Plum crumble - why are the cooked plums sour?

dixie_dean_2

Sour plums? A quick shower and a very gentle rub.

Carmen

Hi again, sorry for the delay in replying:o
The friend that gave me the plums had the same result with hers!
Will try cooking the plums first, maybe with syrup, thanks for those suggestions.
:rotfl:@ Dixie dean.

clutterydrawer

Hello

I had loads of plums, ate quite a few raw and they were delicious, stewed the rest up to eat for breakfasts and once they were stewed they had become impossibly sour and I physically couldn't eat them

Does anyoen know what I did wrong here? I was sad cos I had to throw them out

helyg

Couldn't you have stirred in some sugar once they were stewed?

Penelope_Penguin

clutterydrawer wrote: »

Hello

I had loads of plums, ate quite a few raw and they were delicious, stewed the rest up to eat for breakfasts and once they were stewed they had become impossibly sour and I physically couldn't eat them

Does anyoen know what I did wrong here? I was sad cos I had to throw them out

I don't know when I stew mine, they're even more delicious than raw, and I don't need to add sugar It's possible that they've been cooked too long (could you not have added a sweetener to save them ).

We had exactly this question earlier in the summer, so I'll merge this so that you can see the scientific explanation

Penny. x

clutterydrawer

helyg wrote: »

Couldn't you have stirred in some sugar once they were stewed?

I put over 5tbsp of sugar into one bowl of plums and they were still inedible - I couldnt bring myself to eat that much sugar in the end cos i have bad teeth already

Zend

I usually add apples to my plum crumble and no sugar, always seems nice and sweet.

paulwf

Even the Telegraph thinks cooked plums can be sour:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/3314960/Clever-shopper-plums.html

"Like their relative the apricot, plums tend to turn sour as they cook, so add plenty of sugar, tasting until the balance is right."

I've seen a couple of suggestions that the bitterness is caused by the skin so perhaps remove before cooking? I guess people might have different results depending on the ripeness and variety of plum (e.g. a greengage is very different to a damson) so not all may get bitter with cooking.

jicms

I've just had the same problem, nice sweet plums but too sour when cooked. It defeats the object to me to add a load of sugar to a healthy fruit desert.

I'm wondering if it's the stones that cause the sourness so the next batch I cook I will remove them first. If there's any improvement I'll post on here.

Chris25

I think the stones can cause bitterness but I think some plums just cook and become more bitter than they are fresh.