Correcting oxidized wine

November 22, 2009

If you are diligent in tending your wine, you may never experience ozidation. However, if you are like me and tend to experiment a lot, you might have more wine going than you can sometimes keep track of. Don't get me wrong--it's not at all that I put it off... I just have way more obligations than one man should have. As such, while wine generally takes care of itself, sometimes I may check in on it a little later than I should. Meanwhile, perhaps the S02 levels may drop while I'm not looking. But let me be clear, I definitely won't neglect my prize batches.

The reality of the situation is, I keep a cellar that is like a big test tube of experimentation. Tehy say a good winemaker has a lifetime of experience. I believe that. My goal is to pack in more experience in less time to produce a better wine, sooner. So I experiment a lot and log everything.

I have experienced oxidation a time or two. The best way to describe oxidation is to cut up an apple and watch within seconds while it turns brown. There are several facotrs that can contribute to oxidized wine. The two most common are too much headspace in your carboy, or too low of S02 levels in your wine. Be sure to mind these two things, and you may never experience oxidation.

Many people think when a wine has oxidized, its bad. Really, oxidation can be reduced, and in some cases eliminated by the use of powdered skim milk. Mind you, it won't win any awards, but it can become a good, drinkable wine again, reminicent of the base you fermented. That is better than dumping it down a drain.  Try this before you dump it.

The procedure is as follows:

1. Calculate the amount of wine to be treated, in litres, and for each litre of wine measure out 0.5 gm of powdered skim milk into five (5) mL of cold water. Stir into a solution making sure all the skim milk is dissolved. NOTE: It is important that you use powdered skim milk, not de-creamed whole milk or malted milk/
2. Now bring the SO2 level of the wine up to the required amount with respect to the pH.
3. Stir the wine vigorously and while it is swirling, add the skim milk solution by making sure that it enters well below the surface of the wine. There may be a bit of foaming, but it will dissipate. Continue to stir the wine to ensure all the skim milk is well distributed. It is important that the skim milk solution enters well below the surface. If you pour it on the surface, little, or nothing, will happen. Once the skim milk is fully distributed, brown curds will develop in the wine and will ultimately settle out.
4. Replace the airlock and allow the wine to settle for 2-3 days. Meanwhile, prepare a fining agent for fining the wine.
5. After 2-3 days, rack the wine off the oxidase curds into a clean carboy and stir in the fining agent. Allow this to settle for about 10 days, then rack the wine off the lees. Add an airlock. Filter and bottle.

Tags: wine , how-to

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Make apple wine, a beginners guide to winemaking

November 01, 2009

A lot of people ask me questions about wine making and it frustrates me that I can't give them a specific answer. The reason is because the answers are not always the same.

Example, "how many apples or how much grapes does it take to make wine?" Or, "how much sugar do I add to my wine?" "What all equipment do I need to make wine?"

I use the leftover apple cider from our cider smash to make 3 gallons of apple/pear wine and at the same time, attempt to answer some of these questions. I also talk a little about acidity in wine, fermenting fruit and how the hydrometer can tell you how much sugar to add to your wine (must).

Tags: wine , how-to , cellar

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How I seasoned my entire cast iron cookware collection

October 04, 2009

I have all kinds of cast iron. Today, I decided it was time to clean and re-season all of it. There are a few key pieces that sit on my stove top and I've decided that it was time to break out some additional pieces. Particularly, a nice sauce pan with a lid and a double dutch oven (for lack of a better term). In all, there were two No. 8 skillets, a No 14 skillet (yeah, the big daddy) two waffle irons, two regular dutch ovens, the double dutch oven, an egg poacher, a cornbread pan, a muffin pan, and a star-shaped muffin pan. There was a sauce pan and lids for about each of them! I really needed another oven, or two, for the task. My oven was working at 250 degrees all day.

Anyone who cooks with cast-iron can never turn back. I'm ready to ditch everything else I have and commit to cast-iron cooking! Having your cookware properly seasoned and maintained only increases the performance of cast-iron. Here's how I did it:

Seasoning your cast iron

1. Clean your cookware real good. It's OK to use a mild soap as you scrape off any junk. I used a wire brush and scouring pad to get it as clean as possible. A wire brush is good for rust (also a clue that your pan is not properly seasoned.)

2. Preheat your oven to 250 degrees F.

3. Dry everything off real good. You don't want any water on it before the rub-down with oil.

4. Rub it down using a paper towel. You can use canola oil, but I used Crisco vegetable shortening this time. I have used bacon grease in the past. People have used lard, bacon grease or ham fat or any other saturated fat. Saturated fat will stay in your pan much longer so while it may seem weird, think of it as cooking breakfast in it. Each time you cook, your surface becomes more seasoned. Go crazy... season it with bacon grease, we're talking cast-iron!

5. Let it cook in the oven for 2 hours. After two hours, turn off the oven and leave the pans in it to cool in the oven. Now if you have to do multiple oven loads like me, that may not be an option.

When the pans come out, grab your hot mitt and give them another rub down with a cotton wash cloth or something that you can work fast with. Just shine it up and that's it folks. Repeat this process as often as you like. Even better, cook with it... a lot! Bacon and anything greasy or fatty adds to an awesome seasoned surface. Eventually, with proper cleaning, your pan will achieve a natural non-stick, smooth-as-glass surface.

Cleaning your cast iron

When you clean your cast iron, be sure not to use high detergent soaps. Some will argue it's OK to use a mild soap, but I do not. If you need some scouring action, throw a little kosher salt into the pan under your faucet and get a scrubby or something to grind up the junk. Soaps will de-season your cookware. It will take off the black and you will begin to see the silver of the cast-iron again. You want your cookware to maintain a nice, even black shine.

When done washing, give a quick towel dry and then put it on your stove burner to completely dry it out. Don't over cook the pan here! A minute or two should do it. Leave it on just long enough to dry out.

Tags: food , home , how-to

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