Anyone looking to get rid of an apple press.

blackvalley

Hi.

About to have a go at making cider and am looking to buy ( or borrow ) an apple press.

Dont want to spend too much on equipment yet until I see how it works out.

Thanks in advance.

blackvalley

PS . I’m in Kildare.

PublicBen

im of no help to you, but wondering where you got the rest of the equipment? I’m able to access a lot of apples at the moment and thinking of trying cider myself. Just not sure where to start.

blackvalley

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121152741#Comment_121152741

Hi. I’m certainly no expert on the subject and I’m sure there are many more qualified people out there.

The equipment you need for cider making is quite simple.

1 . Something to break up the apples into small chunks before pressing. There are many methods of doing this from a garden shredder to a heavy piece of wood with which you bash the apples in a bucket/ tub.

2 . Fruit press. You can buy them they are quite expensive if you’re only experimenting. I was able to make one up using a car jack and some online videos.

3 . A fermentation vessel which can be any larger plastic or glass container which you can seal.

4 . Bottles/ caps.

If you are making wild cider that’s basically all that you need.

There’s lots of stuff available online about the process and it’s possible to get lost in the amount of information to be found.

Just one final point and I’m open to corrections but you should get about a 50% yield from your apples. Ie from 20 KG of apples you should get 10 litres of juice.

A good source of equipment for Homebrew in general is a company called Homebrew West.

Archduke Franz Ferdinand

Look up Jack Hargreaves’s “old country” series on you tube, he details and shows how it’s done

PublicBen

Thanks. I tried juicing over the weekend. I put apple chunks in a blended and passed through a sieve and muslin cloth. Got about 7 litres in the fridge. That came from a large shopping bag. Have four more large bags to go through tomorrow evening.

Citizen Six

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058312706/anyone-looking-to-get-rid-of-an-apple-press

Keep an eye out on adverts. I got one last year for a decent price.

blackvalley

Yeah I’ll keep a lookout for that. In the meantime I managed to cobble together something that works. Managed to make about fifty litres so far.

Citizen Six

Looks great!

blackvalley

Have to thank the lady of the manor who donated her rolling pin to the cause of creating an apple masher 😆.

magicbastarder

i've slight RSI from using a domestic centrifugal juicer for juicing apples the other day; how efficient do you think your homemade press is? whatever was the difference this year, the leftover pulp was wetter than usual from my juicer and i reckon i lost several litres that way.

i was window shopping online for an apple press, but all the domestic ones look a little weedy, i doubt they'd be able to apply the pressure that a bottle jack would.

Citizen Six

I find a press time consuming too. I have an 18L one I got from adverts a few years back.

I made another one, using a bottle jack a few years ago, but it was also time consuming. Had to keep releasing the jack and adding spacer block, as the mulch was compressed/juiced.

I tried to find somewhere to rent a commercial juicer a few years back, but couldn't find anyone.

I average about 160kg of apples, so it does take a while, whichever way I do it.

magicbastarder

i'd have had less than half that in apples. it's more the waste of juice than the time which is irritating.

magicbastarder

though getting blood from apples seemed apt yesterday:

Citizen Six

I'd meant to build a new press, since last October, but didn't get around to it again. 🤣

I might try cobble something together.

magicbastarder

when you say the press was time consuming, how time consuming

i spent probably four or five hours juicing this lot (and one more bucket). the white buckets are 25l, so probably 15kg of apples in each? i got about 35l of apple juice in the end. i suspect a press would be quicker?

blackvalley

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122604585#Comment_122604585

Very happy with the homemade press . Leaves a very dry pulp . Im retired time is not an issue so would expect to spend a full day ( with plenty of coffee breaks ) to produce 25 Ltrs >

blackvalley

How or where do you get rid of the pulp ?.

magicbastarder

compost bin, usually. i did a cider making class in sonairte in north county dublin, given by david llewellyn, and IIRC he mentioned he gave his to a farmer as cattle feed - he'd be producing a lot though; and the pulp i get from the juicer is not nearly as suitable as a feed, i'd say.

blackvalley

Problem with a bottle jack is that the " travel " from fully open to fully closed is quite short so you will need packing pieces of timber or alternatively put a very small amount of apples in the container . Scissors jack has much longer travel so is quicker to use .

Citizen Six

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122604851#Comment_122604851

I'd spend a whole day pretty much.

