Farm Pressing blackberries - Help!

[Tristan]

So, we're blessed with a huge batch of blackberries. They are turning into some of the very best-tasting jelly I've ever had.

The biggest obstacle is the juicing and filtering. Right now, my dear Wife is pressing them with a sieve and a spoon.

There must be a better way.

A neighbor lent us a fruit mill, but the seeds are just the right size to clog the holes.

So, what's a cost effective tool to press and strain out the seeds from blackberries??

Thanks!!

 

[moldy]

I think a Foley mill would let the seeds pass thru. I would try to get a Victorio strainer - best things EVER!! when canning. There is a berry attachment that you might have to buy separately. My Ace hardware carries them.

 

[naturallysweet]

Unless it's something truly seedy like a black kap (aka black raspberry), then I leave the seeds in. I like the seeds in jam.

 

[ReneeT]

I use a steam juicer nowadays; before I got it, I'd toss the berries in a big pot with a little bit of water - enough to keep them from scorching - and heat them until the juice was releasing. Then I'd dip them in to a 'jelly bag' (a flour sack dish towel stitched up into a bag with a string threaded through a casing in the top, and hang it over a bowl to let the juice out. If you squeeze the bag, you'll get cloudy juice, so you'll want to let as much juice drip out as you can before you move the bag to a different bowl before you do that.

If you plan to use the juice for wine, you'll want to make sure there are no fruit flies in the area where you are letting the bag drip or you're more likely to get vinegar than wine.

 

[Amazed]

I do the same as Renee with my raspberries for jelly. Heat them with a little water, put them in a jelly bag, and tie top with a length of string. I then put the broom across two chair backs, put a bowl down and tie the string to the broom. I let it drip overnight and make my jelly from the juice the next day.

 

[Orion Commander]

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&ke...=aps&hvadid=3481016873&ref=pd_sl_6g2q9vcir2_e

Steam juicers are great. Works for meat as well for chicken broth. I don't remeber what brand ours is but it cost just under or over $100 several years ago. Nor Pro is a good brand.

If you buy one a lot of people put marbles in the boiling water so when they make noise you know the water is low. Don't want boil the pot dry.

 

[Pinecone]

I use an ALUMINUM CANNING SIEVE STRAINER COLANDER W/WOODEN PESTLE & STAND. They are on ebay for as little as $9.99. I bought one from my neighbors at their garage sale and love it. I warm the berries, put them in the cone shaped sieve and run the pestle around the cone until I'm satisfied that the berries are juiced. I didn't get the stand with it, so I just put it in a large deep, narrow pot to collect the juice and support the cone. Easy, fast and simple.

Pinecone