Sloes

[growityourself]

Well i have seen a lot of sloes about, not picked one yet to try

seems 3early this year, and i know best not to pick them till the 1st frost,

just worried by that time they may have gone??

is it possible to pick them early and freeze them??

as last year we missed them totally

and dont want to miss them again this year, even though we still have 10 litres distilling in the shed hehe 2 years will come in october when we will bottle that lot, and hope its nice

any thoughts??

[littlemark]

Very few Sloes this year round this neck of the woods. If we beat the birds to them we may get enough for a bottle or two.

This thing about the Frost...

This is a rule of thumb as to when to pick Sloes, ie. when they're at their ripest. The frost does absolutely nothing to the quality of the berries, and there is no need to freeze them. Freezing certainly softens the berries, but if you prick them as you should, they give of their flavour well enough anyway.

It's always a bit of a lottery whether you will get your Sloes before the birds, but don't make the mistake of picking too early, the flavour of your tipple will not be as good if the berries are not fully ripe.

Cheers, Mark

[smallblueplanet]

Pick 'em when they're ripe and freeze 'em, that's what we do. Can't be doing with pricking every one, freezing does the job of breaking the skin.

[mrdinkle]

I have been keeping a close eye and in hampshire some look very close to ripe. Not sure up here as I have not happened upon any!

[Hilary B]

I've never pricked skins on sloes (too many to the lb for that lark) and we don't freeze them either, just add the sugar FIRST, and shake the jar hard, then keep somewhere warm for a few days (we use the sunniest windowsill) before adding the gin. The sugar draws juice out, and shaking with the dry sugar seems to break the skins a bit as well.
There is always some deep red syrup in the bottom of the jar before we add the gin.

[bobleponge]

Weelllll, I did a bottle of gin and a bottle of voddy in the middle of August. The sloes were all ripe, and really juicy.
I do prick the skins, (thats what kids are for), never really thought of freezing them, but shall let you know the results in a couple of years time.

[mrdinkle]

I am hoping to procure enough Sloes to make a batch of Sloe Wine this year. Has anyone made Sloe Wine? Is it any good?

I did sloe gin the other year, but it came out very very very sweet - Almost Cherryade sweet (without the fizz of course!)

[Two_Sheds]

Sloe Gin is fairly sweet ... I think it tastes like alcoholic Benylin (but I like Benylin)

In the Olden Dayes, we used to get earlier frosts than we do now .... I certainly couldn't wait until our first frost (Feb) to pick them!

[bobleponge]

Wot she said. Sloe gin is sweet, the longer you leave it the sweeter and more alcoholic it gets too.

I was told recently that sloe Pastis was also a possibility. Will be looking into this as I have sloes all around the back garden boundary.

[pdblake]

What else can be done with sloes apart from gin?

[Nelly]

Has anyone made Sloe Wine? Is it any good?

My boyfriend made some sloe wine a couple of years ago (hardly any sloes last year ). It never quite cleared (despite being in the demi-john for over a year) but it tasted FAB. Really, really fruity and dry. We reckon sloes are the magic taste ingredient in a few other red wines that we've made. Well worth a go! Patience required but certainly well rewarded.

[Nelly]

Why do I not seem to be capable of working out how to do the quote thing??

[Hilary B]

What else can be done with sloes apart from gin?

One year I accidentally included a handful of sloes when making crab apple jelly (we only had one bag on picking day).
The jelly was delicious. I think I may make some more, perhaps with more sloes and less apples, if I ever have any sloes left over after making sloe-gin.

[scarey55]

Why do I not seem to be capable of working out how to do the quote thing??

Nelly - you need to leave the [/OUOTE] at the end of the quote if you take anything out of the original quote (does that make sense?)

[mrdinkle]

My boyfriend made some sloe wine a couple of years ago (hardly any sloes last year ). It never quite cleared (despite being in the demi-john for over a year) but it tasted FAB. Really, really fruity and dry. We reckon sloes are the magic taste ingredient in a few other red wines that we've made. Well worth a go! Patience required but certainly well rewarded.

Brilliant! I am on an expedition to a secret location in Hampshire this weekend . I intend to smuggle lots of blackberries, elderberries and sloes back to Wales.

Also there are lots of hazlenuts where I am going - aside from eating them any suggestions?