juices in recipes

[Kelly]

I've run across some fruit wine recipes that call for juice that I am guessing the author meant as store-bought juice. Example - I recently made a strawberry wine that called for orange juice. I went ahead and added OJ from Simply Orange, but I didn't like the idea of it at the time.

In future batches, I'd like to use (when not cost prohibitive) homemade juices. However, I'm not sure how homemade juices would substitute in recipes that call for such. In the recipe mentioned above, say I made OJ from some summer navel oranges... would that work alone, or should I add some powdered citric acid (or perhaps lemon juice or other) to reach the appropriate pH?

Has anyone tried using homemade juices in fruit wine recipes? If so, how do they compare to store-purchased juices?

 

[brazedowl]

Just look at the ingredients on the store bought. The only advantage of hand made juice would be avoiding preservatives, which can stall the yeast out. If the store stuff has no preservatives (besides vitamin c) then it's probably more cost effective to go that route. You're not likely to tell the difference in taste unless you get SUPER cheap walmart bargain brand.

 

[Captive]

I make wine both ways. Like you, when possible, I use natural fruit, but only when I have access to it locally and close to free. I think the only fruit I've gotten at the store to make wine with has been things like banana, cranberries, and raisins. These are things that would be hard to get locally in Minnesota.

When using fresh fruit, you can adjust your fruit balance and flavor to suit your tastes. When buying frozen juice, you kinda get what they have to offer. You can change the frozen stuff somewhat by adding more or less water though. I also like to blend fruit and juices. For instance, rhubarb makes a nice wine, but I like it blended with other fruits. So I'll chop rhubarb, freeze it, then make a batch using it along with some frozen juice of choice. Yum.

 

[Kelly]

Thanks for the input! But I'm still wondering if the acid in homemade juice would be adequate for recipes that call for orange juice. I suppose it'll just be trial and error.

cheers!

 

[Zwetschgen]

When you crush and press fresh fruit to make wine you are essentially making juice first. The amount of acid in a Flordia orange verses that of another orange could be totally different. I doubt the acidity would have any effect on your finished product especially if the juice is simply an adjunct to a primary flavor (i.e. adding oj to a strawberry juice then fermenting it). You may run into problems using orange juice (either fresh or store bought) because of it's high acidity. You can buy kits to test for acidity if you are into that kind of thing, but I wouldn't worry about it.