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
