fruit acidity
Is there any way of reducing the acidity of fruit other than by
smothering it with pounds of sugar? I'm wondering if there's any cooking method or other treatment available to the ordinary person. I like the very tart fruits like gooseberries, blackcurrant and rhubarb (nominal fruit) for desserts and jams but worry about the amounts of sugar I take in. Secondary question: I notice most of the low- or no-sugar jam recipes emanate from the US and call for frozen apple juice concentrate. I know this is widely available over there but I've never seen it in this country, does anyone know if it's available here? TIA Brian Mitchell |
fruit acidity
Brian Mitchell writes
Is there any way of reducing the acidity of fruit other than by smothering it with pounds of sugar? I'm wondering if there's any cooking method or other treatment available to the ordinary person. I like the very tart fruits like gooseberries, blackcurrant and rhubarb (nominal fruit) for desserts and jams but worry about the amounts of sugar I take in. Chervil is supposed to reduce the need for sugar - according to a friend who uses it, it's the leaves that you use.. Think elderflower may be the same, but I'm not sure about this. Rhubarb tastes a lot less acid if you smother it with a lot of custard. Yogurt, creme fraiche or proper custard made with eggs rather than powder are also good. Then you can start worrying about your fat intake instead ;-) I'd never thought of blackcurrant as tart. It's got a strong taste, but much smoother than rhubarb or gooseberry. If you don't do it already, grow your own gooseberries, and let them fully ripen. Bought gooseberries never seem completely ripe. I'm not sure whether there's much point worrying about the added sugar, as fruit has high sugar levels anyway, and presumably the less tart fruits have higher levels than the tart ones - in other words, you may be merely topping up to te same level as you would have in a sweeter fruit. I don't know. Just a thought. -- Kay |
fruit acidity
Brian Mitchell wrote:
Is there any way of reducing the acidity of fruit other than by smothering it with pounds of sugar? I'm wondering if there's any cooking method or other treatment available to the ordinary person. I like the very tart fruits like gooseberries, blackcurrant and rhubarb (nominal fruit) for desserts and jams but worry about the amounts of sugar I take in. Secondary question: I notice most of the low- or no-sugar jam recipes emanate from the US and call for frozen apple juice concentrate. I know this is widely available over there but I've never seen it in this country, does anyone know if it's available here? TIA Brian Mitchell Having a sweet tooth is a mortal sin these days. I think it's a plot to allow supermarkets to get away with selling unripe fruit. If it tastes like a turnip, it must be good for you. |
Quote:
My mother cooked with less sugar than most other people. You get used to it and will soon prefer it like that, like getting use to tea without sugar. I hate other people's over-sweetened (to my mind) gooseberries and blackcurrants. Apple juice concentrate is of course high in sugar. It may be fruit sugar rather than sucrose, but it is still sugar. So thinking you are making something "low sugar" because you are using apple concentrate rather than cane/root sugar is not true. |
fruit acidity
The message
from Brian Mitchell contains these words: Is there any way of reducing the acidity of fruit other than by smothering it with pounds of sugar? I'm wondering if there's any cooking method or other treatment available to the ordinary person. I like the very tart fruits like gooseberries, blackcurrant and rhubarb (nominal fruit) for desserts and jams but worry about the amounts of sugar I take in. You can strain-off the juice and add some powdered chalk (BPC), stir it up and then allow the solids to settle. It may fizz a bit at first. Decant, and add to fruit. This will reduce the amount of acid present. Specially useful with rhubarb, as (presumably?) the oxalic acid in it plays merry hell with rheumaticy and/or arthritic joints. Tying meadowsweet flowers up in a muslin bag and adding to the fruit while cooking is said to sweeten it. Secondary question: I notice most of the low- or no-sugar jam recipes emanate from the US and call for frozen apple juice concentrate. I know this is widely available over there but I've never seen it in this country, does anyone know if it's available here? I know where you can get it, but only in 1,000 gallon screwtop plastic bottles... -- Rusty Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk Separator in search of a sig |
fruit acidity
In article , Brian Mitchell writes: | | Is there any way of reducing the acidity of fruit other than by | smothering it with pounds of sugar? I'm wondering if there's any cooking | method or other treatment available to the ordinary person. I like the | very tart fruits like gooseberries, blackcurrant and rhubarb (nominal | fruit) for desserts and jams but worry about the amounts of sugar I take | in. Yes. Use some angelica or sweet cicely leaves - they don't make much difference, but do a little. Check that you like their flavour, of course. I like acid jams, so I reduce the amount - and I don't regard ripe gooseberries, blackcurrant or rhubarb as "very tart" - there are MUCH more acidic fruits :-) Don't believe half the scare stories you read about sugar, either. Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
Quote:
|
fruit acidity
echinosum writes
But adding alkali to reduce acidity generally only works in very specific ways in cooking. The main alkali used in cooking is sodium bicarbonate, which will fizz, a technique used for raising cakes, but probably not helpful in fruit tart. I used to use bicarb to rescue milk that was on the point of going off (the state where it looked OK cold but separated as soon as it was heated) if I wanted to cook with it, eg blancmange. ISTR it used to be common practice to use it when boiling veg, to preserve the colour, but the practice was strongly discouraged from the 60s on, on the grounds that it destroyed Vit C. -- Kay |
fruit acidity
Kay, thanks.
