Excess apricots - what to do?

[Octave]

So we recently discovered a pretty stellar apricot tree on our property - quelle surprise!

About a third of the tree is ripening quickly, looks to be peaking by the weekend (we ate one last night and it was delightful, though still just a bit tough). Since neither my wife nor I can possibly eat our body weight in apricots, I'm wondering what to do with them. We both love making jams, and will happily do that but I have two problems

1) the tree is ripening in stages, looking to be about a week or ten days apart. Is it possible to break down and freeze part of the harvest and then combine it with the fresh stuff ten days later to make a massive batch of jam for canning?

2) I have no idea what else to do with apricots. I'm not a big fan of dried fruit, so that's out.

Any suggestions of what to do with a massive haul of apricots? Rough calculation after weighing two of them last night and extrapolating for the amount on the tree is around 20kg.

[Too Tall]

reconsider dehydrating. After you have ignored that how about you borrow a couple massive pots and make up a huge batch of apricot / almond jam and gift / exchange that with friends this coming holiday season? Here is a guide I've used:
Apricot and Almond Jam @ Not Quite Nigella
PS - Step #2 is key and do not use anything like Pectin it has a terrible mouth feel. For extra credit include some of the apricot pit insides (also called almonds) in each jar but only one or two for flavor. They contain hydrocyanic acid. Food with a little danger, nice?

[Octave]

That's a good looking recipe - definitely on the short-list of solutions now. We make a lot of jam from foraged figs around here, and occasionally from fruit-stand goods when the prices make it hard to resist and never use anything like pectin.

[warning: dork content ahead] And yeah, hydrogen cyanic (HCN; or hydrocyanic acid; or prussic acid) is nasty stuff (though vital to the evolution of life on this planet) in high concentrations. Stone fruit pits actually contain amygdalin, which is converted to HCN during digestion. The good news is that apricots, which are actually on the high-end of amygdalin/HCN concentration with regards to other stone fruits (cherries, peaches...etc.) actually only contain about 7mg per stone. A 68kg human wouldn't reach a toxic dose (not lethal, but toxic) until just over 700mg. So unless you're eating 100 "almonds" you'll be alright.

The HCN (which, thanks to the cyanide ion actually has a lovely smell) is a pretty sensitive compound, so it breaks down easily. Last time we had a big harvest of peaches we collected all of the stones, cracked them and took the almonds, then put about 50 almonds in just enough 200 proof EtOH to cover them. A month later I ran the solution through a GC/MS in lab and found no presence of cyanide BUT it retained the lovely smell and flavor. A couple of drops in a cocktail is a treat - tastes like orgeat syrup! You can also roast the almonds (which breaks down the HCN very quickly) until light brown, crush them and mix with a touch of sugar to taste and use it a nice ice-cream topping. We're big on having a no-waste kitchen, so little projects like that are fun.

[Too Tall]

I love the smell also and we are both geeks. On occasion I still run a soxhlet extractor when I find enough wild mint or as you say "the right price" ;)

Soxhlet_mechanism.gif

[j44ke]

If you were in the Czech Republic, the answer would be easy - meruňkovice or apricot liquor. Quite a few small towns in Moravia have distilleries where you can take your extra apricots and get back what looks like water but definitely is not. Maybe there are the same facilities in France?

[Octave]

If you were in the Czech Republic, the answer would be easy - meruňkovice or apricot liquor. Quite a few small towns in Moravia have distilleries where you can take your extra apricots and get back what looks like water but definitely is not. Maybe there are the same facilities in France?

Yum! I'll have to look into similar facilities. But a quick google did show me this. I always trust Serious Eats, and this seems easy enough. On the list!

[JoB]

That's a good looking recipe - definitely on the short-list of solutions now. We make a lot of jam from foraged figs around here, and occasionally from fruit-stand goods when the prices make it hard to resist and never use anything like pectin.

[warning: dork content ahead] And yeah, hydrogen cyanic (HCN; or hydrocyanic acid; or prussic acid) is nasty stuff (though vital to the evolution of life on this planet) in high concentrations. Stone fruit pits actually contain amygdalin, which is converted to HCN during digestion. The good news is that apricots, which are actually on the high-end of amygdalin/HCN concentration with regards to other stone fruits (cherries, peaches...etc.) actually only contain about 7mg per stone. A 68kg human wouldn't reach a toxic dose (not lethal, but toxic) until just over 700mg. So unless you're eating 100 "almonds" you'll be alright.

The HCN (which, thanks to the cyanide ion actually has a lovely smell) is a pretty sensitive compound, so it breaks down easily. Last time we had a big harvest of peaches we collected all of the stones, cracked them and took the almonds, then put about 50 almonds in just enough 200 proof EtOH to cover them. A month later I ran the solution through a GC/MS in lab and found no presence of cyanide BUT it retained the lovely smell and flavor. A couple of drops in a cocktail is a treat - tastes like orgeat syrup! You can also roast the almonds (which breaks down the HCN very quickly) until light brown, crush them and mix with a touch of sugar to taste and use it a nice ice-cream topping. We're big on having a no-waste kitchen, so little projects like that are fun.

In Austria we make jam and Marillenknödel -- the latter being a fresh cheese dumpling filled with an apricot and covered with spiced, sweet, toasted breadcrumbs. it's amazing. you can use frozen apricots.
putting the pit in the jam definitely works and I do this with apricot.

During cherry season, i pit cherries, put them up in vodka or bourbon with a slice of lemon and separately, put up the pits with vodka. turns a beautiful red and the almond smell is amazing!

[slwrnu]

I am also in Austria, some of the time, and where my place was built used to be an orchard, so there are many plums, pears, apples and marillen in the garden. So the locals come in in the Autumn, harvest the fruit, make jam and fruity things, and schnapps of course, and we all share the outcome. We also share with older locals who are unable to climb the trees. Last year was a bumper crop, and this year is shaping up to be even better, hot and now a bit wet. So share what you do not need.

[steve garro]

IMG_7453.JPGIMG_7454.JPG


Moving from plums to apricots today - put back 2.5 gallons of dried plums and doing a case of jelly.

- Garro.