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Raisins vs tomato paste...

Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2015 9:02 am
by fqu8847
I couldn't find this anywhere... :cry:
Question is thus: which is better for nutrients, raisins or tomato paste?
If one is indeed better, why and what is the recommended amount?
I have seen several recipes that call for either one or the other... seems legit enough, but could I substitute one for the other? What if I blended the raisins in some water and used the resulting "raisin juice"? Is that possible?
Just thought this would get us all thinking.
Cheers!

Re: Raisins vs tomato paste...

Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2015 9:27 am
by der wo
Raisins taste not as neutral as tomato paste. If you want a neutral, use tomato paste. 100g per 10l.

Re: Raisins vs tomato paste...

Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2015 9:37 am
by yakattack
Possible yes. But I wouldn't bother.

Use tomato paste. It has almost everything the yeast need to make them happy.

Here's a few things to think about . Tomato paste is cheaper. Easier to do. Works well. Not sure of how much you actually need, but I use a few cans for a 50 gallon ferment and I never have an issue.

It's my personal opinion that tp is better.
Yak

Re: Raisins vs tomato paste...

Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2015 9:43 am
by bearriver
TP

The flavor wont carry.

Re: Raisins vs tomato paste...

Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2015 9:46 am
by Bushman
Interesting question and so I did some research. Not an expert in this area as I have used Tomato Paste with the birdwatchers and have used raisins in a few infused recipes I have. Off the top of my head I would think for fermenting the tomato paste would breakdown better than the raisins. But here are some facts that I worked out. To begin with I wanted to make all things equal and a serving of raisins is 1/4 cup, a serving of tomato paste is 1 cup so the following info for raisins I multiplied by 4 so that we we're comparing 1 cup to 1cup.
Tomato Paste
215 Cal
Potassium 2656.68 mg
Sugar 31.9 g
Protein 11.32g.
Vitamin A. 3995,5 IU
Vitamin C 57.38 mg
Calcium 94.32 mg
Iron 7.81 mg

Raisins
520 Cal
Potassium 1240 mg
Sugar 116 g
Sodium 40 mg
Protein 4 g.

Re: Raisins vs tomato paste...

Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2015 10:00 am
by der wo
Tomato paste has almost twice as much of thiamin and much more zinc, 2-3 times sulphur, more potassium, but a little less phosphorus.

But all of that is not important anymore, when you add vitamines and fertilizer.

Re: Raisins vs tomato paste...

Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2015 11:23 am
by heartcut
Used to use raisins, sugar and fruit "nectar" for gawdawful wine in junior high. Hear raisins are popular in jail too, for the same reason.
Hey, both work.

Re: Raisins vs tomato paste...

Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2015 4:48 pm
by fqu8847
Wow! Good responses guys! I have made the Remus rice, sweet feed, ujssm, and birdwatchers so far! Birdwatchers is by far the easiest and my favorite for that reason... but Remus rice is the best in comparison to the others for flavor! If the rice wasn't so hard to deal with... :roll:
What made me wonder about this was my curious nature. I can get raisins about as cheap as I can tomato paste but the work in blending them outweighs the price so to speak. Thought it would be interesting to see what others thought!

Re: Raisins vs tomato paste...

Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2015 5:06 pm
by heartcut
For high grav molasses (or probably white sugar) ferments, whole raisins slowly add nutrients. Didn't think of this at first. It works for rum.

Re: Raisins vs tomato paste...

Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2015 5:14 pm
by shadylane
Here's an experiment to try.
Raisins vs tomato paste vs yeast bomb.

Re: Raisins vs tomato paste...

Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2015 5:29 pm
by Copper Thumper
TP FTW

Re: Raisins vs tomato paste...

Posted: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:56 am
by der wo
heartcut wrote:whole raisins slowly add nutrients.
But is slow better? I thought, the yeast needs the nutrients particularly at the beginning for multiplying.

Re: Raisins vs tomato paste...

Posted: Tue Dec 22, 2015 9:21 am
by heartcut
Slow is better if it's a slow ferment. I do a slow molasses fermentation at around 12% for heavy rum and whole raisins do a good job there. Oxygen and/or lipids is important in the initial growth phase.

Re: Raisins vs tomato paste...

Posted: Tue Dec 22, 2015 2:38 pm
by fqu8847
Heartcut... do you add the raisins wholeor would raisin juice do ok also?