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Cider Digest #1586
Subject: Cider Digest #1586, 9 October 2010
From: cider-request@talisman.com
Cider Digest #1586 9 October 2010
Cider and Perry Discussion Forum
Contents:
Franklin County CiderDays is coming soon! (Lynn Nichols)
Re: intermediate-size cider presses? (Nat West)
cider digest (Bear Swamp Orchard)
inexpensive way to pulp apples (Jay Hersh)
RE: intermediate-size cider presses? (from Heather)
Electric Apple Mill Recommendations (from Heather)
Re: small scale cider pressing (Steven Edholm)
thoughts on intermediate-size press replies (Dick Dunn)
NOTE: Digest appears whenever there is enough material to send one.
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Digest Janitor: Dick Dunn
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Subject: Franklin County CiderDays is coming soon!
From: Lynn Nichols <lynn@starstruckdesign.com>
Date: Wed, 06 Oct 2010 17:05:25 -0400
The 16th Annual Franklin County (MA) CiderDays event is coming up on
Saturday and Sunday, November 6th and 7th. This event, begun by Terry
and Judith Maloney of West County Cider, now offers two days of
workshops for beginner through advanced cidermakers, orchard tours and
talks, cider pressing, vendor marketplace and more. On Saturday, there
are two sessions of the popular Cider Salon, which offers an opportunity
to taste hard ciders from 25 producers from across North America,
followed by a harvest supper (with lots of cider, of course, plus a
tribute to Terry Maloney). On Sunday, there are three ticketed tastings
- - Ice Cider Tasting and Discussion, RAFT Heritage Apple Tasting and
Cider and Cheese Pairing. Full schedule of events on the website -
www.ciderday.org. Tickets for the Salon, dinner and Sunday tastings are
on sale on the site and they are going fast so if you're thinking of
joining us for this year's event, plan ahead!
- - Lynn Nichols, CiderDays organizing committee
- --
Lynn A. Nichols, Starstruck Design
Gill, MA ? 413-863-7752 ? lynn@starstruckdesign.com
http://www.starstruckdesign.com ? http://www.shopwesternmass.com
------------------------------
Subject: Re: intermediate-size cider presses?
From: Nat West <natjwest@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 2 Oct 2010 14:57:34 -0700
Dick -
The steel shop press made by Alan Yelvington and myself (and probably
others) makes an excellent step-up from a basket press. It required
practically no shop experience to put together as nearly everything is
available "off the shelf". I have a parts list laying around here somewhere
I can dig up if you're interested. I believe I invested under $500 for it
all, but I made my own press racks and cloths.
I pressed about 60 gallons with it in one day start-to-finish, including
clean-up, this past Wednesday.
- -Nat West, Portland Oregon
------------------------------
Subject: cider digest
From: Bear Swamp Orchard <apples@bearswamporchard.com>
Date: Tue, 5 Oct 2010 13:13:05 -0400
"But if one wants to move up to a pack press or similar for improved
efficiency, and also move up a little in capacity, there doesn't seem
to be any commercial product until the many-thousands-of-dollars bracket."
Dick,
We have been using a Lanceman bladder type press for two seasons now for
a small commercial operation we have (www.bearswamporchard.com), and have
had very good luck with it. It loads and unloads quickly and easily and is
easy to clean. All you need to run it is an attached garden hose with 40 psi
behind it to fill the bladder. They come in three or four sizes depending
on your capacity needs. They are imported and sold through OESCO. Of course
it is still in the many of thousands range ($2000 +/-) and then you need
to see if you have to upgrade your grinding to keep up. Contact me if you
want more specifics. In my research this was about it until you got into
some pretty big equipment at many, many thousands of dollars.
Steve Gougeon
Bear Swamp Orchard
------------------------------
Subject: inexpensive way to pulp apples
From: Jay Hersh <jsh@doctorbeer.com>
Date: Tue, 05 Oct 2010 13:17:53 -0400
Last few years I've made cider I've been lucky enough to buy pre-pressed
juice that was specifically blended for cider making by very experienced
amateurs or professional commercial cider makers.
