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Cider Digest #1590
Subject: Cider Digest #1590, 27 October 2010
From: cider-request@talisman.com
Cider Digest #1590 27 October 2010
Cider and Perry Discussion Forum
Contents:
RE: Crusher Selection (lotic@juno.com)
Film Yeast (Andrew Lea)
Re: psi of pressing (Bill)
Cultivar questions (John Mott)
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Subject: RE: Crusher Selection
From: lotic@juno.com
Date: Sat, 23 Oct 2010 22:03:05 -0400
Mr. Klepfer,
Although I am now using an OESCO grinder head on a homemade steel
stand and SS hopper, I started off with a hand grinder from a Jaffrey
Press.
I too found it tedious to crank away with one hand while trying to load
apples into the grinder with the other hand. I came up with a solution
that may help smaller, cost-minded, cider-folk.
I found an old 1/4 HP motor in the back of the barn. I screwed
it, and the grinder, to a block of wood. I took the smallest pulley I
could find and put it on the shaft of the motor. I then took the largest
pulley I could find and put it on the shaft of the grinder (replacing the
hand crank), and attached the motor to the grinder with an old V-belt. It
represented about a 10-fold reduction in RPMs at the grinder. Then, I
plugged in the motor and simply fed apples into the grinder - it worked
pretty well. The motor I used spins at ~1000RPM. I tried to slow it down
by use of a voltage regulator (rheostat), but, as with most electric
motors, it hated that idea. Even at 100RPM, the grinder is a bit fast. If
I had to do it again, I would add another wheel and reduce the speed to
about 50-75 RPM. Or, better yet; If you have (or can find) an old
washing machine that's bound for the dump, I believe that the motor and
gear box would be just about ideal. So, if you're sitting on a bunch of
spare parts in the garage / barn, you might want to try tinkering and
save some significant $$$ (and muscle fatigue).
As always, please be careful. A motorized grinder is a great way
to lose a finger or two (makes a horrible cider addition). Also, cider
and electricity still don't mix well (use a grounded plug, and keep the
motor dry).
Peter Mitchell
Headwater Cider
PS- If you're going to be in Western Massachusetts, think about coming to
Cider Days on November 6+7. www.ciderday.org
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Subject: Film Yeast
From: Andrew Lea <andrew@harphill.co.uk>
Date: Sun, 24 Oct 2010 08:32:28 +0100
Robert Kuntz wrote:
> .and my cider has developed what looks
> like a film mold on top - looks almost oily, and well, white filmy stuff on
> top. It's not as thick as what is in Andrew Lea's photo on his website -
> very thin, almost see through.
It sounds like a film yeast in its early stages.
> What is a good way to knock down the mold? I added sulfite again to the
> tune of 50 ppm before topping off later this weekend. I've already been
> considering buying a filter for the spring and racking into kegs, but I'd
> like to not have a flavor impact in the meantime.
>
> Is there anything else I can do in the meantime that might work?
Quit worrying! A small amount of film yeast is quite normal and almost
impossible to eliminate. If you (a) use sulphite and (b) keep the air
rigorously excluded from the cider it will be self limiting and will not
develop further.
Andrew
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Subject: Re: psi of pressing
From: Bill <squeeze@mars.ark.com>
Date: Sun, 24 Oct 2010 08:24:20 -0700
Jason wonders about poor extraction using 70psi - yes that's the
majority of your problem, you could get higher pressures jumping up and
down on the stack! My electric/hydraulic press is capable of 3000psi,
although I find 2000 is sufficient, and 1000-1200 is as much as needed
with softer fruit from storage. Additionally the size of the rams is a
consideration, I have double 5" rams and in combination with the 2000psi
there's about 40 tons of pressure exerted on the stack.
The difference in yields between table varieties and apparently dry
varieties [not just "cider" apples] is the amount of pressure required
to burst the cell structure. My take is that the types with generous
free run juice [fresh Gravenstein being a prime example] seem to have
much of their liquid between cells rather than within, or much thinner
cell walls. Any apple is about 80% water, yields beyond that being the
weight of other components and the solids, so our goal should be at
least that 80%. Manual hydraulic jacks will never do it.
Bill <http://mars.ark.com/~squeeze/>
------------------------------
Subject: Cultivar questions
From: John Mott <john@johnmott.com>
Date: Sun, 24 Oct 2010 12:51:01 -0400
Firstly, it's nice to see volume picking up on this list. Due to the
season, perhaps.
Does anyone have any experience with the Spartan variety in cider? The
Proulx/Nichols book cites some data showing Spartan with relatively
low acidity in comparison to other dessert apples. This suggests that
it might be a good addition to a dessert/culinary blend for that
reason alone.
Red Delicious is even less acidic and so I could ask the same question about it.
And lastly, I have access to some one-year whips of Foxwhelp, the NA
version. It's been well documented that this is a different variety
than the UK Foxwhelp, but I would like to know if it has any redeeming
qualities as a cider apple. I don't want to waste precious orchard
space, if not.
John Mott
Kimberely, ON
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End of Cider Digest #1590
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