Making Raisins

[ErnieCopp]

I have been making my first batch of the year of Himrod raisins, but using a new, more powerful dryer, i got them a little too dry. Nesco Dryer now, Ronco last year. They would have been fine if I had turned the dryer off before i went to bed, but forgot to check them.

So, I am experimenting, seeing if i can re-hydrate them a bit. Commercial raisins are too sweet for my taste, but the Himrods are tart/sweet, and make a wonderful raisin.

Ernie

 

[w_r_ranch]

Keep us post on you progress... I don't like real sweet either.

 

[ErnieCopp]

Sam,
This first batch was not quite sweet enough, but still better than commercial raisins, so i will let them ripen until about Thursday and then pick another batch. I am really a fan of the Himrod Grapes. I started some cuttings this Spring for a friend and kept a couple. Lost one of those during a heat wave when they had about 3 leaves on it, but the one that survived has grown about twelve feet this year. So i will have a second location along the fence. I have 5 other varieties on the Arbor, but will only eat the Concords, as I do not care much for the others.

The Arbor was only built in 2011, Grapes planted late that year, but had a small crop in 2012, and had maybe a pint and half of raisins last year. Several times as many grapes this year, so hope to have a lot of raisins for the morning cereal. Will also dry figs for that.
Ernie

 

[ErnieCopp]

Re-hydrating worked okay. Just putting a little water in the container did not work, but one minute in the microwave with just little bit of water in the bottom worked fine. Did not get hot enough to steam the raisins, but softened them up.

Ernie

 

[ErnieCopp]

Sam,
On the second batch, i intentionally did not dry them all the way. Since i plan to freeze them or keep in fridge, that is not necessary, so i stopped about 3/4 of the way, and they are condensed sweet enough and very moist. Delicious on cereal.

Ernie

 

[w_r_ranch]

Ernie, are you by any chance a wine maker???

 

[ErnieCopp]

No, never tried doing that. I always liked the good solid red country wine the Italian, Portuguese and Basque used to use, but never got too excited about the fancier types. So I seldom drink any of it now.

Ernie

 

[w_r_ranch]

Raisins make an awesome wine, both Eiswein & Trockenbeerenauslese (desert type wines) come to mind as I've sampled them both while I was in Germany on numerous occasions. I was more or less curious if you had tried your hand at wine making yet...

Personally, I'm more a tequila connoisseur myself.

 

[ErnieCopp]

I am sure raisins would make a very full bodied wine, as so much of the water is removed from the grape, and now that you mention this, that is mostly why i do not care much for modern wines. They seem very thin tasting, kind of like if you stuck your spoon in the finger bowl instead of the soup bowl.

Forty or fifty years ago, a lot of Italian, Yugoslavian, Basque and Portuguese restaurants would serve a good, hearty, cheap red wine, known, with no offense meant to Italians, as Dago Red, It was also available from a small winery near San Bernardino, and a few Italian Delicatessens, and good homemade wine was very similar. I would either drive 30 miles one way, or fifty the other, to buy it. The type of grape was never spelled out nor made an issue. I always kept a gallon jug of it under the sink on the boat for putting in the cooking as well as in the cook, but that supply gradually faded away. I tried to adapt to the modern factory made wines, but finally gave up.

High quality, smooth Tequila is a good drink, but my drink of choice is either a good Canadian on the rocks, or a good blended Scotch on the rocks, and seldom drink anything else if one of those are available. I used to drink Bourbon the same way, but living just 25 miles from the Canadian border, back when the Canadian dollar was only worth fifty cents made the best Canadian very cheap, so i switched and never went back to Bourbon. A lot of their best whiskeys are not exported. But down here, the best Canadians are the old standbys, Canadian Club and Crown Royal.

Ernie

 

[w_r_ranch]

2X on the 'Dago Red'!!! We grew up on it since grandpa used to make 3 barrels every year. I remember when I was little, that when the babies were fussing, they were given 1 or 2 oz. diluted with warm water in their baby bottles to quiet them down, LOL!!! That was the best table wine!!!

I periodically make 5 or 10 gallons of wine from Mustang grapes that grow wild down here. I use it mostly for marinating meat. I've also made some from dewberries, as well as figs (these are particularly good).

 

[ErnieCopp]

Sam,
It looks like we both have kept ourselves very busy. Some years there would be big crops of Elderberries along our road in Idaho, and people would pick those to make wine and jelly, but I never had the time or desire to try doing it.

The diluted wine they gave the fussy babies was undoubtedly much better for them then a lot of the pills they give them now to shut them up.

Garden is slowing down now so i will have time to get some jobs done in the shop.

Ernie

 

[ErnieCopp]

After making enough of the Himrod raisins to do me, I used the last bunch in a different way. I only semi-dried them, which concentrated the flavor but did not make them as sweet as the completely dried raisins.

Then Linda baked those into a pie, and tart sweetness was just wonderful. I am looking forward to more grapes next year, and i will semidry more of them,

Ernie