[flatcap]

me and oh have decided to try cider making ,after years of wine making. were debating on 6l press from art of brewing £84 also pulp bucket and lid anyone on here used any of these dont want to waste money if there no good
                                  thanks

[jack russell]

hi flatcap

why not give freecycle a try first see if owt comes your way  

cheers

jr

[David.]

I use a 5.3 litre stainless steel/aluminium press like this:

Press

Which I use in conjunction with a straining bag and a pulpmaster bucket (powered by an electric drill):

Pulper

 
I reckon on cutting up windfalls, pulping, and pressing 1 gallon of juice (from approx 20 lbs of apple) per hour, singlehanded.

I have a second bucket for the pulpmaster (only a few pounds more), which enables 2 of us to work on pulping (as well as cutting) which really speeds things up. If you want to pulp crab apples, a kitchen food processor is best because a pulpmaster just stirs them around the bucket (but don't do as I did and pour the apple AND the cutting blades into the press when working late).

Apple juice also makes good wine.

One of the best purchases I've made.

[flatcap]

cheers for replies ,
                                          jr i dont have much luck with freecycle but il keep trying .

david ,thats the pulper we are looking at thanks for info on it ,looks like we could be making cider soon (got the apples ready)
                                                     
                                                                     thanks

[Welsh Girls Allotment]

my husband had a go at cider making last night whilst I was at the allotment, we do not have a cider press he thought whizzing them through juice machine would be ok, when I came back from the plot there was apple pulp everywhere, manky looking liquid in the demi john - but he was happy so I started to help him then he became totally disalusioned because there was so much juice left in the pulp - out comes a pair of tights which were chopped up and used to squish more juice out - personally I do not think its going to work but at least he tried  

I will have to let you know how it gets on so far there is no plopping but our kitchen was very cold last night so I have moved it into the front room so hopefully it will get going soon  :roll:

[flatcap]

lol wga

                                  at least use have had a go ,dread to think how long it took to put apples through the fruit machine .hopefully it will start fermenting soon

[Bodger]

My mate and I made a press from plans that we got from Downsizer and we use a garden shredder for pulping the apples. See my post on here.

[David.]

david ,thats the pulper we are looking at

As the blade does not extend all the way to the bottom of the bucket, it helps (before you finish pulping) to empty the bucket then fill approx 100mm/4" deep with pulp, then fill again with the remainder of chopped apples.

The bucket is a 'Lucy Hardwares' 10" bucket, so you may be able to purchase additional buckets from independant hardware stores at 50% of the homebrew shop cost.

It also helps to have loads of larger buckets with lids, for cleaning apples, storing chopped apples & pulped apple (if you can't use your pulp immediately, push a large plate into the top of the pulp and that will stop it oxidising. I often do this overnight if too tired to press after pulping) and taking debris to your composters (keep them away from where you press or you will have thousands of fruit flies):




And yes, that is wild hops in the hedge.

[flatcap]

thanks for advice david,

                                                 i ordered the equiptment on next day delivery (oh very impatient) got a fone call there out off stock til next week  :twisted:  

   we mite get started next weekend if  we are lucky

[Welsh Girls Allotment]

lol wga

                                  at least use have had a go ,dread to think how long it took to put apples through the fruit machine .hopefully it will start fermenting soon

it took him ages !!

At least we have plopping today - I put three teaspoons of sugar in the demi-john  case the yeast was 'hungry' and it is going for gold today - but it looks rank  

[David.]

At least we have plopping today - I put three teaspoons of sugar in the demi-john  case the yeast was 'hungry' and it is going for gold today - but it looks rank  :lol:

The juice I'm pressing at the moment has a sugar content that will ferment out to only about 4% ABV, and requires 4 oz sugar/gall to bring it up to shop apple juice sweetness for drinking (which should give you an idea of sugar content if not using a hydrometer), and I add 8 oz/gall to produce 6% ABV cider, or 12 oz/gall to ensure I get 7.5% ABV maximum strength cider.

&


Flatcap - more Pulpmaster tips:

Having a towel handy keeps your hands dry for when holding the electric drill. I forgot earlier this week and got a bit of a jolt. Time for a new corded drill perhaps.

If using in the kitchen, drape an old sheet in front of the units/appliances where you are working or they will get sprayed with pulp, no matter how carefull you are.

Giving the top a tap will drop the pulp that hangs underneath and waits until you hold it over wherever the most mess will be caused before falling off.

And for your press, get a longer length of tube (from B&Q as it is usually a larger diameter than stocked by a homebrew shop for siphon tube) for the spout of your press so it will reach down from workbench/worktop level and right into a demijohn on the foor and it's often very curly and want's to get back out (I use clothes peg & string to keep in place) so 1.5 m is normally required.

Have fun and enjoy a drink of that juice before fermenting it.

[flatcap]

thanks for the extra tips david,

                                                         i think il send oh outside with a cordless drill when he starts pulping  

wga ,hope your cider tastes better than it looks

[Welsh Girls Allotment]

wga ,hope your cider tastes better than it looks

me too, its starting to look a little less murky today  

[takeit]

can some on please let me know very simply from start to finish how to make cider please i thought press em get the juice out of em in a bucket then what do you need to add any thing to make the alcohol im a bit lost at this bit

[flatcap]

hi takeit

                        its our 1st time making cider , recipe we are following for scrumpy cider says to add champage yeast .

im sure someone more experienced will answer soon