Advice pls sloes

[willks84]

Hiya might sound stupid but if I was to pick sloes now and freeze them before using them would this work, just wrkin down a lane and there's thousands of them

 

Cheers will

I was thinking freeze them cos iv been told to pick after first frost

[r1steele]

Should be ok but it depends on how ripe they are at the moment.

[bi9johnny]

if they are ripe i.e. juicy when squashed ...get em picked and in the freezer then when they defrost most will have split too

[Highbird70]

Surely can't be ripe yet....are they?

[r1steele]

Depends when they blossomed and how sheltered they have been but I think it's still a bit early yet.

[Mike737]

We picked loads last weekend, and froze them. They are now defrosted and steeping in the gin. The freezing avoids the necessity to pierce (can't say p*ick!) them with a needle. Ours are well ripe, probably due to this year's weather.

 

Mike.

[proud dad]

I picked 3lb yesterday and have put them in the gin today.

[Highbird70]

That's it...hunting sloe berries tomorrow

[Outlander]

The best way to test if they are ripe or not is to just try one and see, I always put mine in the freezer for a night as you never know when we are likely to get a frost.

[BRYAN3]

The time to pick them is before someone else doe's but,after a frost or two.

My prefered use for the berries is to use sherry rather than gin as its yummy and cheaper.

We used the cheapest we could find at the time and used sugar ratio and method the same as for gin.

Its worth making a seperate bottle with sherry just to try.

Good luck.

 

Bryan.

[bi9johnny]

The time to pick them is before someone else doe's but,after a frost or two.

My prefered use for the berries is to use sherry rather than gin as its yummy and cheaper.

We used the cheapest we could find at the time and used sugar ratio and method the same as for gin.

Its worth making a seperate bottle with sherry just to try.

Good luck.

 

Bryan.

Never heard that one cheers will give it a go

[fieldwanderer]

I might try that too!

 

The first time I made sloe gin, I only had about 2/3 of a bottle of gin to use so I altered the quantities to suit and it came out lovely; quite sweet and obviously warming - more like an alcopop, I could happily have downed the lot in one sitting!

 

However, I've made a batch each year since (3 or 4) and it's been so bitter every time that it's ended up going down the sink! Do they sweeten up a bit after the first frosts then?

 

I'd guess sherry, being quite sweet to start with, might solve the problem. Thanks for the suggestion.

[gazbev]

The better the sloe the better the end product I think,this year has to be the best year I have ever seen for them.

Freeze them for at least three days take them out put them a couple a time on a chopping board and bash them with a small heavy saucepan,we are not talking spllatting them just enough to break them open,pop in a bottle ( I use a washed out coke bottle they are tough as hell) add sugar and shake till dissolved,the more sugar you put in the more it will draw the fruit,it's a fine line with me because I don't like it too sweet.

Having said all that in my humble opinion damsen gin made in the same way is far superior, or mix the two

[activeviii]

quick and easy way to pr1ck them. get a new wire brush, clean it first then hammer the berries with the bristles. jobs jobbed

[JDog]

Pick them now before someone else does. If they are not ripe in the middle of October they will never be ripe.

[rimfire4969]

If we waited for the first frost down here it might not come till January.

 

Pick them when they are ripe, I have 3 ltrs been on the go about a week.

[Fib new]

We started picking sloes about a month ago and put them in the freezer -worked great. Picked about 4 kg yesterday as well. We've got 20 litres brewing at the moment and some 12 kg sloes in the freezer...

 

We are testing☺the stuff every week, and it tastes great!