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Cider Digest #0035
Subject: Cider Digest #35 Fri Sep 27 11:00:02 EDT 1991
Date: Fri, 27 Sep 91 11:00:04 EDT
From: cider-request@expo.lcs.mit.edu (Are you SURE you want to send it HERE?)
Cider Digest #35 Fri Sep 27 11:00:02 EDT 1991
Forum for Discussion of Cider Issues
Jay Hersh, Digest Coordinator
Contents:
Pasteurized -vs- Unpasteurized cider (Nick Cuccia)
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Date: Thu, 26 Sep 91 16:49:32 -0700
From: Nick Cuccia <cuccia@eris.berkeley.edu>
Subject: Pasteurized -vs- Unpasteurized cider
On Thu, 26 Sep 91 18:00:09 EDT Thomas Manteufel wrote:
>Has anyone ever bottled and then
>heated up to 160-170 F for some time to kill the yeast? Is it dangerous?
>Will the bottle explode from expanding CO2, or do you pasturize right away?
My mom used to (and may still) can at home. Heating the fruits/juices is
done in open containers, poured into sterile bottles, then sealed. The seal
is maintained by the vacuum that is formed by the cooling of the contents of
the bottle (food, juice, and gas--which is air/water vapor, not CO2).
>Is it stupid?
Yes and no. Yes, it preserves the juice, but so does freezing; frozen apple
juice can be kept for up to a year. And while freezing does not kill the
naturally-occuring microbes, it does send them into a state of dormancy.
>Does it change the flavor?
I was up in Sebastopol (about 50 mi. N. of San Francisco; one of California's
primary apple-growing regions) a couple of weeks ago; my SO and I were on a
cider/wine/beer-tasting trek. One of the places that I stopped at had both
pasteurized (sold in glass bottles) and unpasteurized (sold frozen solid in
plastic bottles) cider. Both were the same formulation (predominantly
Gravenstein, with some Jonathan and Delicious blended in). The big differences
between the two were:
* Color. The unpasteurized cider was reddish/brownish. The pasteurized cider
was a whitish brown.
* Sediment. Not as much in the unpasteurized as in the pasteurized.
* Smell. The unpasteurized smelled like, well, apples. The pasteurized smelled
like standard garden-variety processed apple juice.
* Taste. The unpasteurized tasted like apples; it was light, fruity, and
exciting. The pasteurized had a syrupy flavor to it. I suspect that this
was caused by the heat cooking out the volatiles, as well as killing the
beasties. I also suspect that some of the sugars were somehow converted.
My final analysis was that the two juices could not be compared. Since it
actually cost *less* for the unpasteurized juice ($3.50/gallon -vs- $2.50/half
gallon), I returned to the bay area with six gallons for use in my Holiday
cider.
>It sounds like it is better than
>dumping a load of chemicals in to poison the yeast (and slowly ourselves).
Most of the cider recipes that I've seen published either recommend adding
Campden tables (Sodium Metabisulphite) or neutral spirits (vodka, usually) to
kill the beasties. Neither is really poisonous to most people, but some
people are allergic to sulphites, and alcohol is, in some circles, socially
unacceptible.
Speaking of cider, here is the recipe for my Holiday cider.:
5 gal. unpasteurized and unfiltered sweet cider
1 fresh nutmeg nut, ground
2.5 tablespoons cloves
10 4" cinnamon sticks
Juice and peels[*] of three lemons
48 fl. oz. Maple syrup
[*] I peeled the lemons with a potato peeler, in order to limit the amount of
pulp.
4 gal. of the sweet cider went immediately into the carboy. Into a saucepan
went 1/2 gal. of what remained, the spices (in a spice bag), and the lemon
peels. After simmering for 30 minutes, the lemon juice and syrup were added.
Five minutes later, I removed the peels and spice bag, and poured the solution
into the carboy, then used the remaining fresh juice to fill to neck level.
The initial SG was 1.100, and the stuff has been bubbling away for two weeks
now. I hope to be ready to bottle by Thanksgiving.
Cheers,
- --Nick
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"Perhaps someday, our ability to love won't be so limited."
- --Dr. Beverly Crusher, _ST:TNG_
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-
Nick Cuccia
cuccia@mica.berkeley.edu
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End of Cider Digest
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