Rural Smallholdings Magazine

Apple Cider — Extracting the Juice

Where Tradition Meets New Methods 

The first step for making apple cider is to extract the juice from the apples. This is truly where tradition can meet new methods. Making cider is incredibly easy with today’s modern appliances. There are only three things to know. You have to pulverize the apples so the juice can run free. You need to strain out the pulp and seeds so the juice is clear. And then you need to preserve the juice in its fresh state or prepare it for making cider.

Before you do anything with the apples, you need to let them soften a while. Don’t wash them yet, or mold can start rotting the apples. Just let the apples rest for a week or two, so they mellow out a little and develop more sugar. Then wash them thoroughly.

For the best fresh cider, you will want to use more than one type of apple. If all the apples in the cider are sweet, the flavor won’t be as interesting as if a combination of apple types are used. The exception is the Braeburn apple. This apple, while a drier apple that is known for it’s suitability for baking, makes a heavenly fresh cider.

If you plan on making hard cider, then sweeter apples will give the yeast more sugar to act upon. More about that in the next article Making Apple Cider—Curing the Juice into Cider.

Traditional cider presses include two parts—one to crush the apples into pommace (pulp) and one to press the juice from the pommace. A new cider press designed after this traditional style can be a major investment. If you are handy and have access to the tools, it costs far less to build your own press using oak, birch, alder or maple. Softwoods known for their own aromatic properties, such as pine and fir, will ruin the juice so are only appropriate for the framing.

There are several sites on the internet that offer plans. Mother Earth News offers a free plan online http://www.motherearthnews.com/Do-It-Yourself/1976-09-01/How-To-Build-A-Cider-Press.aspx but doesn’t include any pictures, just instructions. Herrick C. Kimball has written a well-laid out book, Anyone Can Build an Apple Grinder and Cider Press Plan, published by Mother Earth News. It may be difficult to locate in the U.K.  ‘Making Cider’ by Jo Deal  and published by Amateur Wine Maker Publications Ltd is a very handy little book which offers info on making cider, making your own cider press, cider and cider punch recipes and even offers some traditional food recipes using cider.

The plan available at: http://www.instructables.com/id/Homemade_cheese_and_cider_press/ is excellent if you are skilled in woodworking and can be used for both cheese making and cider. It costs the price of membership.

If you do not want to add another piece of equipment to your collection that you only use once a year, modern technology comes to the rescue. You can use a blender to pulverize the apples. The best on the market is the Vita Mixer®, which not only makes quick work of pulverizing the apples, it is useful for the rest of the year as well.

If your blender isn’t as heavy-duty, cut the apples into quarters. Remove the stems and blossom ends. The cores can be left behind. Then blend the apples in small batches. If you leave about 250 ml of sauce in the blender, it will be easier to get the next batch going. Another way to crush the apples is to put the quartered apples through a meat grinder with small holes, so the fruit is crushed completely.

There are several small wine / cider presses available on the internet. This is the easiest way to press the cider out of the pulp if you don’t purchase or build a cider press. Line the press with fine nylon mesh or cheesecloth, and follow the manufacturer’s directions from there.

If you want to work with things you already own, set a colander over a large pan. Line it with fine nylon mesh or cheesecloth. You don’t want the pulp oozing through, so the finer the mesh the better. A clean pair of tights works very well. Pour the apple mash into the colander, then bring the mesh up around the pulp and twist the edges so the pulp is completely enclosed. Apply gentle pressure to extract the juice. One of the best ways to do this is to rest a plate on top of the mesh after you have twisted it shut, and place a clean stone or brick on top. If you use bricks, you can add more bricks each time the juice stops flowing out. When the pommace is dry enough to hold together, throw it in the compost.

Would you like a quicker way to extract the juice? Use a Champion^® juicer or a centrifugal juicer. The Champion works by masticating the fruit and allowing the juice to drain through a fine screen. The pulp comes out the end of the juicer. To extract the maximum amount of juice from the pulp, put it through the juicer several times. Pour the juice off into a tall kettle and store in a cool place for several hours. The sediment will settle to the bottom and the clear apple cider can be poured off the top.

Centrifugal juicers also masticate the fruit. Fine teeth tear up the apple, then the juice drains through a mesh screen on the sides while the speed of the rotating basket throws the pulp into a pulp bin. A great deal of juice remains in the pulp, so you may still want to press the pulp for juice.

At this stage you can choose to preserve the apple juice in it’s fresh, non-alcoholic state, or proceed to the next stage of making apple cider. The easiest way to preserve your fresh cider is to freeze it. This preserves the flavour and nutrients the most effectively. The next best method is to heat the juice and can it in litre jars in a hot water bath canner. While you will lose a little of the fresh-off-the-tree flavour, you will be able to enjoy the taste of fresh apple cider throughout the cold months of winter.

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Click on the links below for more info on learning to make your own apple cider:

Apple Presses and Crushers

A Simple Guide to Making Cider

How to Make Cider.com

How to Make Cider – A Video Guide

Article by Rural Smallholdings Magazine