Home made apple cider

[svalli]

Is anyone here making apple cider at home? I mean the cold pressed apple juice and not the fermented hard cider, which people here in Finland call as cider.

Years ago we planted an old field full of apple trees (48 trees planted, but some did not survive). Now those are finally starting to produce, so we got plenty of apples. There are places here which process the apples to cold pressed juice, but we do not have any really close to our house and usually the places are quite busy, so it is difficult to get the time reserved and get the apples picked at the prime time and transported to the processing place. Since we like to do things ourselves, I purchased this old fashioned manual juice press. It arrived yesterday and right away after work we had to test it.

We grated the apples with the grating implement of my old Bosch universal mixer and filled the basket to press the juice. I was amazed how easy it was to squeeze the juice out. We used mixture of sweet and tart apples and the juice was perfect. Here is a link to a video of the pressing.
https://youtu.be/T0EFuelA9lE

Since we got more juice than we can drink I heated the juice in a kettle in water bath to 80°C to kill yeasts and bacteria and filled 3 liter box bags with it. It would be nice to have similar pasteurizing equipment like those processing places, but now I am experimenting this with the normal pans and pots.

Sari

[FarmerShawn]

We have an annual cider pressing day with my extended family, using a hand-cranked grinder I put together and a press a neighbor's son built in high school woodworking shop. Many hands make the work enjoyable, and everyone goes home with a good supply of cider. We always freeze some in various sized containers, large for drinking at Christmas, and small, even ice cubes, for cooking, especially smoked ribs and pulled pork and accompanying sauces. We have learned that the more varieties mixed into each batch, the more complex the flavor of the cider. We're scheduled for our squeezing in three weeks - can't wait!

[svalli]

Tonight we squeezed apples from a tree on our city yard. I mixed only a little bit of other variety and the juice was not as good as the one yesterday. The apples on the tree were very ripe and we got more juice from them. Mixing multiple varieties together is really better way.

Sari

[imp]

Originally Posted by svalli

Tonight we squeezed apples from a tree on our city yard. I mixed only a little bit of other variety and the juice was not as good as the one yesterday. The apples on the tree were very ripe and we got more juice from them. Mixing multiple varieties together is really better way.

Sari

So how did the first batch come out? Love the press.

[svalli]

Originally Posted by imp

So how did the first batch come out? Love the press.

It was great and so have been all the batches where we mixed apples. So far we have made 65 liters of pasteurized cider and there is still apples to be pressed.

We have some two year old cider left from when we got it done in a place where they do for a fee. It was also pasteurized, so it should still be OK. I may try to cook it to make the syrup.

Sari

[imp]

Originally Posted by svalli

It was great and so have been all the batches where we mixed apples. So far we have made 65 liters of pasteurized cider and there is still apples to be pressed.

We have some two year old cider left from when we got it done in a place where they do for a fee. It was also pasteurized, so it should still be OK. I may try to cook it to make the syrup.

Sari

Both of my grandmothers used to put by syrups cooked down from various fruit juices, and many other things as well. During what we call the Great Depression here in the USA, many people made their own juices, syrups, and stored foods as they could, salting and smoking, canning, drying, pickling and cold rooms or root cellars.



Give the cider syrup a try, it's been done for ages both here and in many parts of the world.

[Patihum]

Just did cider a few days ago for the first time. Our press looks like savalli's except ours has stainless steel instead of wood. We mixed 3 varieties of apples with it being heavy on the Red Delicious for the sweet. We put the apples through a industrial type meat grinder and then pressed them - easy peasy! I processed quart jars in a water bath to preserve it without filtering it. Wonderful stuff!

[Worth1]

Looks awesome.
Next you can slow cook it down into syrup, you wont be sorry.

[rxkeith]

we have made cider with our neighbor that has a cider press similar to the one in the picture. apples get poured into a hopper that has a crank that spins the thing, and mashes up the apples which fall into the tub. once the tub is full, a wooden top is put on, which is then cranked down with a metal rod squeezing the juice from the apples. the process is a good work out. no better tasting cider to be found.
what cider isn't used right away can be frozen in plastic juice containers or old milk jugs, filled about 2/3 full then frozen. they keep awhile.



keith

[FarmerShawn]

Originally Posted by Worth1

Looks awesome.
Next you can slow cook it down into syrup, you wont be sorry.

Now that is something we've never done, but I might just give a try!
Shawn

[loulac]

Just a few tips from my personal experience :
- If you don’t want to get apple vinegar (excellent vinegar by the way) equipment should be perfectly clean and fermenting protected from outside air.
- Pasteurization doesn’t require a lot of equipment., just a thermometer to keep your cider at the right temperature for a precise time on your heater.

[svalli]

Originally Posted by loulac

Just a few tips from my personal experience :
- If you don’t want to get apple vinegar (excellent vinegar by the way) equipment should be perfectly clean and fermenting protected from outside air.
- Pasteurization doesn’t require a lot of equipment., just a thermometer to keep your cider at the right temperature for a precise time on your heater.

Currently we are making just the cold pressed juice, which in USA is called cider. Fermented cider is also in the plans, but I have to first read about it before we start experimenting. We have made beer from a home brew kit earlier, so we already have some of the needed equipment.

Sari

[SueCT]

That looks delicious! Could you freeze it?

[Worth1]

I posted links to videos here some place about German rural life and the farm.
They were very good and it is where I saw them make this syrup from cider.
In the end of all the bread and baking, food making and so on there was a big meal.

[Worth1]

When growing up in Missouri I lived in apple country.
The state apple experiment station and orchard was about six miles away.
We ate everything apple including the rare treat apple syrup.
Seems like everyone was making cider.