Food Processor for Crushing Grapes, then Carboy Everything

[rogerx]

Much like Alton Brown on the Food Network TV, he preaches one universal kitchen tool versus one tool for each task, unless needed. We only have so much room in a kitchen, and a limited amount of money for spending on kitchen tools.

Struggling to easily and quickly learn everything about cider/wine making within one day, I found multiple instructions for crushing & pressing grapes. In other words, the initial crushing of the grapes and then repeated/redundant pressing down of the floating grape skins during fermentation. All articles read seemed to dictate having to buy and use additional equipment for keeping the grape skins pressed down! Dear God, another tool I have to buy and rush shipping!

During my initial crushing & pressing, I decided to use a food processor for pureeing the grapes. Due to my own excellence, with possibly a very slight influence of God's will, I avoided much of the hassles with the repeated pressings by simply using a food processor!

I also decided to dump the fresh pureed grape into carboys instead of plastic five gallon buckets, as I haven't read and researched far enough in advance and dealing with the conflicting advice between store bought concentrate , wine kits and fresh grapes.

Funny, with everything pureed/pulverized and fermenting within carboys, I merrily simply swirl the jugs every now and then the puree magically becomes soluble/mixed again! No further risk of contamination of repeatedly pressing the bag of skins down into the liquid or inserting some customized stirring stick into the must! Possible the floating skins may dry out a lot less easily.

Some things to be cautious about:

1) Using a blender or food processor creates a small amount of heat, likely a moat concern and possibly desireable.

2) Clean the blender or food processor with potassium metabisulfite, or other sanitizer.

3) The blender or food processor has a lot more hidden pockets for hiding contaminates.

Any other suggestions?

 

[camonick]

I don’t know a whole lot about making wine, but using google, it is highly discouraged to blend or purée fruit or grapes to make wine. Pulverizing the skins is bad and it can create very bitter results. That’s why presses are used to extract the juice.

 

[rburrelli]

I don’t know a whole lot about making wine, but using google, it is highly discouraged to blend or purée fruit or grapes to make wine. Pulverizing the skins is bad and it can create very bitter results. That’s why presses are used to extract the juice.

I agree. Skins are always left behind in winemaking.

 

[rogerx]

The reason for the bitter results, the grapes likely contained seeds. I used seedless grapes.

Regardless, I'll likely rack sometime soon.

 

[Toto's]

The seeds if they are crushed they will give bitterness to the wine. I usually break the skin and leave it between 8 to 14 days. The skin will give color and develop tanin in your wine for some type if grape. But if the skin is blended and still in the primary fermentation i dont know what will be the results....
I guess you will be able to tell us soon .

 

[mashpaddled]

How much this makes sense for your wine depends a lot on the type of wine you're making. Some wines are left on the skins or lees for an extensive period of time which wouldn't be terribly different from what's going to happen here. OTOH you're going to make it extremely difficult to make white wine (rather than orange wine) without a lot of extra work to separate out the solids--but you might only make reds. This process is only "wrong" if you don't like the wine it makes.

 

[rogerx]

"This process is only "wrong" if you don't like the wine it makes."

So true! Same goes for pretty much life in general.

Word of caution for those fermenting red wine in carboys with pulverized/pureed grapes. Only fill halfway with wine/juice/liquid, as the red grape must wants to explode after ~2 days! Of course, this is a desireable reaction, to a certain extent. The white wine concentrate juice and grape puree are luckily in two carboys, only half full. White wine also contains less sugar.

Think I'll be fine, just as long as I do not let the skins sit too long. Since I'm a complete dummy with making wine from fresh grapes, I'll have to guess. Figure, since I'm a guy and not a girl, pull the skins after an easily remembered number of days, so I can try to recall when I start my next batch. Already forgot to start my log on this batch...

 

[rogerx]

Here's an excellent introduction into wine maceration!



"Letting the Wine Stew: Maceration - Factors that influence wine - WSET Level 2"
Robert Haynes-Peterson November 20, 2015
https://www.decanter.com/learn/wset...tors-that-influence-wine-wset-level-2-282923/
I would like to think, similar to most other times when I've utilized a food processor during drying and preserving foods, that I have exponentially expedited the fermentation/maceration process by using a food processor!


TIPS
1) Only fill the carboy's 1/2 to 2/3 full, in anticipation of a likely overly active fermentation. Also, try fermening someplace colder, even 2-3F degrees makes a large difference with reducing fermentation. Rather than using plastic buckets, I like using the carboy's as I only have to swirl instead of inserting a stirring stick. Since pulp and skins are pulverized by the food processor, they're easily reincorporated within the juice/wine mixture, and easily removed from the carboys. I'm guessing seedless grapes are best for food processing.

2) When filtering and pressing, I used a stainless steel stock pot and mesh strainer. Of course, well cleaned and sanitized with potassium metabisulfite. The left over maceration can be again be pressed several times, and even sold to your neighbor or eaten! (See above article.)

3) White wine macerates a short period of time, and is usually pressed just prior to becoming wine. For white grapes, 2-7 days? Red wine can macerate much longer periods of time, two to three months or more?

Bottom line, waste not want not! You must not waste your skins!

I may visit my local winery, and try to save the junk they merrily throw away. Mmmmm, smell that? I smell red wine with hints of day old fish bones and slimy fermented rotten vegetables!