Apple/Honey/Raisin/Orange?

Thinking of doing a one or two gallon batch of something like this:

One Gallon of Apple Juice (contains 1lb sugar)
Two Pounds of Honey
Two Pound of Brown Cane Sugar
One Cup of Raisins
One Cup of fresh dried Orange peels
Fill out water to difference..

Was going to go ahead and use 2tsp of Fleischmann's yeast to ferment this for more of an old-world feel.

I typically add brewing yeast nutrients, but is there anything else I should add immediately to make this work out?

Should I bake the raisins and orange peels to 145F to kill off bacteria before racking onto them?

This is probably starting out way too heavy in the fermentables department. Apple juice contains natural sugars, plus a pound of sugar, plus two pounds of honey, plus two pounds of brown cane sugar, plus the sugar from the raisins and oranges... You will need to add a lot of water to get the specific gravity right where you want it....

Here's a VALUABLE wine/beer calculator you may find helpful:

http://web2.airmail.net/sgross/fermcalc/fermcalc_applet.html

Using the sugar calculator here, assuming your apple juice is at about 1.050 specific gravity all you need to take it up to 1.10 is 1.3 lbs of sugar, you have over 5.
OR
If you want to make 2 gallons, relying on the same information you will need to add 3 quarts of water to the mix and boost the sugars up to 3.3 lbs, still far less than what you are planning for.
OR
If you add all five pounds of sugars and a little over half a gallon of water to top up to two gallons, your sg will be 1.138 or 19% ABV (which is beyond the ability of most yeasts)

I don't know any of the properties of Fleishmann's, however I am sure if this is the route you want to take a solid wine yeast will be best. You will absolutely need to add yeast nutrients. I would probably should start off slow by doing a small batch (prepare must, pull off a quarter of it and dilute it to a workable level) and add more of the must as you go so the yeast doesn't strain.

I would not boil my fruit. I have made wine from grapes and never have I ever considered boiling them. If you go through with this as planned with an alcohol content near 20% you won't have too much bacteria to worry about surviving.

How would I do it? I would put all the fruit in, mix it up, press it, however you plan to do that, then add equal amounts of sugar/honey/brown sugar up to a reasonable level around 12-14% abv... Let us know how it works out.

Hey thanks! Yea maybe I'll start with a gallon then and cut my sugars back. Didnt realize there would be more sugars in the apple juice than what I found in the nutritional facts. This particular juice has 16 servings of sugar at 31g per serving and after the math it was just about a pound in the whole gallon of juice. And yes, my hydrometer confirms a 1.050 OG on this juice. Maybe only the 1lb of honey, no brown sugar, and then my orange peel and raisins? Maybe i'll make my must for a gallon, measure my gravity and then see where I should go. I'll probably pick up some wine yeast after all. Do I need campden or pectic enzymes or any of that type of stuff just yet?

Well I didnt hear back so I put faith in my idea and went forward with it. Ended up with a starting OG of 1.095ish, so yes my abv will be low but I think that will make it easier for me to balance. I 'dry hopped' the whole batch (about 3 gal.) with 1/2oz of dried sweet orange peel, and a cup of raisins, do you think the citrus will come through, or maybe some sugars from the raisins?

I started with an OG of about 1.095 six days ago, but the raisins hadn't re-hydrated for about a day, so I'm sure they released some more sugar into the must. I'm wondering how much I could guess on the true gravity of this concoction.. I went with plain old baker's yeast like in Joe's Ancient Orange, so I know the yeast will choke out soon. There's still some airlock activity so we will just have to see.

Sorry I haven't responded. A few words. Any time you start a batch of wine typically you will also add 1 campden tablet per gallon. This is just a sanitation issue, if you don't add any at the beginning I would do it at the first rack, or as soon as possible. Apples have a lot of pectin in them so the addition of pectin enzyme will help it clarify, if you did not add the pectin, no big deal it will just take what seems like forever to clarify. Remember to continueously check for you final gravity, honey takes a very long time to fully ferment, if you bottle too soon you'll get bombs.
Once it's all said and done you can buy a vinometer for something like $5 and it will give you a rough idea as to the alcohol content, but if there is much residual sugar it will not be accurate. I hope it all turns out great. Let us know.

I dont agree, adding Campden at first racking will stress the yeast and possibly cause bad tastes and smells. If the yeast is working let it be, BTW I have made 100s of gallons of wine and have never added K-met(Campden) at beginning. I add 1/2 teaspoons to 100 pounds when de stemming and crushing grapes if I have a long drive ahead. I do this because I use a good yeast starter and the yeast I add will win the yeast strain war in my bucket. Also warm honey with water added to about 130 degrees to help break down proteins and sugars so yeast don't have to work so hard. It will help with clearing at end. I would add some Bentonite(about 3/4 teaspoon). Honey is hard to ferment, Don't forget to check the PH. I go for 3.6

There werent apples in this. It was a cranapple cocktail juice with a 1.050 gravity that I added everything else to.

I have always used Campden tablets at the first racking. I have also worked with a few wineries that have done the very same thing. I have developed my system based on extensive work with these wineries.

Good luck with honey. Not looking for an argument, looking to learn: why would you add sulfate at first racking? I always introduce O2 on purpose at first rack to give yeasties last breath before death. I know why I do what I do, tell me a better way and why and I will learn and listen.

So after this has been in primary another 5 weeks or so, should I be racking and adding anything?!

Still looking for some advice on this.. Its been about 1.5 months in primary up aside from some floating grapes. Just wonder what is next? Campden tabs, addictive, rack? Its a 3 gal. batch (just to keep in mind).

Well I just now got it racked into two 4L glass jugs with stoppers. Not sure what to call this thing. Started off with cranapple juice cocktail, honey, raisins, and orange peels. It smells very raisin heavy and the flavor was light and sweet. Since I wasn't aware that this was supposed to be in a carboy secondary forever ago, i'm sure it may have gotten some oxidation so I'll probably have to rack it a few times over the next few months.