Cider Recipe

[Hilary B]

rack the cider into another container, as the yeasty smells are more likely to be in the lees/sludge at the bottom. This will also help it clear and keep it free from taints.
I saw a a good press made from wood and a car bottle jack on the web, the press I saw had the jack on top and I was concerned about muck from the jack falling in. Reckon the jack should go underneath and it could be a trolley jack (£10). Needs an upright square metal frame then the rest could be wood. Could bolt together so that it could be put away.

My father-in-law made a small press using a car jack (bottle type) and the problem he had was that the timber 'top' against which the jack exerted pressure could not be made strong enough. I would have thought the problem with pressing from below would be ensuring the juice spout is always correctly positioned when the height of the pressing platform changes.

[Brewer-again]

cider press

Bridex111, Hi! the flavour of mead is dependant on where the bees made the honey, perhaps the bees found a peach tree.

On to the Press ! ok, so we have a square of angle iron upright, a platten at the bottom that is strengthened by angle iron. The jack goes in between the square and the base. The base has a plastic tube 'flexible' takeoff.
Top made of right angle steel bolted on at right angles to the square frame.

Do you know it would be far easier the other way up, perhaps you could enclose the jack in a polythene bag.???

[m3bfs]

being a complete newbie to 'alcohol' making, (looking for fire blanket, in case i get shot down in flames lol) but what does a press do that a juicer wont. Am considering making some form of wine/cider/beer etc when moved and settled and was wondering for the amounts of fruit i'd be looking at using, if i couldn't put it all through the juicer. I do mean one of those electric jobbies where you put the fruit down the hole and it gets pushed through a sievey thingy.

sorry i'm so thick

m3bfs

[raine]

I'm glad you said this 'cos I was considering doing the same thing!

[Hilary B]

The idea with a press is to squeeeeeze the juice out. Not sure how a juicer works, but how does it cope with several pounds of fruit to get a gallon or so of juice?

[BrideXIII]

The idea with a press is to squeeeeeze the juice out. Not sure how a juicer works, but how does it cope with several pounds of fruit to get a gallon or so of juice?

time taken i suppose, it's not so very different apart from the fact you would take hours to bulk squeeze a ton of apples say? and maybe risk burning the motor out?

[bobleponge]

Yes I think its a question of time and quantity. To fill 1 demi john took a lot of apples. To do that in a juicer would take a long long time.
Also I would be very surprised if a proper cider press didnt extract more juice than a juicer.

[liejay]

if you dont have a juicer or a press the apples can be roughly chopped and placed in a brewing bucket with water and pectolase, stir daily for about a week and you can mush them with clean hands, makes a great scrumpy once you add the yeast

[maytreefrannie]

Yes I think its a question of time and quantity. To fill 1 demi john took a lot of apples. To do that in a juicer would take a long long time.
Also I would be very surprised if a proper cider press didnt extract more juice than a juicer.

I used pure pressed apple juice (bought on a trip to an apple farm) and some cut up apples - I soaked them for a few hours, then 'pressed' them through a clean pillow case with a rolling pin and by squeezing with my hands.

It brought me a fair amount of juice but -Yes, I agree a proper cider press would have extracted more juice!

[BrideXIII]

Update:

just bottled the spiced apple juice wine..................heavenly, tastes like a nice still cider, i used cinnamon nutmeg and cloves in it, its going to be lovely for Xmas

[Nelly]

I used an electric juicer for my cider, both this year and last. Yes, it took a lot of apples and a fair amount of time (and seemingly most of the kitchen). Thing with domestic juicers is that they're only really designed for juicing a couple of apples and the odd carrot. Last year I really thought mine was going to explode! It got very hot and the smell of burning rubber was not reassuring... Luckily I juiced the final apple for my one gallon of cider before the Cumbrian Big Bang took place. Must have been mad to do it again this year but I did (and a bit more carefully - smaller loads, more frequent emptying). I should point out that I have quite a good quality juicier (£100 rather than £30) and it also has a large sieve container thing so can cope with more than other juicers I've seen. When I move to Skye and we plant apple trees (wind and bog permitting) then I will probably have to invest in something more substantial like a proper, non-exploding press. Meanwhile, I certainly don't regret investing in my juicer... Just hope this year's cider is better than last year's cheek-sucking variety!

[jellobiafra]

you forgot to mention I helped enormously and cut my finger quite savagely and brutally and am still suffering with a significant deformity!!!

[solway cropper]

I have 4 mature apple trees in the garden and there are semi-wild and crab apples in the area so no shortage of fruit. I couldn't afford an expensive press so i improvised with a piece of 4x4 timber and a plastic trug. Chop the apples up roughly first and place a few inches in the bottom of the trug then beat the **** out of them with the end of the wood. This should give a nice pulp which which you transfer to another bucket, cover with water and leave for a few days before straining through muslin. Add sugar to get to the required o.g. then sprinkle cider yeast on top and wait. I racked mine off from the fermenting bin to demijohns then to bottles and got over 20 gallons. Unfortunately i added too much sugar and ended up with a brew which was around 7 percent alcohol....too strong for everyday quaffing. The last demijohn full didn't taste quite right so it's now turning slowly into vinegar ready to use for pickling this autumn.

[Scottishnewbie]

Not sure if this is the right place to post this but it is kindof linked I think! What's the difference between racking (is that the right word?) into a fresh demijohn as opposed to bottling? And when should you do it anyway - once it's all stopped fermenting?

Thanks and sorry for being a thicko (new to wine making)

[Hilary B]

Not sure if this is the right place to post this but it is kindof linked I think! What's the difference between racking (is that the right word?) into a fresh demijohn as opposed to bottling? And when should you do it anyway - once it's all stopped fermenting?

Thanks and sorry for being a thicko (new to wine making)

Racking is to separate the nice booze from the left-over yeast. When the ferment is done (or nearly done) most of the yeast sinks to the bottom of the fermenting vessel (sediment). If it is left in, you not only have cloudy wine/cider, it also produces some odd flavours, so you siphon off the nice bit into a clean container, and leave the gunk behind. Sometimes this may need doing 2 or 3 times, if it throws much sediment before fermenting is done.
Bottling comes when you are sure there is no more sediment left to sink, and no more fermenting happening.