Cider press

[Taf]

Just to give an update on this press, myself and Lord Eoin pressed approximately 75 litres of apple juice and 5 liters of perrry in about 5 hours yesterday. Used a modified garden shredder to pulp the fruit and it was dripping with juice when going into the press with an average of 10 litres per pressing and 15 liters at a push, but around 10 litres seemed the sweet spot. Have blisters on my hands from chopping the apples, so that's one part of the process that could do with improvement. Apples neeed to be quarter at least depending on the side, so that they didn't just bounce around the shredder. The crank on the mill is a great addition to the presss, and allows you to really squeeze the juice out.

All in all, very happy with the purchase!

[johnrm]

Are you handy with wood?
https://youtu.be/SlkQly2T-Wc

[Eoin]

Look at plans online to make an apple scratter.

They should be easy enough to make with a few rudimentary tools.

[aweisse]

And if you have a lot of apples https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7D_tFIiT80&t=198

[Taf]

Are you handy with wood?
https://youtu.be/SlkQly2T-Wc

Ha, no I'm not handy with wood, that's for sure! That does look really efficient for a home made jobby, but not sure how it would manage with large volumes of apples.

[Taf]

And if you have a lot of apples https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7D_tFIiT80&t=198

I like the look of that scratter, but would be afraid to check how much it cost!

[Leann ull]

785 yo yos

[Taf]

785 yo yos

Hmm, can get a lot of group buy cider for that money! Think I will hold off for now!

[Leann ull]

I was chatting to a guy on twitter Barmas last night that has one for 420 odd.
Like you youd want a lot of trees to justify that, amd then you have the pita of pressing it although for 900 you could have one of these...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNvLXzMKCdw

[irish_goat]

Can we do a group buy on an orchard and then buy one of those? 

[Bazza]

Can we do a group buy on an orchard and then buy one of those? 

Not a bad plan but where's the fun in going nicking from your own orchard?

In fairness, I haven't done that in about 30 years, so might not be an issue.

-Barry

[Taf]

One of the buddys who I got the apples off, mentioned that he has access to a local orchard in Cork for walking his dogs, which he paid €1,000 for key and lifetime access. He also mentioned that there is access to the apples via some sort of co-operative. I seem to have plenty of apples to collect without paying for them, but might be nice varieties to choose from, as I seem to be able to get a lot of cookers and not so many dessert apples. Not sure how much cider I need though.

[johnrm]

One of the lads in Midleton has either the Speidel Pulper or Press.
I think he will visit an orchard once he gets a portion of the juice.

[LordEoin]

A few pictures of our cider day below. The apples you see in the crates are about half the load.
The total yield was about 75liters, and there's no sign of any infections (apart from the one i put in on purpose)
I have one fermenting with T58 and one with SafCider. The pears are fermenting with s04.
There was a fair gap before getting&pitching the safcider, but it doesn't seem to have harmed anything

[Taf]

Sound for the pictures Eoin, forgot you took some. Below is main apple rinser enjoying the juice and looking for more!