Brian Mitchell writes Is there any way of reducing the acidity of fruit other than by smothering it with pounds of sugar? I'm wondering if there's any cooking method or other treatment available to the ordinary person. I like the very tart fruits like gooseberries, blackcurrant and rhubarb (nominal fruit) for desserts and jams but worry about the amounts of sugar I take in. Chervil is supposed to reduce the need for sugar - according to a friend who uses it, it's the leaves that you use.. Think elderflower may be the same, but I'm not sure about this. I'll have to grow some chervil and experiment. . . . If you don't do it already, grow your own gooseberries... I do, and blackcurrants (not yet rhubarb). As to letting them ripen, I have to wait my turn behind various mammals and birds who get up much earlier in the day than me. But maybe I asked the wrong question. I have some Whinham's Industry gooseberries which are supposed to be a dessert variety and they seem ripe --dark red all round and coming away easily-- but very tart this year so I wonder if the lack of sun equates to less natural sugar? And maybe the question ought to have been: is there any trick of cultivation to encourage sweeter fruit? A particular fertiliser, for example (can't do much about sunshine)? Does potash have a bearing on this? Brian Mitchell |
fruit acidity
brian mitchell writes
But maybe I asked the wrong question. I have some Whinham's Industry gooseberries which are supposed to be a dessert variety and they seem ripe --dark red all round and coming away easily-- but very tart this year so I wonder if the lack of sun equates to less natural sugar? Perhaps. Though mine are Whinham's and I don't find them in the least bit tart when picked red. Mine are growing under a mock orange, so perhaps it's not sun so much as warmth. -- Kay |
fruit acidity
The message
from Sacha contains these words: Lack of sun does affect ripening and sweetness. One thing you can do a little earlier in the year is collect elder flowers and make elderflower cordial which is, admittedly, made with a lot of sugar but still retains a certain tartness and tastes wonderful poured over gooseberries especially. May I suggest that you use tartaric acid instead of citric? IMO elderflower cordial has horrid undertones of cheap lemonade. -- Rusty Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk Separator in search of a sig |
You need very little bicarb to counteract acidity. With rhubarb, a large pinch is put into boiling water which is then poured over the rhubarb. It is allowed to sit for a short time, then poured off and the rhubarb cooked as normal. I imagine the same could be done with gooseberries. I've never met the need with blackcurrants. |
fruit acidity
echinosum wrote:
Apple juice concentrate is of course high in sugar. It may be fruit sugar rather than sucrose, but it is still sugar. So thinking you are making something "low sugar" because you are using apple concentrate rather than cane/root sugar is not true. I do seem to remember hearing that fructose was easier on the digestive systems than sucrose, but one hears a lot of things. I believe one of the reasons for the apple juice concentrate is the additional pectin because low sugar jams don't set as well, but probably sweetness as well. -- echinosum |
fruit acidity
Granity wrote:
A lot of low sugar jams merely use artificial sweetener instead of sugar, my wife who tends to be on a permanent diet uses artificial sweetener on things like strawberries and other raw fruit. The few times I've tried artificial sweetener I've found it has an unpleasant aftertaste. I suppose these things are all very subjective. -- Granity |
fruit acidity
Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article , Brian Mitchell writes: | | Is there any way of reducing the acidity of fruit other than by | smothering it with pounds of sugar? I'm wondering if there's any cooking | method or other treatment available to the ordinary person. I like the | very tart fruits like gooseberries, blackcurrant and rhubarb (nominal | fruit) for desserts and jams but worry about the amounts of sugar I take | in. Yes. Use some angelica or sweet cicely leaves - they don't make much difference, but do a little. Check that you like their flavour, of course... Thanks. I like acid jams, so I reduce the amount - and I don't regard ripe gooseberries, blackcurrant or rhubarb as "very tart" - there are MUCH more acidic fruits :-) Taste buds of steel! Don't believe half the scare stories you read about sugar, either. OK, but as I seem to be developing late-onset hypochondria there's still the other half. Plus, as Stuart Noble points out, there's also the wellbeing of my soul to consider. |
fruit acidity
