Home made apple cider

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by imp

Boy, am I confused, LOL, I thought you said you were raised on a farm in Oklahoma. Wonder who I confused you with??!!


Bower, I so agree, apple juice is good and so is good cider!

I was born in Texas moved to southern Missouri the summer before the 2nd grade improved it sold it and we moved to another farm in Oklahoma the summer before I went into the 7th grade.
Moved back to Texas as soon as I could.
Both of these farms we planted lots of fruit trees including apple trees.
Mystery solved.

[imp]

If you have left over pulp from making ciders or even the cores, etc., from saucing, find some one with pigs or chickens and those critters will LOVE that being fed to them.



Poppy, Rob's grandpa, used to give his hunting dogs an apple with their food at times. Windfalls that were not good enough for people also found their way to pigs, chickens and the dogs. Rob said the dogs loved getting whole apples and would obviously enjoy them.



My dogs would all wait for a slice of apple from me, except the Japanese Chins and the Saluki; my Dobermans and the smooth fox terriers ( terrorists!!) loved apple bits.

[Worth1]

Eureka.

Here it is where they make the syrup.
https://youtu.be/cGUYyXeraKs?t=1001

The whole video is well worth watching and every time I do I get hungry.
https://youtu.be/cGUYyXeraKs

[Patihum]

I wonder if it would be possible to do the apple syrup in a slow cooker with the lid left off. Spending hours stirring something isn't very appealing!

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Patihum

I wonder if it would be possible to do the apple syrup in a slow cooker with the lid left off. Spending hours stirring something isn't very appealing!

If you wanted maybe a wee amount no problem but to make it dark you have to get the heat up.
I'm cooking down four gallons of cider as we speak in a 22 quart stainless kettle.
Just stirring occasionally.
Not economical but the reward is what counts because you cant buy it here and I enjoy it.

[Patihum]

Originally Posted by Worth1

If you wanted maybe a wee amount no problem but to make it dark you have to get the heat up.
I'm cooking down four gallons of cider as we speak in a 22 quart stainless kettle.
Just stirring occasionally.
Not economical but the reward is what counts because you cant buy it here and I enjoy it.

My slow cooker has a high setting that will bring liquid to a boil.

[Worth1]

Just to put my money where my mouth is, here is a wee bit over 4 gallons of cider turned into cider syrup.
I must say it came out fantastic.
So with 16 quarts to the gallon, on average you will get 2 quarts out of it.
This will depend on the sugar content.
I did not adulterate it with any added sugar it is all natural.
But a person could if they wanted to.

[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]

Good apple cider is just so useful and tasty!

[SueCT]

Apple Cider is great with pork, as a marinade or liquid added to slow cook it for pulled pork, or you could use it to deglaze a pan you browned or cooked the pork in for a sauce. Also great just for drinking. I don't have any apple trees so i buy my cider, but I bed the cooked down syrup would also be great drizzeled on pork. I like to cut marinated pork loin into 1"-1 1/2" thick medallions and grill them. I bet that syrup would taste great drizzled on those just before eating them.

[Worth1]

I had a wee amount of the syrup left in the bottom of a pint jar.
Yes I have been using it.
I added some water and brown sugar and heated it up.
It is very good and will be using it on grilled chicken.'
I put some of the original syrup on pork schnitzel the other night.
My best guess would be a pint would make about a gallon or more of this stuff I just dreamed up.

[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.

[svalli]

I heated up the wood burning stove first time this fall and cooked 6 liters of old cider to syrup. I ended op with less than a liter of syrup. The juice was not very sweet, so added a bit raw cane sugar.

Elegant Farmer in Wisconsin sells cider baked ham and an apple syrup glazing for it. It used to be our favorite ham and now I am planning to make my own with that old cider and syrup.

Sari

[imp]

Looks lovely, Svalli!! Bet it will be great tasting.