cider press...

[locum76]

with a great heap of windfall cooking apples at the farm, it seems the only logical thing to do is make cider.

does anyone near edinburgh have a cider press that could be borrowed?

 

[Toddy]

I've got one of the enamelled tube/colander holes type ones with a screw press. It's only about a foot high though and it's d*mned hard work but you're welcome to borrow it.
I'm reliably informed that if you've got a *lot* of apples then a car jack and some plywood sealed in polythene and some stout cloth is the way to go

Match is in Edinburgh and he has done a fair amount of brewing and he might know someone nearer to you with something suitable.

atb,
Toddy

 

[ilan]

sorry no press but maybe worth a try if you have a pressure barrel is it put a pillow case or similar into the barrel fill it with the chopped apples then pour over a working yeast culture . open the tap with a suitable container underneath once the pressure release valve starts hissing or every day or so after a couple of days the apples will be a dryish pulp . put the next lot in and pour over a couple of cups of the now fermenting brew . ilan

 

[Toddy]

Now that's an idea I've got two of these up the loft and HWMBLT has just picked the last of the apples and I've got two washing baskets full

Cheers,
Toddy

 

[JohnC]

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/product.asp?p=080510310
I saw this in the machine mart catalogue.

 

[ilan]

to make a good cider you will need to have a selection of apples including crab /cider type apples also dont rely on the wild yeasts but try to get a good brewing yeast . The method i described works in a similar way to a diver getting the bends , ie openning the tap results in a loss of pressure and gas and juce deep in the fruit try and escape .Have you also thought of apple wine ? add grape juice or raisins to the mix then add sugar and lemon juice to the resultant fermenting juice . Ilan

 

[EdS]

just done 6 gallons using a juicer. Did 4 last year the same method.

Wash the apple, slice into correct size for the machine and juice. You get a foamy layer on the top that can be skimmed off once you juiced them all.

 

[locum76]

i still havn't sorted this out... meanwhile harvesting more and more apples. i like the sound of the pillowcase in a pressure barrel thing. can you describe in more detail..?