In article , brian mitchell writes: | echinosum wrote: | | I do seem to remember hearing that fructose was easier on the digestive | systems than sucrose, but one hears a lot of things. I believe that to be true, but to be a purely theoretical point, as the difference affects only people with extremely rare biochemical disorders. But I could well be wrong. | I believe one of | the reasons for the apple juice concentrate is the additional pectin | because low sugar jams don't set as well, but probably sweetness as | well. That is what I would guess. Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
fruit acidity
brian mitchell writes
Granity wrote: A lot of low sugar jams merely use artificial sweetener instead of sugar, my wife who tends to be on a permanent diet uses artificial sweetener on things like strawberries and other raw fruit. The few times I've tried artificial sweetener I've found it has an unpleasant aftertaste. I suppose these things are all very subjective. Not to mention the unpleasant taste while it's actually in your mouth! My husband can't drink coffee without sweetener, I can't drink it with. I think people are sensitive to different tastes - there's a chemical taste to sweeteners that I (and presumably you) can taste but which my husband can't. -- Kay |
fruit acidity
On Tue, 15 Jul 2008 21:59:27 +0100, K wrote:
Chervil is supposed to reduce the need for sugar - according to a friend who uses it, it's the leaves that you use.. Think elderflower may be the same, but I'm not sure about this. I have not heard of using chervil but Sweet Cicely is supposed to do the same thing. I don't use it because it smells strongly of aniseed which I don't like. Pam in Bristol |
fruit acidity
In article , Pam Moore writes: | On Tue, 15 Jul 2008 21:59:27 +0100, K wrote: | | Chervil is supposed to reduce the need for sugar - according to a friend | who uses it, it's the leaves that you use.. Think elderflower may be the | same, but I'm not sure about this. Elderflower doesn't, as far as I know. It's added to gooseberries to impart a 'muscat' flavour, not reduce acidity. | I have not heard of using chervil but Sweet Cicely is supposed to do | the same thing. I don't use it because it smells strongly of aniseed | which I don't like. Try using angelica - that also works, and is less dominant. Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
fruit acidity
On 16/7/08 23:21, in article ,
"Rusty Hinge 2" wrote: The message from Sacha contains these words: Lack of sun does affect ripening and sweetness. One thing you can do a little earlier in the year is collect elder flowers and make elderflower cordial which is, admittedly, made with a lot of sugar but still retains a certain tartness and tastes wonderful poured over gooseberries especially. May I suggest that you use tartaric acid instead of citric? It's much better, I agree. Difficult to get both these days, though. IMO elderflower cordial has horrid undertones of cheap lemonade. Hmmm, not to us. We just find it very refreshing and a little bit 'sharp'. -- Sacha http://www.hillhousenursery.com South Devon |
fruit acidity
Brian Mitchell wrote:
Is there any way of reducing the acidity of fruit other than by smothering it with pounds of sugar? I'm wondering if there's any cooking method or other treatment available to the ordinary person. I like the very tart fruits like gooseberries, blackcurrant and rhubarb (nominal fruit) for desserts and jams but worry about the amounts of sugar I take in. A couple of leaves of Sweet Cicely (Myrrhus odoratus) will cut sown the need for so much sugar, reputedly. Secondary question: I notice most of the low- or no-sugar jam recipes emanate from the US and call for frozen apple juice concentrate. I know this is widely available over there but I've never seen it in this country, does anyone know if it's available here? Costco, is some other American store? -- AnneJ |
fruit acidity
In article , Anne Welsh Jackson writes: | Brian Mitchell wrote: | | Is there any way of reducing the acidity of fruit other than by | smothering it with pounds of sugar? I'm wondering if there's any cooking | method or other treatment available to the ordinary person. I like the | very tart fruits like gooseberries, blackcurrant and rhubarb (nominal | fruit) for desserts and jams but worry about the amounts of sugar I take | in. | | A couple of leaves of Sweet Cicely (Myrrhus odoratus) will cut sown | the need for so much sugar, reputedly. As has been posted, yes, it will. But it will also add a fairly strong aniseed flavour, which taints most dishes. Angelica will do the same, and is generally less obtrusive, though it still adds a distinctive flavour. And then there is liquorice and numerous other such plants - but almost all have a strong flavour as well as sweetening effect. Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
Quote:
So the most correct answer is Lemon.For more info on acidity issues, you can have a search online too. |
All times are GMT +1. The time now is 05:57 PM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
GardenBanter