Kitchen Garden Forum

Has anyone got any ideas on how I can rig up a press to make cider please? I've got loads of apples, and even with storage and using them in chutneys and apple sauce, there is no way we can eat them all, so have decided to make some cider.

It doesn't need to be very big, and i've got the chopping sorted. But ideas for a press would be very welcome folks

Thanks

I'm sure someone will come back to you with the official answer on using a proper press.

In the meantime, if you don't actually have a press, do you have access to a juicer? This will probably be a longer job, but there's more chance you can get hold of one.

It probably doesn't meet any of the requirements for doing it "properly" but I used one a few years ago when I saw my neighbour's tree laden with fruit that he had no intention of using. The resulting juice made a batch of cider plus some apple wine.

lizzie. if it proofs to much for you, why not invite us all round to sample the cider.

What a fab idea Colin.... I do have a juicer but the idea of using it to make cider never emtered my head

As for invites, well, we'll see how things work out. It could be the stuff I make is only fit for unblocking drains or stripping varnish

Read the small ads in the back of KG, I'm sure you'll find what you want.
Whether you can afford it will be a different matter.

I use my juicer and it is quite efficient but you can't do many at a time. I also put the pulp in a fine mesh bag and squeeze that out again and it does give a bit more juice. Using the juicer does make more of a deposit than just pressing, but this settles out and you just syphon the juice off the top.

I've also used a large mincer and that is also OK.

Hello Lizzie
There is quite a bit of stuff on ebay, a lot of it is new, and even some plans so you can build your own press. It looks as though you have to have a pulper as well to get the most juice from your fruit.

John

I have seen a square frame with a couple of squares of thick plywood and a car jack to do the squashing used.
The difficult bit is finding/making a strong metal frame to contain it.
You could make some sort of lever press with a long wooden handle (like 10ft of 2x4) and hang some weights on the end.
There's no end of ways of doing it just constrained by your imagination.
Personally I would put the pulp in a strong muslim bag between two thick pieces of ply and then push down on it with my (clean) digger bucket.
You can buy small scale cider making kit on the interweb.
Kev

large baking tray, apples in a old cotton shirt, sheet of clean plywood, slide it under the car , put car jack on top and jack the car up..... weight of the car will press most of the juice out.....

Thanks everyone........I'll keep these brilliant suggestions in mine. I found a barrel in my shed that I can use. It's a bit manky but nothing a good clean and a bottle of Miltons wont cure. Didn't know I had a barrel in there. But then again, I can't get in my shed so there's probably all kinds that I've kept which I thought may come in useful one day