Greeting All,
I usually prefer trial and error to get answers, but when working with inherently labor intensive fruit, sometimes the trial and the error are too great and too risky, and it's just better to ask. I am working on a cyser for this fall which will be heavy in crab apples, hopefully at least 50%, depending on yields (as of now it's looking hopeful ...). I have read through several of the threads here regarding working with crab apples, and have found them most helpful. I like the idea of freezing the apples, as opposed to using heat. In fact, I felt a little silly not thinking of it myself, since I already use the freeze method for melomels. Thanks to Yooper for the great ideas. I am also going to try your idea of fermenting the crab fruit in the primary. I figure I can finish the crab cyser separately, and then blend it with the regular cyser. I have noticed the controversy surrounding the idea of fermenting the fruit when working with apples in general. My guess is, crabs are less juicy than regular apples, therefore justifying the different handling. Can anyone corroborate this? Are there other reasons for the different handling?
Second, the crabs in my orchard - Wickson, Whitney, and Virginia Hewes - have good sized fruit, as opposed to the smaller ornamental crabs. All except for one, the Evereste crab. The fruit on the Evereste is one inch at best, probably closer to 3/4 on average. This little bugger is particularly labor intensive. The Evereste fruit has good attributes, however, so I DO want to use it. I am hoping I can get away with NOT chopping this one, but just smashing it up with all the rest, and letting the chips fall where they may. Hopefully, the Evereste will impart some of its goodness with this minimal processing effort. Thoughts?
Last, would still be any benefit to sweating the crab fruit for a few weeks, as with regular apples, prior to chopping and freezing?
Thanks in advance,
zipmont