Home made apple cider

svalli · September 19, 2019

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 · September 19, 2019

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 · September 19, 2019

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

Patihum · September 19, 2019

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 · September 19, 2019

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

SueCT · September 19, 2019

That looks delicious! Could you freeze it?

rxkeith · September 19, 2019

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 · September 20, 2019

Quote:

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 · September 20, 2019

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.

Worth1 · September 20, 2019

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 · September 20, 2019

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.

bower · September 20, 2019

That looks awesome.

I love apples and apple juice. I planted a half dozen apple trees here many years ago, but the moose and hares did not treat them kindly.

Three are still alive, but they don't produce anything.

One thing that really annoys me, how in recent years they classified apple juice as a "sugary drink" no better than soft drinks. As long as no sugar is added, I will always consider apple juice as a health food. We get excellent product here from Rougemont in Quebec.

Your cider looks even better though.

imp · September 20, 2019

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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.

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!

svalli · September 20, 2019

Quote:

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

biscuitridge · September 20, 2019

We have an annual cider press, in which we make about 300 gallons of cider and also can about 1000 quarts of apple sauce, we're usually done by 1 or 2 in the afternoon. I built the apple grinder for the cider,and the chopper for the sauce, sauce needs big chunks and cider needs mush or finer grind. We put the cider pulp into my air powered grape press ,open a valve and out flows the beautiful juice with no effort. We're going to be doing our cider press in a couple of weeks.

September 19, 2019	#2
FarmerShawn Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Vermont Posts: 1,001	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! __________________ "Red meat is NOT bad for you. Now blue-green meat, THAT'S bad for you!" -- Tommy Smothers

September 19, 2019	#3
svalli Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Vaasa, Finland, latitude N 63° Posts: 838	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 __________________ "I only want to live in peace, plant potatoes and dream." - Moomin-troll by Tove Jansson

September 19, 2019	#7
rxkeith Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Back in da U.P. Posts: 1,848	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 __________________ don't abort. we'll adopt.

September 19, 2019	#4
Patihum Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Southeast Kansas Posts: 878	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!

September 19, 2019	#5
Worth1 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Den of Drunken Fools Posts: 38,539	Looks awesome. Next you can slow cook it down into syrup, you wont be sorry.

September 19, 2019	#6
SueCT Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Connecticut Posts: 1,460	That looks delicious! Could you freeze it?

September 20, 2019	#9
loulac Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: France Posts: 554	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.

September 20, 2019	#12
bower Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Newfoundland, Canada Posts: 6,794	That looks awesome. I love apples and apple juice. I planted a half dozen apple trees here many years ago, but the moose and hares did not treat them kindly. Three are still alive, but they don't produce anything. One thing that really annoys me, how in recent years they classified apple juice as a "sugary drink" no better than soft drinks. As long as no sugar is added, I will always consider apple juice as a health food. We get excellent product here from Rougemont in Quebec. Your cider looks even better though.

September 20, 2019	#15
biscuitridge Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: washington Posts: 498	We have an annual cider press, in which we make about 300 gallons of cider and also can about 1000 quarts of apple sauce, we're usually done by 1 or 2 in the afternoon. I built the apple grinder for the cider,and the chopper for the sauce, sauce needs big chunks and cider needs mush or finer grind. We put the cider pulp into my air powered grape press ,open a valve and out flows the beautiful juice with no effort. We're going to be doing our cider press in a couple of weeks.