I'm interested in anyone's ideas about a makeshift cider press. I read about the one in the Countryside magazine but I don't have access to a used garbage disposal and don't want to spend the money for a new one. We are interested in making cider this weekend and thought I'd see if anyone has had some creative experiences with making cider cheaply. It is just for us, not to sell. I do have a juicer that I picked up at an auction several weeks ago but I am waiting for the directions to arrive from the manufacturer so I haven't used it yet. Would this help us make cider? Or would it just be wasted in the pulp? Or would there be a way to "press" the pulp? Just kind of thinking out loud. Any ideas?

-- Colleen (pyramidgreatdanes@erols.com), September 15, 2000

Answers

Collen, you might be able to use your juicer, but if you have a cheese press, and can grind the apples, that would work, too. You just need some way of squeezing apple pulp VERY hard!

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), September 16, 2000.

Squeezing apples for wine once, I sliced them , then placed them in a plastic 5 gal bucket with small holes drilled in it. I cut the rim of the accompaning lid so that it fit inside the bucket. On top of the lid I put a square of 3/8 plywood wrapped in plastic so as not to contaminate the juice. The bucket I placed in a washtub under my shop doorway of heavy timber. Using a 4 x4 and hydrolic jack in the doorway, I squeezed the pulp. You just have to be careful not to loosen the doorframe.

-- Jay Blair (jayblair678@yahoo.com), September 16, 2000.

You really need to grind the apples as fine as possible. Chopping them will give much less cider than grinding them. For very small batches, use a blender or food processor (it will be hard on the blender).

Jim

-- Jim (jiminwis@yahoo.com), September 20, 2000.