Sweetening Acidic Fruits such as Gooseberries
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- Stokey Sue
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Re: Sweetening Acidic Fruits such as Gooseberries
Can of worms whether sweetness alone triggers insulin and some gut hormones or not, but I think it’s more of a water cooler discussion than anything to be concerned about
Sugar and salt work as preservatives mainly by increasing the solute concentration (osmosis) though particularly when using salt we also tend to increase the acidity which makes the product less suitable for mould growth
It occurs to me half a century on that one reason my mother’s jams never went mouldy was possibly that she always added lemon juice rather than pectin to aid the set so they were relatively acidic
Sugar and salt work as preservatives mainly by increasing the solute concentration (osmosis) though particularly when using salt we also tend to increase the acidity which makes the product less suitable for mould growth
It occurs to me half a century on that one reason my mother’s jams never went mouldy was possibly that she always added lemon juice rather than pectin to aid the set so they were relatively acidic
Re: Sweetening Acidic Fruits such as Gooseberries
Earthmaiden wrote:Fascinating! I am curious to know why the gooseberries on my gooseberry bush taste relatively sweet when eaten from the bush and as tart as can be when cooked!
Now there's a puzzle. Assuming a side by side test and nothing except plain water maybe in the cooked fruit, perhaps there's something in the skins as a defence against insects that's released into the fruit when cooked?
Maybe gooseberries if sweet when raw could stay raw, just washed and halved to crowd a flan topping with a simple setting gel?
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