Making cordials

I was hoping to make some cordials with our glut of fruit

The basics seem to be:
- boil some fruits, strain, then add sugar (optional: citric acid), and bottle

Other option (as sold by a juice-extractor manufacturer)
- get a steam juice extractor, use, bottle results!

Any reasons I can't use a 'juicer' to do the mashing and juice extraction, then heat up and add sugar? I already have a juicer, I don't have (nor do I want to buy) a steam extractor.

Any good cordial recipes to share? I've done raspberry and redcurrant so far! Good flavors that could go with rhubarb?

Yes, definitely use a juicer if you have it.  I think the only thing is to make sure the cordial is boiled and bottles are all sterilsed so there's no risk of fermentation.  

I personally prefer fermentation, so I can't really help with recipes :)  Another option is to make a "shrub" which doesn't necessarily require cooking, though it should be consumed within a few days, as it will go alcoholic.  Oh, and vinegar too, which actually can be a refreshing drink when homemade.  I have some cider vinegar from last year which is very useful in recipes and even diluted with water for drinking (it's not sweet, of course, but fruity).

Good luck.

How do you stop cordial going mouldy?

I made raspberry & blackcurrant cordial, stored in either glass or plastic bottles that were steralised with baby sterilizing fluid first. Whilst the bottles are sealed all is well. When I open the bottles, even if stored in the fridge, they start growing mould within a day or two- and I drink the cordial slower than this!

My recipe was:
1tsp citric acid
raspberry and redcurrant juice- 3 litre
sugar- 1.5kg

Got the juice out of the fruit by putting the fruit through the juicer-machine, then heated up until it started to boil. Turn the heat off, added sugar and citric acid- a good stir so the sugar dissolved then into bottles.

Charli Wilson wrote:How do you stop cordial going mouldy?

I made raspberry & blackcurrant cordial, stored in either glass or plastic bottles that were steralised with baby sterilizing fluid first. Whilst the bottles are sealed all is well. When I open the bottles, even if stored in the fridge, they start growing mould within a day or two- and I drink the cordial slower than this!

My recipe was:
1tsp citric acid
raspberry and redcurrant juice- 3 litre
sugar- 1.5kg

Got the juice out of the fruit by putting the fruit through the juicer-machine, then heated up until it started to boil. Turn the heat off, added sugar and citric acid- a good stir so the sugar dissolved then into bottles.

I cannot say what would help it last longer but I will say the juicer may have been the problem. When I was trying to research how to make green juice in mass I read over and over again that most juicers spin so much air into the juice that it begins going bad almost immediately. So perhaps that's the issue. I don't know.

Maybe put it in smaller bottles or jars next time?  It does seem a little odd that it would be moldy so quickly.  Maybe try boiling the bottles to sterilise them rather than fluid--I use the fluid for sterilising my cider bottles, but I boil my jars when I make jam or other fruit preserves.  

Also, for this batch, as soon as you open a bottle could you reboil what's left and rebottle in a newly sterlised container?  

I've made a simple, raw shrub with blackberries. 1 part each of mashed fruit, raw apple cider vinegar and sugar. Though I try to reduce the sugar a bit, and it still works with the vinegar. I let it stand in a jar for a week or two or three, according to memory, strain, add about 2-3 tsp citric acid per roughly 3/4 litre. No sterilising, no boiling, no mould, no alcohol. It is very concentrated and you could probably dissolve a penny in it. To drink, I use about 1cm of cordial in a tumbler and fill up with water. It is still fine at least four months after bottling. When I say bottling, I mean chuck it in a bottle and put the cap on. It would probably work just as well with other berries, but not sure about more pulpy fruit, as not tried yet.

Charli Wilson wrote:How do you stop cordial going mouldy?

The fruit cordials that I most often make are blackcurrant, elderberry, rhubarb, lemon and elderflower.

I always heat the clean bottles in a 100C oven before pouring the hot cordial direct into the bottles and cap immediately.

The bottles are then water bathed for a further 20 mins at a gentle boil. I place a folded tea towel in the bottom of the pot and try to have the water at least 2/3 way up the top of the bottles.

When making the berry cordials, I barely cover the fruit with water and bring to a gentle simmer for 15 minutes, then strain and measure the volume of liquid.

The chickens are fed the pulp.

I prefer 50% sugar to liquid - 1 litre fruit extract to 500g sugar.

The rhubarb cordial is a by product of when I cook rhubarb - chopped washed segments are placed in a cast iron lidded pot with finely shredded fresh ginger, lemon or orange zest (I dehydrate the zest from a portion of the Seville oranges that I use to make marmalade) and 25% sugar to weight of rhubarb.

Bake at 150C until soft. No need to add any water, the rhubarb will release lots of juice. The rhubarb retains its shape and I pack it into bottles then water bath.

The excess rhubarb liquid is bottled up as cordial.

My sister has a couple of very productive lemon trees and sends me a box of lemons every year. I microplane and dehydrate the zest for adding to baking, marinades etc.

Lemon barley cordial is made by boiling the barley, straining off the liquid and equal barley water to lemon juice with added zest and 50% sugar. The chooks also get fed the cooked barley.

I have never used citric acid in my cordials as they keep well enough even after opening provided that the bottles are clean, sterilised and the cordials water bathed after bottling.

I  re use twist top sauce bottles that vary in size from 500ml to 1 litre.

There are a couple of different methods for making elderflower cordial here https://permies.com/t/142356/Elderflower-Cordial#3718430

Rhubarb goes well with strawberries. . .  I also highly recommend heating the filled bottles in a water bath as above.  I've made lots of passionfruit cordial and not had a problem.  Friend I worked with left off the water bath and her p'fruit cordial fermented and the bottles started to explode - just the day before her rented house was due for an inspection.
Raspberry or blackberry (any berry really) is good - also raspberry vinegar.