Plum Pits In Wine?

I was given over 15 pounds of yellow plums today and decided to try my hand at making a plum wine, which I know little about. The plums are perfect, getting a little soft and very sweet. After looking at a recipe it calls for cutting the plums up and removing the pits. I barely could cut my plums and basically mashed them with my fingers, however, I found it difficult to remove the pit without wasting most of the plum, or taking way longer then I wanted to spend to remove them.

Question is if the pits will really effect the flavor if I'm to leave the plums in the fruit bag for 3-5 days in the fermenter. I hope I didn't screw this up to much. If so, I'll add vodka and serve it to my freinds right away, sugar and all. And no....I'm not digging back through to remove the pits.

I thinks leaving them in is best. Why remove them if it will waste precious fruit?

The kernels within the pits of some stone fruits contain a natural toxin called cyanogenic glycoside. These fruits include apricots, cherries, peaches, pears, plums and prunes. The flesh of the fruit itself is not toxic. Normally, the presence of cyanogenic glycoside alone is not dangerous. However, when kernels are chewed cyanogenic glycoside can transform into hydrogen cyanide - which is poisonous to humans. The lethal dose of cyanide ranges from 0.5 to 3.0 mg per kilogram of body weight. This is why it is not recommended to eat the kernels inside the pits of stone fruits.

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I don't think it's a good idea to leave the stones, in who knows whether any of that stuff is alcohol soluble and you end up with a wine that'll make you sick or worse.

Prunes often have the stones in them, I never heard of prunes poisoning people. the seed is contained in the shell which won't allow much liquid through.
Apple seeds are also toxic.

Its always wise to remove pits, seeds, or pith if possible for long fermentations. They can cause astringency.

Ummmmm....hydrogen cyanide sounds pretty unpleasant. Crap, now I have to figure out what I'm going to do with this. I have it in the fermenter with the campden in it right now. The way the fruit is, i just dont know how I'm going to be able to take it back out. Hmmmm...

I assume you just racked after the a few days, leaving the pits with the crud at the bottom? I've got a lovely 3 gallon batch going now. Sort of enjoyed squishing all the pulp and pits with my hands. (Am doing Plum Melomels also this week, as soon as honey I ordered is available, and some jam too) Let us know how yours turns out!

Well, I racked it into secondary 4-5 days ago. Of course I had a taste when I did. Hydro was around a 1.020. Ummmm....I'm not sure about this one. It had almost a perfumey taste, just a touch of bitterness. I'm hoping this gets better from what I just tried because I was not a huge fan at all. I guess time will tell on this one.

I got hold of some damsons and I was warned of the dangers of toxins.
What I do, and I am only a noob, is, after freezing, to raise the fruit to 80C with added sugar.
The fruit is then passed through a sieve leaving behind a wonderful pulp which I add to ice-cream for dessert, stones removed. Yummy!
The best of both worlds.

If freezing Plums, I would use Campden at least a few hours first.

Last year, I rinsed and covered fruit with water & added Campden overnight before processing to kill wild Yeasts and other microbes. In the mornings I removed the tannic skins and pits, by mashing thru a sieve. A sprinkle of Pectic enzyme turns the Pulp into juice very quickly. Test PH (usually my Yellow Plums are VERY Acidic, tho they taste sweet!), and sugar levels, and add honey, soaked/boiled dandelion head _wort_, or other pleasant sugars, and grapes/raisins, and test again, adding water to reach your target Starting Gravity before adding yeast and yeast nutrient.

Mine was drinkable within a few months, although rather soft-favored, so I drizzle a bit of plum brandy on top to bump up flavors.

Trevor, an excellent Home Brewer and maker of Mead, says he just quarters the plums and ferments it all with pits still in the mash. One report said pits might impart a soft Almond flavor to the wine that is not objectionable. Rack (siphon) the wine off the lees within 3 weeks, test sugars, and allow to clarify before bottling.

There are opinions on both sides of the "pits or no pits" issue & both sides can make good arguments. Personally, I don't risk it, I remove the pits before fermentation with all the stone fruits I use. Some might think this is a wasted effort, and they might be right, but I don't care; I KNOW there's ZERO risk of toxins from pits if I remove them. That's my 2 cents worth. Regards, GF.

One report said pits might impart a soft Almond flavor to the wine that is not objectionable.

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When I first read this question I thought it was pretty unlikely that any toxins would leach from the seeds into the wine; however, some people percieve cyanide as tasting like almonds. Of course, most people can't taste cyanide at all. I don't know, that kind of scares me.