Prickly Pear Cactus

[AkTom]

Goodbye Alaska, howdy Texas. I finally moved. I have move cactus than I shake a stick at. Looking for ideas/recipes for using my thorny new friends.

 

[Jag75]

Some friends of mine made prickly pear mead years ago.

 

[dwhite60]

I've read you should crush them then boil for fifteen minutes or so. If you don't apparently they get gelatinous in the fermenter.

 

[Dr_Jeff]

I've read, you need to wear heavy glove to pick them and you can use a torch to burn off the spines/prickles.

Looking at that, I would have to question as to if it would be worth it, the gloves will be ruined and you will end up with spines in everything that you are wearing, and will likely end up falling in that mess.

 

[InspectorJon]

You can make a nice green salsa from the young pads, nopales or nopalitos, or use them as a green vegetable.

 

[Phoenix7801]

That’s a special prickly pear I haven’t seen before as it doesn’t have yellow flowers. That being said, I think the February Snowpocalypse was good for the prickly pears as they are LOADED with fruit rn. They’re still green at the moment so I’m researching how to best handle them when they ripen up.

 

[catalanotte]

Just tried Founders Mas Agave Clasica. It is a tequila Barrel aged Imp Goes with Prickly Pear. Really good if you like Goes, maybe you can find a clone recipe. Not sure what all is in this, but worth a try. Did not pick up much of the tequilla barrel so you could probably skip this step.

 

[ehall]

use tongs to pick and handle, a small sharp knife to get the pricks and skin off. from there, blend, juice, chop, whatever to get pulp and juice, strain if you want and then taste and decide what route you want to take from there. you should boil for at least 10m too. My grandmother made prickly pear jalapeno jam. me personally I would use the juice to add to a light ale. it'll give it a real nice color and if you use enough, you'll get a nice flavor too.

 

[bracconiere]

or use them as a green vegetable.

thought about because they have A LOT of calcium and magnesium....unfortantly, i ended up deciding against it, because it's loaded with oxalic acid/oxalates...which chelates metals, i figured it would just be self defeating....

 

[cmac62]

thought about because they have A LOT of calcium and magnesium....unfortantly, i ended up deciding against it, because it's loaded with oxalic acid/oxalates...which chelates metals, i figured it would just be self defeating....

Then maybe use as a fining agent or like BTB for stabilization.

 

[bracconiere]

Then maybe use as a fining agent or like BTB for stabilization.

i have no idead what that means? are you saying to use them to passivate a new SS fermenter or kettle?

 

[cmac62]

i have no idead what that means? are you saying to use them to passivate a new SS fermenter or kettle?

Brewtan-B. It does the same thing supposedly (chelates out oxidative metals).

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

me personally I would use the juice to add to a light ale. it'll give it a real nice color and if you use enough, you'll get a nice flavor too.

Agreed.

A while back, in AZ, I had a "prickly pear" ale a couple of times from one of the local craft brewers. Nice color and flavor.

One definitely wants to formulate the recipe to put the malts / hops / yeast a supporting role.

 

[TandemTails]

I've used the prickly pears in several beers and meads before. You can find instructions online for picking and processing the fruit.

The attached photos are using prickly pear puree in a blonde ale. The color was almost neon while fermenting but ended up being more dark pink after fermentation had ended.

 

[AkTom]

@TandemTails that looks great! I can’t wait to harvest some.

 

[JAReeves]

use tongs to pick and handle, a small sharp knife to get the pricks and skin off. from there, blend, juice, chop, whatever to get pulp and juice, strain if you want and then taste and decide what route you want to take from there. you should boil for at least 10m too. My grandmother made prickly pear jalapeno jam. me personally I would use the juice to add to a light ale. it'll give it a real nice color and if you use enough, you'll get a nice flavor too.

This^^

We harvest them regularly from ours and neighbor's plants. After harvesting with tongs and carrying them in either a SS bowl or a brown paper bag (1-time use only), we soak them in the sink for a day to soften the spines. We only use leather work gloves, and they are a dedicated pair of work gloves just for cactus. Using a knife we knock off the spines into the water. After a good rinse, the fruit get cut in half and the insides scooped out. We discard the outer shell, it's really gelatinous. With the inside flesh and seeds you can do what is stated above-puree and strain, or primary ferment, or use it in secondary. You can freeze it for later, no problem, so if it takes a few harvests, you can get enough for whatever you are making. We've never really worried about the color, but the flavor is amazing. Pairing it with hibiscus for color and tartness is an option, as is using agave syrup to boost the cactus flavor or ABV. I have made a jalapeño-prickly pear ale that was bottle conditioned using agave syrup. It was amazing.

 

[AkTom]

@JAReeves thanks for the extra tips.