Dried fruits question

[new_moonshiner]

I have searched for the answer to this without much success ..Im soaking some apricots (first time with dried fruit) so I purchased a few packs of these http://www.spiceplace.com/anns_dried_apricots.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow now after doing some more research on the ingredients i see that these contain sulfur dioxide . which is used to preserve the color , and more reading tells me that it can trigger asthma in some people , not that i have asthma that i know of but again maybe it has not been triggered yet. so this brings up the question that i have how will this effect the final product .

I already have 1/2 gallon total split up two 1/2 gallon jars soaking with about a handful of these apricots to each jar @ 60 abv.Im about to toss it out unless i can find some assurance that its all ok .I have found that some apricots found in the organic fruit section (not available at my grocery) do not contain sulfur dioxide. they are the dark ones . I also found that most all wine also contain amounts of this also .but im the kinda person that has to know for sure what effect this will have . from searching i have yet to know the answer anyone else have experience here with this ? chemist maybe ? thanks for any help on this .

seems sulfites may actually be what im dealing with here , I know we use copper to remove as much of them as we can
ect.. and maybe even aerating to drive them off . maybe im not on the right track here ..can they be removed successfully when in higher concentrations ? which seems to be the case using these dried apricots .


I also found this : Dried fruit, such as apples and apricots are typically packaged with 500 to 1,000 ppm SO2.
http://www.farmcommunities.com/2009/01/ ... r-dioxide/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[myles]

Don't worry mate. Its true that SO2 can cause an alergic reaction but it degrades in water in about 24 hours. Thats why we homebrew wine makers use it. It does not completely sterilise the wine but reduces the natural yeast etc to a very low level so when we introduce the yeast that we do want it kicks off quickly. But we have to wait 24 hours before we add the yeast.
In packaged apricots it is there to preserve the colour and will disipate fairly quickly after you open the packet.

NOT sure about your measurements though. I generaly use about 500gm of fruit for each litre of spirit. My standard mix is 3lbs sloes with 3 litres of spirit plus 18 ounces sugar in a 1 gallon demijon left for 3 months to macerate. it makes a deep red sweetish liquer. I prefer it less sweet and more alcoholic but the girls seem to love it to that mix.

[new_moonshiner]

thank you myles , the input is much appreciated .. you say it degrades in water what about alcohol ? will they remain in there is there anything else that could be done to help remove them ? aeration maybe ? from all the reading in the last two days I see apricots contain a high concentration of it even though i ddint detect any funky smells when opening the packages ..I may be overly concerned but it has brought up alot of unanswered question for me ..thank you again myles

[myles]

There is plenty of water left in the alcohol but aeration will help. I supose that is what hapens when I shake the demijon every few days. A lot of folk will macerate the fruit in alcohol and then re-distill it. Thats the way for the clear fruit brandies / eau de vie. That will definitely get rid rid of any residual SO2 provided you have copper in the vapour path.

[new_moonshiner]

Have you used dried fruits - apricots for example high in sulfites for steeping without a pass thru the still ?
If Im able to use this im betting i wont need anything to keep the color of the finished product .
maybe some wine makers could chime in ...

[wineo]

Using them for macerations is ok,If it doesnt bother you.Running it through the still,some sulfites will carry over.{flavors}
I dont use the dried ones,but im sensitive to sulfites.I have used canned ones,but I put them in a non-stick pan,and baked them in the oven at 300f until they dried up some.It concentrates the flavor.

[new_moonshiner]

thank you Wineo for the input, I figured that since you did wines you would be familiar with sulfites, I use fresh fruit during season but it worked out this time in dead of the winter here and I wanted to try something different as well . I aerated for several hours hoping to get rid of some of them . I myself could not smell them . Im still trying to determine what they smell like (burnt match smell ) im not sure from reading people say its close to that .

It may not be an issue but in the suggestions i have found for for dried apricots im not seeing mention of it being a problem.
I guess if i ate all three of the 14 oz. packages of the dried fruit I would be still here typing this . Unless they took me out the product already has a very nice aroma and beautiful golden color almost glowing . I just did not want to concentrate a bunch of nasties in something and start consuming it .I even thought of making a copper coil to do the racking through. I thought that might help with the reaction to the copper . but again im not sure this would help ..