Persimmons, 2019

I’m wanting to make some jam. Anybody done that?

WOW. Nice. I can hardly wait. I’m hoping my grafts from your trees fruit this coming year but I think it might still be too early. I have Tam Kam, Tecumseh, and Giombo.

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This tree was planted in the fall of 2012, and I started getting a few ripe fruit by the third year. This year’s crop is all on the way into the dehydrator now. My Tam Kam and Giombo fruit are long gone!

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Do you prepare (slice) all your fruit at once for drying? I kept some in the fridge after slicing and they stuck together. :flushed::flushed:

What dehydrator do you have. I guess I need more trays. I cannot imagine getting all those dried!

Could I have Tam Kam and giombo scions ??

Oh no, I couldn’t ever dry all those at once. I have a Nesco dehydrator with nine circular trays, and I imagine I’ll have to fill the trays all up at least 7 or 8 times to dry all of these. Maybe more. So it will be a gradual process to get them all dried. I picked them all right after I took the picture because the birds are starting to go after them now that they’re softening up. I put them all on the counter and choose the ripest ones and cut and dry them first. I think I cut my slices a lot thicker than you, too - usually about 1cm thick. I like them a bit chewy rather than crispy. They probably don’t store as long that way, but they never seem to last long enough around here to find out when they would start to mold.

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I just have six trays on a nesco and I slice much thinner so that is making it a bit more labor intensive for me. But mine dry in 12 hours or less. I might try some thicker ones and see how I like it. I swear it’s like eating guilt free candy!

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They’re my favorite dried fruit - right up there with mangoes, but I can’t grow those here.

@RUenvsci. I just wrapped my NB-02 Hybrid persimmon with waterproof surgical drapes around the graft six times. Hopefully, this will block out the North wind and some layers of cold protection. This graft was on my 7 varieties multi grafted American persimmon tree facing west for more sun.

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TL;DRI: Some things that should not have been forgotten were lost.

There’s a reason recipes can’t be copyrighted. That’s because plagiarism is a time-honored tradition in cooking. Take, for example, this traditional (old fashioned, Hoosier favorite) Indiana Persimmon Pudding recipe:

o Indiana Persimmon Pudding Recipe: How to Make It | Taste of Home

I’m betting that it’s very similar to a recipe purportedly published scandalously by the New York Times that also called for an exotic ingredient — in this case Hachiya persimmons — that in no way, shape, or form could ever have been part of an Indiana “tradition.”

My folks had a “traditional” Hoosier persimmon tree that produced “traditional” Hoosier persimmon pudding (See, below.). We moved when I was in high school, and that tree is long gone now. ISTR we brought it home when I was very young, and we had to go somewhere dig it up. I don’t remember wherefrom in Indiana exactly. I believe the place was not a nursery but a distant (literally) relatives’ farm. The tree bore seeded fruit, but, so far as I know, was the only one around. I don’t recall any seeds coming up “volunteer.” The fruit was about 1-¼" diameter — orange with frosty blush. … and that’s about all I know.

Except … I have my great aunt’s (by marriage) recipe, which my Mom made every fall. This is not a bread or brownie. This is more of a persimmon butter because you stir it so it doesn’t form a crust or set.

Yankee Persimmon Pudding

Cooking Time: 3 hours

Cuisine: American

Category: Dessert

Source: Margarette Goddard

Ingredients:

  • 2 qt American persimmons, whole
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 qt milk
  • 1 c sugar, cane granulated
  • 1 qt flour, all-purpose
  • 1 t baking soda
  • 1 t salt
  • butter

Instructions:

  • Preheat oven to 350°F.

  • This is a BIG recipe and needs a BIG oven-safe pan. Control your expectations. The pudding will darken during the long baking — and more so in an aluminum pan.

  • Note: People used to buy American persimmons in qt boxes at neighborhood markets.

  • Remove the calyxes. Run the persimmons through a colander raw to separate the skins and seeds (if any). Reserve the pulp.

  • You can add spices, but this recipe doesn’t call for any.

  • The amount of butter should be “the size of an egg.”

  • Bake 3 hrs. Pay attention. Stir the crust into the pudding every 15 minutes to keep the pudding from setting.

  • Can the pudding hot for storage. (5lb pressure. Qts 8min. Pts 5min.)

My Mom wasn’t always happy with the results, and they WERE variable. I suppose the ripeness of the persimmons and the volume of pulp they yielded were the main issues.

I look back on childhood more fondly than I lived mine, and think now I’d like to try to duplicate the experience. I wonder what variety of persimmon tree that was exactly?

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I did this with less honey (No star anise either) and some coconut cream. I think it improved the taste a lot my complaint is that it didn’t do anything magical like cooking does with pears or peaches and i think i liked the texture more fresh than cooked. It sort of set during cooking and did not get a loose jelly sort of consistency, I like the idea of the above pudding recipe better

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Hopefully it survives the winter! Thanks for sharing!

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Our local Walmart finally stocked the Percinnamon aka C02 treated Rojo Brillante for 4 per bag at $3.68. I got 5 bags. They are very refreshing, sweet, and very good.

Tony

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Did you ever try drying these, Tony?

Not yet because they are so good fresh.

I really like these. They are much better than the typical grocery store fuyu. The flavor can’t really compete with hachiyas, but they have a nice texture and are pretty cheap by comparison. The only thing I don’t like about them is that disturbingly fake looking kid on the packaging who is always staring straight at you. He creeps me out…

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:joy::joy::joy::joy::joy::joy::joy::joy::joy::cry:

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I agreed about the taste comparison to Hachiya but you can’t eat a rock hard Hachiya. Lol…

@murky. I know you are alway looking for this one so check your local Walmart to see if they stock it.

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Is that a challenge?!?! :grin: :nauseated_face:

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You can go to walmart.com and check if it is in-stock at your local walmart. I found it is!
I will be going there today to pick up a couple of bags.

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Can you improve the flavour of all varieties by Co2 treatment and what does it consist of a matter of days or?