Kellers rhubarb recipe says the soak the rhubarb for three days in
sulphite, stirring daily. Why? I've never seen that before....is there
something special about rhubarb that sulphiting for three whole days
will help with?

May your grapes be burgeoning

Sean

I've made Jack's Rhubarb recipe a number of times. Rhubarb is a very hard
fruit to get juice from, hard to break down...so you'll get more of the
rhubarb taste if you let it sit and sulphite for 3 days. Now, I have been
known to freeze my rhubarb for a couple of months before making my rhubarb
wine. Freezing does break down the rhubarb as well, so it is up to you.
Jack's recipes are always my starting point...I may change things a bit
every now and then, but his recipes are always the place to begin.
Darlene


"snpm" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Kellers rhubarb recipe says the soak the rhubarb for three days in
> sulphite, stirring daily. Why? I've never seen that before....is there
> something special about rhubarb that sulphiting for three whole days
> will help with?
>
> May your grapes be burgeoning
>
> Sean
>

On May 10, 2:18 pm, "Dar V" > wrote:
> I've made Jack's Rhubarb recipe a number of times. Rhubarb is a very hard
> fruit to get juice from, hard to break down...so you'll get more of the
> rhubarb taste if you let it sit and sulphite for 3 days. Now, I have been
> known to freeze my rhubarb for a couple of months before making my rhubarb
> wine. Freezing does break down the rhubarb as well, so it is up to you.
> Jack's recipes are always my starting point...I may change things a bit
> every now and then, but his recipes are always the place to begin.
> Darlene
>
> "snpm" > wrote in message
>
> oups.com...
>
>
>
> > Kellers rhubarb recipe says the soak the rhubarb for three days in
> > sulphite, stirring daily. Why? I've never seen that before....is there
> > something special about rhubarb that sulphiting for three whole days
> > will help with?
>
> > May your grapes be burgeoning
>
> > Sean- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Thank you Darlene...so am I correct in thinking it is the soaking that
is the point here. The sulpihte is so's that the product does not go
bad whilst soaking? Or does the sulphite actually help to extract
flavor? I am a learner.

Sean

Sean,
Correct. The soaking helps break down the rhubarb, and the sulphite
helps protect it while this is happening. Leaving something soak that long
is/was a bit of a concern for me, so that's why I went to freezing the
rhubarb for a month or two. You get the same effect - the rhubarb goes from
very hard and stiff to soft and stringy. I found a lot of success with
cutting the rhubarb into 1 inch pieces and then freezing for a couple of
months. After you take the rhubarb out to thaw, there's actually rhubarb
juice in the bag when its all done thawing. The whole point is getting the
juice from the fruit, so that's why I've gone this route, but the
soaking/sulphite works just as well.
Darlene

"snpm" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> On May 10, 2:18 pm, "Dar V" > wrote:
>> I've made Jack's Rhubarb recipe a number of times. Rhubarb is a very hard
>> fruit to get juice from, hard to break down...so you'll get more of the
>> rhubarb taste if you let it sit and sulphite for 3 days. Now, I have been
>> known to freeze my rhubarb for a couple of months before making my
>> rhubarb
>> wine. Freezing does break down the rhubarb as well, so it is up to you.
>> Jack's recipes are always my starting point...I may change things a bit
>> every now and then, but his recipes are always the place to begin.
>> Darlene
>>
>> "snpm" > wrote in message
>>
>> oups.com...
>>
>>
>>
>> > Kellers rhubarb recipe says the soak the rhubarb for three days in
>> > sulphite, stirring daily. Why? I've never seen that before....is there
>> > something special about rhubarb that sulphiting for three whole days
>> > will help with?
>>
>> > May your grapes be burgeoning
>>
>> > Sean- Hide quoted text -
>>
>> - Show quoted text -
>
> Thank you Darlene...so am I correct in thinking it is the soaking that
> is the point here. The sulpihte is so's that the product does not go
> bad whilst soaking? Or does the sulphite actually help to extract
> flavor? I am a learner.
>
> Sean
>

