 9, 2009)

I use latex surgeon's gloves for picking. Easy to find, and disposable.


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## Cracked Cork (Oct 9, 2009)

<h2>Rich, who manages a couple of allotments devoted to elderberries
for wine making in London, UK. has shared a new method with us on
www.Winepress.us. Rich takes the ripe fruit heads and shakes off the
elderberries in a bucket, most of his elderberries are the S. Nigra
varieties. Rich says the green and unripe berries stay on the stems and
just the ripe berries fall into the bucket. We tried that with our
berries and found they needed to be gently knocked against the sides of
the bucket to get the berries off. Me and the wife picked over 2
gallons of berries in 30 minutes by bucket knocking. We could have gone
faster but we had a lot of bugs to pick out first. The berries were
ripe, we only had to pick out a few berries that were not ripe, and
very FEW stems, including very FEW of the finer small stems. This has
become our preferred picking method.</h2><h2>Also, on the poisoning thing, very little information availble on anyone actually getting sick, but the worst one I found on the web they pressed the leaves with the berries to make a drink, the more you drank the sicker you got, but I doubt many people are lazy enough to leave a bunch of leaves in their berries!
</h2><h2>
</h2><h2>Crackedcork</h2>


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## Tom (Oct 11, 2009)

Question for those who Steam Juice their fruit..





If juicing and keeping it in canning jars would you add pectic enzyme when you "can"?





If not having added Pectic and using steamed juice for a f-pac I reduce 2 quarts to one on the stove. So, do you add pectic to the "pot" or to the carboy and how much on either?


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## Cracked Cork (Oct 11, 2009)

Tepe, wouldnt the heat kill the enzyme? Crackedcork


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## Tom (Oct 11, 2009)

Thats why I posed the question. I figure it would. Looking for confirmation either way.
More important is.
If not having added Pectic and using steamed juice for a f-pac I reduce 2 quarts to one on the stove. So, do you add pectic to the cooled "pot" or to the carboy and how much on either?


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## Cracked Cork (Oct 11, 2009)

Are you going to fine the wine when its done Tepe? I would guess that you would want to add it to the cool F pac first? I havent done it yet but I like the way you are thinking, might have to give it a try if it works out for you. Crackedcork


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## Tom (Oct 11, 2009)

I have the wine stabilized BEFORE addint the f-pac. My question to those who USE a steamer is how much if any you add to the carboy when adding the steamed f-pac.
A steamed f-pac is a little different than a regular f-pac.
I have done both and have added pectic and some that I added no pectic. I am looking at what others who use steamed juice what they do.
Trust me I know how to make wine and f-pac's just want to see what others do.


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## Winefarmer1 (Dec 26, 2009)

I steamed my elderberries including many green ones although they were destemed, and I am still alive. I noticed that there was no need for a f-pak in the wine. The flavor was very noticable once sugar was added. This wine is absolutely my best yet of about 14 different fruit wines this year.


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