stringing red and black currants

[ironer]

Hope this is not considered OT. Please think of it as home automation, & there's quite a few posters on this group with a wide experience of mechanical processing machines.

Over the years I've tried quite a few ways of speeding up the process of (de)stringing red and black currants, none very successful. IMHE it can take 3or 4 hours to string.just half an hour's picking.

Freezing them and then rolling or stirring to try to knock the stalks off didn't work. Immersing them in water to separate out the chaff & dud berries gave reasonable results, but the cook doesn't like wet fruit. Rolling them over a board with holes to allow singletons to drop through is only moderately successful.

So...any ideas please?

Anyone know how it is done commercially?

The fruit is destined for the freezer & will then used in pies, desert fruit stews & jam later in the year. So an outcome with perfect looking fruit is not essential, though turning it into a puree is a no-no.

BTW the fruit has not been sprayed, so washing is not required, especially as it will be cooked anyway before eating.

TIA

[Chris J Dixon]

Have you tried pulling the strings through the prongs of a table fork?

Chris

[normanwisdom]

How do pick them in the first place? Pulling strigs and berries off the bush seems obvious but it leaves you with your problem - you are effectively picking them twice. The whole process is much quicker if you combine picking and pruning - you cut out the whole branch with the berries still on, take them away and then remove the berries whilst sitting out in the sun or in the kitchen. Its much easier then to take the berries off tidily and remove stalks at the same time. And you've done the pruning, removed older growth and any pests/deseases, the new growth will benefit from the light and space and all that remains is a bit of tidying up after the leaves have dropped and you can see the bush.

cheers Jacob

[normanwisdom]

PS that's blackcurrants. I don't grow red. I think the pruning is different.

[Stuart Noble]

All this is making my mouth water. You don't often see them on sale, so maybe the industry can't come up with a method either

[normanwisdom]