Getting juice from crabapples

16 years ago

Hmm, I'm worried that I goofed somewhere along the line. The crabs have been hanging in kitchen towel for about 16 hours now and I have something less than 1 cup of juice. Since I started with about 4 lbs of apples and 4 cups of water I thought I'd get more than this.

Is it possible I overcooked it and the apples absorbed the water? Any thoughts on how I can extract more usuable juice using the things one finds in a typical kitchen? Of is this an amusing joke by fate played upon a guerilla harvester? ;^)

I will say, the juice I have gotten is sooo thick it could already sheet a spoon. And the smell is amazing.

Thanks in advance for any help.

whynotmi

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Comments (7)

ksrogers
16 years ago
Yes, they have probably cooked down a lot of the water. What you see is the natural pectin thats setting up. Maybe putting them back in to a pot with some added water, or even concentrated apple juice will help increase your yield. Crabapples do not have very much juice on their own. When I made the jelly for my dad, I used a little cranberry juice (for color) and apple juice for the rest of the liquid. The batch you have is evaporating now, and any extra juice will quickly dehydrate. Return the 'mash' to a big pot, add the extra juices, bring just to a boil, then strain, then place in a clean jelly bag and allow it to drip for about 12 hours only. This should give you a bit more. Don't add the juice you already have extracted, as that can be added last.
whynotmi
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks Ken! Put it back in the pot with added liquid and bottled up the existing juice both are in the fridge. I'm off to the big city market so I'll finish it up in a couple of hours.

I know it seems a bit late to be leaving for the market but with the traffic and construction I'll get there about the same time I would have if I'd left at 6. lol
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whynotmi
Original Author
16 years ago
I reworked the crabs as suggested and the mash is giving me something far more like "juice" than syrup. Thanks again, really appreciate your advice!

Whynotmi
mellyofthesouth
16 years ago
I used a steam juice last year on my guerilla crabs and it worked really well for me. That being said, I tried to make syrup from it and it turned into jelly almost the instant that the sugar and juice met the heat. I had trouble getting it into the jars it was setting so fast.
whynotmi
Original Author
16 years ago
I'll keep that in mind melly. thanks.
whynotmi
Original Author
16 years ago
Melly,

When I juiced my crabs the first time I overcooked them so I didn't get much juice at all. I put the apple "sludge" back in the pot with water (per Ken's suggestion) and just brought it to a boil then hung it to drip again. I ended up with 4 cups of juice, perfect.

I wonder though if my process broke down some of the pectin as I had to boil my syrup for quite a while before it sheeted. If you want to make a sauce maybe you could try my 2 step method of juice extraction to see if it weakens the pectin enough to get you sauce?

Cheers
mellyofthesouth
16 years ago
The trees I picked from last year where really whacked back over the summer so I don't think I'll be picking any this year. But thanks for the advice.

Getting juice from crabapples

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Getting juice from crabapples

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