how do i make and preserve apple cider?

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i would like to make apple cider but was wondering about how to keep it is there a special preserve i need to add or do i have to do somthing to it right after it is pressed? Please Help!

-- (rcbuj@juno.com), August 25, 2001

Answers

You can pasteurize it just like milk. I like it fresh without the uncooked taste, though, so if you don't have a lot of apples to do, do it a gallon at a time and drink it up before pressing a new batch. The other way to keep it is to freeze it, but you'll need a lot of freezer room for gallons of it. If you want hard cider, and that's the kind of preservation you are talking about, I don't know much about that. Maybe someone else can help. :)

-- Jennifer L. (Northern NYS) (jlance@nospammail.com), August 25, 2001.

My hubby makes great hard cider. (My favorite is strawberry cider!) It not only preserves the apple juice it preserves you too :-) I'll ask him how he does it tonight!

-- Mary R. (cntryfolk@ime.net), August 25, 2001.

We usually can it in half gallon mason jars in the pressure canner, I just follow the timetable for apple juice. We also freeze it. It's easy to do both ways !! Good Luck.

-- Helena Di Maio (windyacs@ptdprolog.net), August 26, 2001.

We use a Happy Valley apple press. It has a grinder attachment to grind the apples. We let the pomace sit for a couple of hours than press. I can most of the cider, just like apple juice and turn some into vinegar.

Use a variety of apples for best flavor. Macs are real sweet and if you do a cider with just them it is too sweet. We try to use 2-3 varities.

The chickens and goats would get the pomace. Sometimes we would put it in the back field for the deer but they preferred to come into the garden a eat the apples right off the tree. Actually, they would take a bite out of an apple then go to the next one. They never ate the ones that were on the ground.

-- Cordy (ckaylegian@aol.com), August 27, 2001.


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