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I just bottled my experiment.

I used the black rock cider kit (which I have used many times before, it always comes out great) and I put some pears in there, to see what happens.

I looked here and googled a bit but couldn't really find out much about adding fruit.

So I sort of winged it. I cut the pears into chunks, threw them into boiling water to sterilise them, put them into a mesh bag and dumped it into the fermenter.

So we've got black rock cider kit, a malt/dextrose mix, lactose, pears, and a champagne yeast.

Has anyone added fruit like this?

I gotta say, when I bottled it before, the colour of the stuff is putrid! Looks like brown murky gutter water. Smelt ok though!

I'm curious about the state of the pears, but I can't get the lid off the damn fermenter, I'll have to wait until one of the guys comes home to have a look.

I thought I'd post and tell you guys about it in case anyone was thinking of trying something simular.

Cutting up chunks of fruit is fine. I generally avoid boiling water due to potential pectin issues-
I usually find 20mins at ~70*C does the job, as well as breaking up the fruit a bit to really let the
yeast get inside for a munch.

Pectin?

I wasn't sure what to do to make sure there was no bacteria on the fruit, but I tried not to keep it in for water for too long cause I thought it they started to cook it might not have been a good thing. Guess it's ok then?

The colour has improved now that it's settled, should have racked it though, the sediment is still nasty.

Only time I've ever added fruit to a batch, I threw them into some cooled, pre-boiled water, threw in a crushed-up campden tablet and let it sit in a sterilised container overnight. I just didn't like the idea of blanching the fruit with hot/boiling water.

70*C is fine, and actually helps soften the fruit up to let the yeast in.

Generally boiling water should be avoided- especially long exposure. A quick dip shouldn't cause too many issues.

Most pectin comes out of the seeds anyway.