Information and discussion about canning and dehydrating tomatoes and other garden vegetables and fruits. DISCLAIMER: SOME RECIPES MAY NOT COMPLY WITH CURRENT FOOD SAFETY GUIDELINES - FOLLOW AT YOUR OWN RISK
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#1 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Vaasa, Finland, latitude N 63°
Posts: 838
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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
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"I only want to live in peace, plant potatoes and dream." - Moomin-troll by Tove Jansson |
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#2 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Vermont
Posts: 1,001
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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!
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"Red meat is NOT bad for you. Now blue-green meat, THAT'S bad for you!" -- Tommy Smothers |
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#3 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Vaasa, Finland, latitude N 63°
Posts: 838
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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
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"I only want to live in peace, plant potatoes and dream." - Moomin-troll by Tove Jansson |
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#4 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Wichita Falls, Texas
Posts: 4,832
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So how did the first batch come out? Love the press.
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#5 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Vaasa, Finland, latitude N 63°
Posts: 838
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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
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"I only want to live in peace, plant potatoes and dream." - Moomin-troll by Tove Jansson |
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#6 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Wichita Falls, Texas
Posts: 4,832
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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.
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I'm not a complete idiot, some parts are missing. |
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#7 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Southeast Kansas
Posts: 878
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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!
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#8 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Den of Drunken Fools
Posts: 38,539
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Looks awesome.
Next you can slow cook it down into syrup, you wont be sorry. |
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#9 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Back in da U.P.
Posts: 1,846
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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
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#10 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Vermont
Posts: 1,001
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Shawn
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"Red meat is NOT bad for you. Now blue-green meat, THAT'S bad for you!" -- Tommy Smothers |
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#11 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: France
Posts: 554
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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. |
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#12 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Vaasa, Finland, latitude N 63°
Posts: 838
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Sari
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"I only want to live in peace, plant potatoes and dream." - Moomin-troll by Tove Jansson |
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#13 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Connecticut
Posts: 1,460
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That looks delicious! Could you freeze it?
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#14 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Den of Drunken Fools
Posts: 38,539
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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. |
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#15 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Den of Drunken Fools
Posts: 38,539
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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. |
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