Cider Press

Anyone making their own homemade cider? I will be doing it for the first time this weekend. An acquaintance/neighbor emailed me an invitation to a cider pressing a few weeks ago. He bought and restored an old press. I have always wanted to build or aquire a press so I am excited to give it a shot. We planted about a dozen fruit trees on our property, but they are too small to bare fruit yet. I went around to several neighborhood trees and rounded up some apples. Do you guys think this will get me started? I have picked about 10 bushels so far.
Share your tips and stories.

 

Me! Me! I will make it on the woodstove when it gets cold.

 

I'm sure Dennis will chime in when he sees this thread. He is a partial owner of a press. I like the idea of it but wondering if the cost of apples outweighs the cost of ready made cider by the farms?

 

We could have pickup loads of apples if we wanted, so many people offering them around here.

 

Yes, if you have to buy apples then the cider making is just a novelty, you don't come out ahead vs buying cider. I have access to lots of apples and I hate to see anything wasted. I will likely build my own press someday because I like to build and tinker like that. If you have to buy a press and crusher then it is even more cost prohibitive to make it yourself.

 

Many of the folks here already own an apple press... even runs on hydraulics... ... just needs a few add-on parts.

 

Run it through the chipper right onto the splitter. I like it.

 

I've honestly thought about this. Easy to fab a press plate (remove splitting wedge and bolt on press plate). Add bucket, sluice and boom. 22 tons of juicing! Would give me a good excuse to run in vertical mode if nothing else

 

How do you clean the apples prior to pressing and are you picking up drop apples

 

These apples were picked. Except for the last two bushels when I climbed the tree and shook the daylight out of it and then picked up the apples off the ground. Typically the apples are simply dunked or submerged in water before crushing them. However, this is not a detailed cleaning process. The cider will have to be brought up to 160 degrees to pasteurize it.

 

The reason I ask is my apples are on an IPM, (Integrateed Pest Management system) and they are sprayed a minimum of every 14 days. You really want to get the residue off the apples prior to use. I tell everyone to WASH prior to use.

 

These particular trees/apples have never seen a spray. These were overgrown farm and yard trees in my neighborhood. I will rise off all the bug and bird poop though.

 

I rebuilt this



Into this press

 

I made 90 gallons last year. I just freeze it and give it away.

 

Nice job! How many hours do you think you had in the re-build?

 

Not sure...I milled all the lumber from an oak tree. Maybe 40ish.

 

Great press Luke. That looks like the exact model we used on Sunday. We made about 20 gallons. About 12 ended up in my freezer.

 

I have an old washing machine motor and gear box I'm seriously thinking about hooking up to the press.

 

Now onto the real question - how to get the cider with a bit of carbonation?
We used to grab the jugs back on the farm that showed a touch of swelling and help them along for a couple weeks stashed in the barn cellar.

I bought a gallon two days ago - a bit of brewing yeast and a bubbler?