We purchased a bin of Macoun apples from Windy Ridge Orchard last week to make cider. Usually we go around and collect free apples from people that don't want them but this year we have been unbelievably busy and just didn't have time. It was so much easier buying them and it really wasn't that expensive.
This bin was full when we started. Wish I had thought to snap a picture. We start by washing each apple with the hose. It was a cold job as the temperatures were only in the high 40's.
This is our press. There is a hopper on the back side that you put the apples in and then you turn the handle, or in our case run the drill to turn the choppers that grind up the apples. The barrel is lined with a cloth full of tiny holes to keep the chunks in & let the juice flow. Once the barrel is full of chopped apples we turn the handle on top which compacts the apples and the juice flows out the bottom tray into our dish. If you look closely you can see the juice draining into the bowl. The bowl is lined with cheesecloth to filter out the small pieces of apples that may get through.
These apples were juicy and one press was making almost 3 gallons of cider. We ended up making 30 gallons of cider. We don't fill them all the way so that we can freeze them.
We feed the remaining ground apples to our goats and horses in moderation. Any leftovers are spread on my garden for fertilizer.
We saved some apples for canning and apple pies, plus we need a couple bushels for the kids to press at our annual Halloween party.
Now we can enjoy sweet, unpasteurized apple cider until next fall when we start all over again. Yum!
