Apple Cider Press
Go Shopping for a Cider Press
Got loads of apples? Well you need an apple cider press to extract all the juice so you can make some superb cider and some really natural apple juice for drinking. No doubt you are fed up throwing all those apples away and you have been saying for years what a waste it is so now you just need to order from us an apple cider press and you can get started. Firstly we need to give the apples a really good washing, say in a large dustbin. Then we need to cut them in to quarters and pulp them. This can be done by smashing them with a large wooden block, using a pulp master or putting them through an apple crusher. The pulp master goes onto the end of a drill and has a cutting blade on the end. The apples are chopped and placed in the bucket and the lid is put on. The drill bit goes through the lid and you simply move up and down pulping the apples. The crusher is the easiest way of dealing with the apples as they are pulped easily and obtain just the right consistency. The best crushers for the apples are made of stainless steel and have teeth in the cogs which look really quite vicious.
When we have the pulp we then need to transfer this to a straining bag and this can then be placed inside the apple cider press. We are now ready to start extracting the juice. Simply turn the wheel down (depending on what style of apple press you have) until you get friction. Once these happen then stop turning the apple press. Have a short break and when you return the juice will start to run out. You can then give the press a further turn until all the juice has been extracted from the pulped apples.
If you want to prevent the juice from oxidising then add a campden tablet (one per gallon of juice). The juice can then be transferred to a fermenting container or can be bottled in suitable plastic containers and frozen. The fresh juice will keep for about 4-5 days in a fridge. Keep using your apple cider press in this way until you have as much juice as you require for the cider (or until you have no more apples left). The juice should then have yeast, nutrient, tannin, malic acid, precipitated chalk, added to it where necessary and left to ferment. For full details have a good look at our full cider making instructions. The apple cider press should now be well cleaned; we would suggest a power hose as being ideal for this.