On May 11, 7:28 am, "Dar V" > wrote:
> Sean,
> Correct. The soaking helps break down the rhubarb, and the sulphite
> helps protect it while this is happening. Leaving something soak that long
> is/was a bit of a concern for me, so that's why I went to freezing the
> rhubarb for a month or two. You get the same effect - the rhubarb goes from
> very hard and stiff to soft and stringy. I found a lot of success with
> cutting the rhubarb into 1 inch pieces and then freezing for a couple of
> months. After you take the rhubarb out to thaw, there's actually rhubarb
> juice in the bag when its all done thawing. The whole point is getting the
> juice from the fruit, so that's why I've gone this route, but the
> soaking/sulphite works just as well.
> Darlene
>
> "snpm" > wrote in message
>
> oups.com...
>
>
>
> > On May 10, 2:18 pm, "Dar V" > wrote:
> >> I've made Jack's Rhubarb recipe a number of times. Rhubarb is a very hard
> >> fruit to get juice from, hard to break down...so you'll get more of the
> >> rhubarb taste if you let it sit and sulphite for 3 days. Now, I have been
> >> known to freeze my rhubarb for a couple of months before making my
> >> rhubarb
> >> wine. Freezing does break down the rhubarb as well, so it is up to you.
> >> Jack's recipes are always my starting point...I may change things a bit
> >> every now and then, but his recipes are always the place to begin.
> >> Darlene
>
> >> "snpm" > wrote in message
>
> groups.com...
>
> >> > Kellers rhubarb recipe says the soak the rhubarb for three days in
> >> > sulphite, stirring daily. Why? I've never seen that before....is there
> >> > something special about rhubarb that sulphiting for three whole days
> >> > will help with?
>
> >> > May your grapes be burgeoning
>
> >> > Sean- Hide quoted text -
>
> >> - Show quoted text -
>
> > Thank you Darlene...so am I correct in thinking it is the soaking that
> > is the point here. The sulpihte is so's that the product does not go
> > bad whilst soaking? Or does the sulphite actually help to extract
> > flavor? I am a learner.
>
> > Sean- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Darlene,

Terry Garey has one pour boiling water over crushed rhubarb. I
wondered have you or anyone you know tried this comparitive method?
Any thoughts? This was the way I tried it first time round. It was
utterly acrid, like battery acid for the first 18 months, but then
mellowed to a delicious gallon of wine which disappeared down my
gullet with probably unhealthy speed

Sean

Sean,
I do what Terry Garey does as well - pour the hot sugar water over the
fruit (thawed rhubarb). There are varying thoughts out there, some think it
gives a cooked taste to the wine, others think the hot water sets the color,
others don't. I think it depends on your taste-buds...so if you have a
recipe you like and the wine tastes good to you, well, I don't know that I'd
change it. Did you use precipitated chalk to get rid of the oxalic acid
taste? I do do that, and my rhubarb may be a bit much early on, but it
usually smoothes out after a year.
Darlene

"snpm" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> On May 11, 7:28 am, "Dar V" > wrote:
>> Sean,
>> Correct. The soaking helps break down the rhubarb, and the sulphite
>> helps protect it while this is happening. Leaving something soak that
>> long
>> is/was a bit of a concern for me, so that's why I went to freezing the
>> rhubarb for a month or two. You get the same effect - the rhubarb goes
>> from
>> very hard and stiff to soft and stringy. I found a lot of success with
>> cutting the rhubarb into 1 inch pieces and then freezing for a couple of
>> months. After you take the rhubarb out to thaw, there's actually rhubarb
>> juice in the bag when its all done thawing. The whole point is getting
>> the
>> juice from the fruit, so that's why I've gone this route, but the
>> soaking/sulphite works just as well.
>> Darlene
>>
>> "snpm" > wrote in message
>>
>> oups.com...
>>
>>
>>
>> > On May 10, 2:18 pm, "Dar V" > wrote:
>> >> I've made Jack's Rhubarb recipe a number of times. Rhubarb is a very
>> >> hard
>> >> fruit to get juice from, hard to break down...so you'll get more of
>> >> the
>> >> rhubarb taste if you let it sit and sulphite for 3 days. Now, I have
>> >> been
>> >> known to freeze my rhubarb for a couple of months before making my
>> >> rhubarb
>> >> wine. Freezing does break down the rhubarb as well, so it is up to
>> >> you.
>> >> Jack's recipes are always my starting point...I may change things a
>> >> bit
>> >> every now and then, but his recipes are always the place to begin.
>> >> Darlene
>>
>> >> "snpm" > wrote in message
>>
>> groups.com...
>>
>> >> > Kellers rhubarb recipe says the soak the rhubarb for three days in
>> >> > sulphite, stirring daily. Why? I've never seen that before....is
>> >> > there
>> >> > something special about rhubarb that sulphiting for three whole days
>> >> > will help with?
>>
>> >> > May your grapes be burgeoning
>>
>> >> > Sean- Hide quoted text -
>>
>> >> - Show quoted text -
>>
>> > Thank you Darlene...so am I correct in thinking it is the soaking that
>> > is the point here. The sulpihte is so's that the product does not go
>> > bad whilst soaking? Or does the sulphite actually help to extract
>> > flavor? I am a learner.
>>
>> > Sean- Hide quoted text -
>>
>> - Show quoted text -
>
> Darlene,
>
> Terry Garey has one pour boiling water over crushed rhubarb. I
> wondered have you or anyone you know tried this comparitive method?
> Any thoughts? This was the way I tried it first time round. It was
> utterly acrid, like battery acid for the first 18 months, but then
> mellowed to a delicious gallon of wine which disappeared down my
> gullet with probably unhealthy speed
>
> Sean
>