Coring a large amount of pears

[Raptor99]

Here's what I do: Let the pears fully ripen, wash them and cut them in half and remove the core and stems. Freeze them until I am ready to use them. Recently I have started adding some pectic enzyme before freezing. It can start to work while they are thawing out. Then thaw them and mash them with a potato masher (in batches if necessary). Put them in a nylon mesh bag and add to the primary bucket. My largest batch so far was 3 gallons (4 gallons in primary), so I might have to make some adjustments if I was making a much larger batch.

I have a small (about 1 gallon size) fruit press, so I am considering pressing them after fermentation to remove more of the juice. Maybe I'll try that next time. But there is no need to press them beforehand, because freezing + mashing turns them into mush. This is for Bartlett pears. If you have a harder variety your results might be different.

I don't know if there would be any harm in leaving the seeds and stems in the primary.

 

[oppyland]

I have used a large commercial potato masher on several different kinds of fruit - it works pretty good especially if you freeze first. Then just put the mashed up pears into a mesh bag and let them drain (squeeze the bag too).

I also found a recipe somewhere that called for simmering the pears first - worked okay.

 

[Venatorscribe]

Hi Ivy
i do a mountain of pears and I don’t press. I admit that every year I just loath the thought of harvest/ pulping etc… But on the day i just shake off the negative thoughts and find myself truly looking forward to the workload in front of me. Anyway - there are two phases related to pear collection. As you know - there are numerous pears that drop early. Don’t waste them. Collect those pears every day and cut them up and freeze. When it comes to your actual harvest day - pick your pears and leave them in the collection bin for approx a week. Everyday - throw some k meta over them. Now comes the important. Plan your work then work your plan. Find a couple of days where you have nothing else planned - then go for it. if you have a huge quantity of pears then it is better for your back and mental health to have someone helping. Turn up the music and load up your blender as at least two days of work are staring directly back at you. Don’t blend your pears for more than 15 or 20 seconds. Pour the pulp into a large nylon sieve bag that is placed within a bucket. Your buckets should have a spigot drain. At the bottom of each of my buckets I place a plastic colander in an upside down position so that the nylon bag doesn’t compress down and block the spigot drain. Anyway - back to the pulp - Every half hour I add more pectinase and more k meta. if you have a lot of pears then you will require more that one bucket. Be prepared and have everything sanitised and your other chemicals within reach. After a couple of weeks - drain out your pear juice. Squeezing the bag. Then ferment what you get after adjusting your pH and sugars. Initial fermentation may take a couple of days because you have used a lot of k meta - if it stalls then give it a good stirring and stand your buckets in the sun for a couple of ours. Keep out the bees and wasps and sanitize everything. Have fun. Talk more if you need more tips. Cheers. BTW - I was drinking one of my pear rosé wines with dinne4 this evening…

 

[hounddawg]

on small scale/ a good juicer will work just fine
Dawg

 

[Eddy Monsoon]

Chop em

Freeze em, ripest first if you need to do in batches

Thaw em

Muslin/ mesh bag all the solids,

pectin,acid nutrient, wine yeast,
more sugar for wine, nothing for cider

A little Water just to cover

Get the first batch underway and add more as they come through the freezer

7-10 days pulp should have given up all it's going to , so squeeze or press bag.

 

[RRRwine]

I'll be curious what the others who have done more fruit wines than I have to say.
I did apples one year and yeah we manually cored half of them before freezing then pressing. It did change the character of the wine.
I would suspect pears would become even mushier than the apples I did when frozen. They might be able to be hand pressed in cheese cloth ...after primary fermentation?
If you have a lot of them, you could consider not really coring them, but just slicing off 1/3rd or 1/4th pieces.

 

[Raptor99]

At least with Bartletts, once they are fully ripe they are very soft. Cut them in half and scoop out the core with a spoon. Very fast.

 

[Scooter68]

The volume you will have is what will probably be the biggest influence along with how often you may have access to the fruit. For 5 gallons or less an hand coring as suggested might be the most cost and time effective method unless they are soft enough to use something like a large potato masher on. (I bought a long handled heavy duty one on line for I think less than $20.00 The key is to avoid have the seeds in the wind mix for an extended period of time. If you bag the pears then you can pull that from your fermentation bucket and wring out the juice as soon as the ferment is closing in on or below an SG 1.000. As long as the new wine doesn't sit on the seeds after fermentation is over you should have no problem.