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

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

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.

As you say, adding sugar merely adds another taste which "balances" the acidity, but doesn't actually reduce it. The only ways you can actually reduce acidity are to dilute it (which is not helpful), or to add an alkaline substance to counteract it by chemical reaction. 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. The "lye" used to pickle herrings is also alkaline, but you don't want that.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

On 16/7/08 21:29, in article , "brian
mitchell" wrote:

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

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.

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon

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

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.

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

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