Apricots & Plums turn bitter when cooked?
I had a few extra apricots and sugar plums hanging around from my CSA share, and decided to take a shot at canning to save them for the winter. I'd made strawberry compote in the past by just cooking down the fruit with some sugar and it turned out fantastic, so i figured i could do the same with the stone fruit. I removed the pits, cut it up into small pieces, and threw it into a pot with some sugar and let it cook down (i did the apricots and plums seperately, fyi). When it looked like the consistency was about right i tasted, and found that BOTH the apricots and plums had turned bitter/sour... much much more so than when they were fresh. When fresh they were both mildly sweet and tasty, and somehow i ended up with a batch of sour preserves on my hands by cooking them. I wound up adding a ton of sugar to compensate, but wanted to know: what happened when i cooked the fruit? Is it because i left the skins on? Shouldn't the sugars have cooked down and concentrated, rather than *evaporated*? :)
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5 Comments:
Was the fruit ripe when you did this?
I can't begin to think why your went sour like that, unless the skins were unusually bitter to begin with, and you said you tasted the fruit before cooking...
I just canned a bunch of plums and had no issue, and I use very little sugar with mine.
Only thing I can think of is they really weren't ripe yet. I let stone fruits I plan to can/freeze get really ripe before using.
Sorry it happened though!
sadiepix at 3:37PM on 08/11/08
I find that every time I cook plums with the skin on it gets incredibly sour.
lexophile at 4:08PM on 08/11/08
The skin does that you need to scald those and pull off the skins.
Skin on any fruit adds tartness.
JerzeeTomato at 4:21PM on 08/11/08
Thanks for the comments, all. Geez, i scanned a few recipes and they all left the skins on, so i thought i would be ok. I'm still surprised the apricots got a little sour, too. Weird. Guess i'll know for next time!
mh330 at 10:03AM on 08/12/08
Here's a recipe I came up with for a plum pizza. The skin stays on, but it definitely does not taste bitter!
http://mangotomato.blogspot.com/2008/07/pizza-plums-onions-gorgonzola-pine-nuts.html
let me know if you want more details
orchidgirl1979 at 10:36PM on 08/12/08