On 25/09/2011 19:37, Neil Bush wrote:
Sorry to hijack your thread Kath, but you reminded me....

When making sloe/damson gin, who pricks the fruit?
I tried it, but found the only difference it made was it made the liquid
cloudy.
N

Pricking is way too much like hard work. Deep freeze them instead.
(and adjust the amount of sugar downwards for a much better aperitif)

They are only worth taking after the first frost. Round here the birds
tend to grab them at about the same time so you have to be quick.

I would not be keen to put the sloes in a blender because it risks
exposing the toxic kernel, but unless you mashed them to a pulp it would
probably only be the very first glass out of the bottle that might on a
bad day might contain more than its fair share of cyanide.

Dose makes the poison so try a very small amount first. You could be out
of luck - I would certainly proceed with caution.

Oleander stems are way more dangerous and kill a few unlucky people on
holiday overseas every year who are tempted to use them as BBQ skewers.
Locals know better.

Regards,
Martin Brown