Increasing yield in crabs using pectinase or other techniques

[Chimchim Racer]

Hi, I have some crabs that don't have a lot of moisture content. Does anyone have any suggestions for increasing the yield when pressing?

I am considering adding pectinase to the pomice before pressing. Has anyone had experience with that? How much do you add per kilo of pomace, how long should the pectinase work on the pomace before pressing. And are there any cautions about using pectinase? Could it alter the flavor of the juice or change other juice characteristics?

Are there other better ways besides adding pectinase to increase the yields?

Any advice is appreciated.

[William Church]

watching with interest! i have a bucket i need to press to add to my current barrel as it is shorter on tanin than I had hoped. I am going to try freezing them first.

[Andrew Lea]

There are a couple of things you can do.  

First you can just macerate the pomace after milling and before pressing for 12 - 24 hours, in the hope that the native pectic enzymes in the fruit will give you some breakdown.

Second you can add a pectic enzyme to the pomace to enhance this process. Ideally  you should use an enzyme that is designed for the purpose eg   https://erbsloeh.com/produkt/fructozym-ma-lg/. But it won’t be cheap and may not be available where you live. In that case you will have to use whatever pectic enzyme you can buy locally and add it at double or more the rate recommended for juice by the manufacturers.  You will need to leave it at room temperature for up to 24 hours.

There are no significant drawbacks to pectinase use and it does not affect the flavour adversely. But if you are using it on highly tannic fruit (which crab apples may be), its action may be inhibited by the tannins. You may like to let the tannins oxidise for a few hours in the pulp in a shallow layer before you add the pectinase.

Andrew

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[Jeff Coffey]

I’ve had that happen in the past.  I added water to the pumace, let it soak for awhile and then presses it.  You could cryo concentrate if you it’s too watery.  

-Jeff

On Sep 29, 2023, at 6:52 AM, Andrew Lea <ci...@cider.org.uk> wrote:

There are a couple of things you can do.  

To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cider-workshop/3391B21A-1A6E-4B69-9882-862D0128C980%40cider.org.uk.

[Miguel A. Pereda]

I also think it would be advisable to make sure that the enzyme to be added does not have cinnamyl esterase activity.
Miguel A. Pereda

[Chimchim Racer]

Thanks everyone for sharing your knowledge. I milled and pressed the crab apples last weekend, milling and adding pectinate on Saturday and pressing on Sunday. The pomace and pectinate sat in covered buckets for about 24 hours in 70 F / 21C.

While I wasn't able to get the fructozym brand that Andrew recommended, I was still able to see a modest increase in yield. I estimate that I got maybe a 10% increase in juice - not bad considering the crabs were not juicy at all to begin with.

Thanks again for everyone who contributed their knowledge.

Eric