Orange Peel

[crusher]

Hi guys,
I am going to be brewing a belgian wit on the weekend & am after some advice on drying your own orange peel. I did a trappist like beer about 12 months ago with some dried orange peel from an asian store. & it turned out really nice. But I have been told by a good authority that I should use freshly dried peel & with a bit of green in it. Roughly how many oranges will I need to give me an ounce of dried peel. Will getting a bit of the white be a problem on the peel.Also should I air dry or in the oven.
Any help appreciated.
Crusher.

 

[shmick]

Crusher,
I've used the zest from 1/2 a fresh orange added to the boil 5 - 10 mins before flame out (along with 15 - 20g cracked corriander seed). Not authentic but quite nice.
Can't talk for kits that aren't boiled though.
Avoid the white pith - it's really bitter and not the nice kind of bitter either.

 

[Sean]

Hi guys,
I am going to be brewing a belgian wit on the weekend & am after some advice on drying your own orange peel. I did a trappist like beer about 12 months ago with some dried orange peel from an asian store. & it turned out really nice. But I have been told by a good authority that I should use freshly dried peel & with a bit of green in it. Roughly how many oranges will I need to give me an ounce of dried peel. Will getting a bit of the white be a problem on the peel.Also should I air dry or in the oven.
Any help appreciated.
Crusher.

[post="53062"][/post]​

You really want bitter oranges - Seville/Curaco - which are easy to get in Europe but (for whatever reason) much rarer here.

Not sure why your friend said 'with a bit of green in it'. Green indicates completely different things in different oranges - Navels shouldn't have any green in the skins where as Valencia's turn slightly green when they ripen.

 

[Kai]

I read over on Grumpy's board that around half an orange's worth of peel is sufficent for a batch. It's a good idea to avoid the pith as it can supposedly transfer not-nice bitter flavours to your beer, but avoiding the pith altogether probably isn't feasible.

 

[Sean]

Oh, don't forget that if you buy your oranges from the supermarket (or anywhere else except straight from the farm gate) the skins have been waxed (for appearance and increased shelf life).

 

[rodderz]

Oh, don't forget that if you buy your oranges from the supermarket (or anywhere else except straight from the farm gate) the skins have been waxed (for appearance and increased shelf life).

[post="53099"][/post]​

Where would be ideal places that arent out of the way too much to buy decent oranges for brewing? Markets?

If a supermarket fruit is bought should it be treated in any way because of the wax coating?

 

[Ray_Mills]

Hi
I purchase dried orange peel from a local Asian food store. I think most asian stores stock it. Sometimes its labled dried Orange peel and the type of orange it came from and some are dried Mandarine peel. Cheep as chips.
I cut it up and put it through a coffee blender (and blender will do) and usually have the coriander seeds blending at the same time.
I have cut down the amounts now from 10g to 15g per batch and add it in the last 15minutes of the boil.
Cheers
Ray

 

[Sean]

Oh, don't forget that if you buy your oranges from the supermarket (or anywhere else except straight from the farm gate) the skins have been waxed (for appearance and increased shelf life).

[post="53099"][/post]​

Where would be ideal places that arent out of the way too much to buy decent oranges for brewing? Markets?[/quote
If you're not lucky enough to live in orange growing territory then you're pretty much guaranteed it will be waxed whereever you buy it.

If a supermarket fruit is bought should it be treated in any way because of the wax coating?

[post="54197"][/post]​

Presumably yes - no idea how.

 

[Kai]

The wax might either melt out during drying or settle out during ferment anyway. Think of it as a fining agent