Citizen Six

I bring mine back to the orchard, and spread it out there.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122605104#Comment_122605104

blackvalley

Well that’s the hard part done. Spent yesterday processing 100 KG of apples. Total yield of 60 Litres so very happy with that. Only got a yield of 50% last year but upgraded the “ apple mangler “ this year so much softer pulp.

Citizen Six

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122629070#Comment_122629070

Well done. 50% is about what I get myself.

magicbastarder

into the bottle washing now, the proper drudgery…

blackvalley

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122629338#Comment_122629338

Bought a second hand food waste disposal unit ie the one that attaches under a sink. Passed the apples through that and it produced a very runny slurry type pulp which was very easy to press.

Citizen Six

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122631338#Comment_122631338

Great idea!

magicbastarder

my cider is not as strong as i expected this year - if i'm reading the hydrometer right, it's barely above 3.5%. original was 1.036 or so, finished at 1.008.

cold summer i guess, plus i didn't thin the apples out enough on the tree (though i'm not sure how much difference that would make?)

loyatemu

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122645644#Comment_122645644

whatever about the low starting gravity, I'd expect it to finish out below 1. Careful you don't end up with bottle bombs.

magicbastarder

hmm; it stopped fermenting about five days ago; so i assumed it was complete.

magicbastarder

actually, i managed to fumble reading the scale. i misread the top arrowed line as 1.000, but the bottom arrowed line is 1.000. which is clear unless you're not paying attention, like me. so final gravity is closer to 1.004.

i have another hydrometer which puts it at 1.002 - a man with one watch knows the time…

blackvalley

Only new to this myself but should the SG not always end up at 1.000 or below if fermentation has completely finished. I think that they also suggest that you check the SG over a few days after you think fermentation is finished ie there may not be bubbles passing through the airlock but there may still be yeast activity. Once again I stress the I am a beginner at the hobby so others with more experience may have better advice.

Dont Be at It

One of the old style vertical spin dryers for clothes is great for getting the juice from the mulch. As good if not better than any press.

magicbastarder

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122647436#Comment_122647436

i've never bothered checking the gravity until this year! i've been making cider on and off for about ten years but it's not something i ever bothered with. i did have a bottle explode once but i think there was a flaw in the bottle.

Citizen Six

I’ve made some high strength batches the past couple years. Topped up the sugar content with honey from bees in the same orchard the apples are from, and used wine yeast.

magicbastarder

how does the honey affect the taste?

it was wine yeast i used this time. it had a BBE of 2023 but the one sachet of cider yeast i found had a BBE of 2018…

kowloon

Has anyone had much success adding raspberries, blackberries or blackcurrant to their cider? Does anywhere sell the straight juice to add or do I need to hunt down whole fruit and press it myself? I have some bushes planted but they're not producing enough berries at once to have a go at a few test batches.

Citizen Six

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122655051#Comment_122655051

If they aren’t producing enough at one time, you can freeze them as you pick them, until you have a good sized batch.

blackvalley

Just over a week ago I made this cider and added 750 ml of blackberry juice. Just picked the blackberries and passed them through a juice maker. This produced a sticky thick juice.
So far so good it’s bubbling away and theirs a lot of activity in the demijohn with particles rising and dropping quickly.
Would like to post a video but can’t.

Will let you know what the end result is.

magicbastarder

am curious now as to what blackberries taste like without sugar.

Citizen Six

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122647727#Comment_122647727

It sort of resembles a mead. I’ve never been wild about mead, and have only had a few that I’ve liked in the past.

kowloon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122655178#Comment_122655178

Next year they'll provide me with a bit more. I'm impatient though. I regret not keeping the few I was getting aside like you say.

Citizen Six

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122657492#Comment_122657492

I'm impatient too. But sometimes I've put stuff in the freezer, and don't get around to it for over a year!

I haven't even had a chance to pick any of my apples this year. I'll have to see how the next few weeks pan out.

kowloon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122657823#Comment_122657823

I think they'll all have picked themselves after the weather today.

magicbastarder

not too bad, could be better. a bit sour and dry but when chilled is quite drinkable.

Citizen Six

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122775595#Comment_122775595

Looks like good carbonation to it too.

blackvalley

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122775595#Comment_122775595

That looks really good. By coincidence I bottled the demijohn of the apple juice / blackberry juice today. Added small amount of sugar for carbonation and some stevia which hopefully will produce a little sweetness.