Making extract with fresh fruit is a fun way to preserve the taste of fresh fruits while they are in season. Using fresh or frozen fruit in extracts is a lot less expensive than using freeze-dried fruits. However, when you use fresh fruits you are adding a lot of water due to their high moisture content. So you need to start with higher-proof spirits to account for the dilution rate. The higher the proof that you begin with, the more fresh fruit you can add to make your finished fresh-fruit extract taste even more concentrated.Β
We recommend starting with a 195 proof everclear, though in some states you can only get as much as a 155 proof. Use the calculator below to figure out how much fruit you can use to maximize flavor, while still making sure that your extract stays above 80 proof (40%abv) as it shouldΒ
Happy extracting!
π Fruit Dilution Calculator for Vanilla Extract
Use this tool to calculate how much fresh, frozen, or slightly dried fruit you can add while maintaining a final alcohol content of 80 proof (40%).
Comments
Hi Tia, weβre so happy that you found this too! I expect your extract will turn out great!
We like to use the rinds of 7 Cara Cara oranges, 1oz of Madagascan Vanilla Beans and 8 ounces of vodka to make an Orange and Vanilla Cream Extract. You can find a video tutorial in our recipe collection, by copying and pasting the following link into your browser:
https://www.vanillapura.com/blogs/extract-recipes/orange-and-vanilla-cream-extract?pos=9&_sid=dd8fc9448&ss=r
Please let us know if you have any other questions!
Glad I finally found this! I need help.id like to make orange extract.due to lack of info I guessed I grated cutie oranges peels maybe 1/4 cup,no pith and put them in a jar with maybe a 1/2 pint vodka.willnit work? What should I have done? Tia
Hi Ruth! Thank you for getting in touch. When making extracts, youβll just want to make sure that ingredients (beans, fruits, spices etc) are submerged in the alcohol. Some people like to use a fermentation weight to help with this. Hopefully this answers your question but please let us know if we can help in any other way :-)
What is meant by βsubmersion tipβ? Iβm not familiar enough with fruit extracting
Hi Rickie, thank you so much, this is great feedback, of course it would be good to know how much alcohol to use for a given amount of fruit without having to play a guessing game! Weβll see what we can do :-)
This tool is only available online at the moment. Stay tuned!
This would be great with a few enhancements. For example I have 16 oz of fresh strawberries and 151 proof alcohol. How much alcohol would I need? There needs to be a way to calculate without knowing all of the variables as it is set up now.
Is there a version of this calculator that can be downloaded?