I have, however, in the past bought apples and made my own blends. So I
figured with cider making season upon us I'd mention that I bought an
Insinkerator under sink garbage disposal which I mounted in a custom made
bench, complete with a sheet metal top, that can easily sit atop a
collection bucket. This is dedicated only for cider use and gets completely
cleaned after each season's usage.
Benefits:
- - it puts out pulped apple in a consistency that is very good for pressing
in my standard italian style wine press
Drawbacks:
- - larger apples must be halved or quartered which requires some labor
- - the unit can overheat and needs either periodic rests or a cooling cool
with cold water running through it mounted around it
Since I tend to make only a small batch or two rather than large batches or
many small ones this works OK and was inexpensive to build.
Jay
------------------------------
Subject: RE: intermediate-size cider presses?
From: from Heather <for_heather@hotmail.com>
Date: Tue, 5 Oct 2010 17:49:27 +0000
In the Cider Digest #1585, on Oct 5, 2010, I believe John Mott was trying
to reference Al Yelvingon's videos.
Building his press:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0_Ez14bIwA&feature=player_embedded Using
the press: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7u0RW-HzHK8&feature=player_embedded
I recently build one based on his designs, though
I used a smaller shop press. I blogged about it at
http://candlewineproject.wordpress.com/2010/10/05/building-my-apple-press/
Heather
------------------------------
Subject: Electric Apple Mill Recommendations
From: from Heather <for_heather@hotmail.com>
Date: Tue, 5 Oct 2010 21:47:18 +0000
I need to upgrade my apple mill. Can anyone recommend a machine and/or
dealer? So often, a google search turns up something hand cranked, or
something industrial.
Heather
------------------------------
Subject: Re: small scale cider pressing
From: Steven Edholm <stevene@pacific.net>
Date: Tue, 5 Oct 2010 15:39:53 -0700
I'm not sure if this is the grinder that mark is referring to http://
www.midwestsupplies.com/stainless-steel-apple-fruit-crusher-with-
knives.html
,but I use one exactly like it and I'm not that impressed. It
leaves much of the apples in pretty good sized slices and I'm quite
sure I'm losing a lot of juice. I crank it by hand which is a good
workout too. If it was motorized and possibly run through twice,
maybe, but it seems more suited to grapes for which it works quite
well. It is also extremely dangerous. How much are your fingers
worth to you ;) Mine is on loan from a friend, but I wouldn't buy
one and I'm anxious to find an alternative.
I've used the garbage disposal method, a 1 hp kitchenaid slightly
modified to let larger pieces through, and it is slow and prone to
overheating. I think the overheating could be fixed by proper
ventilation with forced air, but it's still slow. Also, the garbage
disposal does a beautiful job on apples that press easily leaving
everything down pretty small, but on soft apples it makes applesauce
which is difficult to press. I may try to modify it further to let
the apples through in larger pieces (which should be faster) but I
think it will still be too slow for doing over 20 gallons or so.
On Oct 5, 2010, at 9:05 AM, cider-request@talisman.com wrote:
> small cider pressing equipment
------------------------------
Subject: thoughts on intermediate-size press replies
From: Dick Dunn <rcd@talisman.com>
Date: Sat, 9 Oct 2010 10:41:38 -0600
There were many well-considered replies to my question about (lack of)
intermediate-size cider presses when one moves above the basket press.
One off-list note pointed out that once you get into an intermediate
range suitable for commercial use, the presses are likely to be aimed
to fresh-juice producers as well, and this imposes requirements for
being able to sanitize the press and be sure that it's clean enough
for health-dept standards. Also, as Bill ("squeeze") pointed out on-
list, the market is small in this range.
On "hydropresses" (bladder press driven by water mains pressure, just
connect to a hose) - these look very good in terms of ease-of-use and
simplicity. Main concern is that efficiency is apparently low, around
50%? I can do better than that with a basket press, so would be loath
to take a step backward in that sense, although it would certainly speed
up the pressing a lot. Prices seem good--under $2K for 80-liter size.
On DIY: Yes, I know the various approaches there, such as the timber-
frame/bottle-jack or Ag-Canada design, the modified H-frame shop press,
etc. Already knew about those; the intent of my question was to find
out what's purpose-built and available to those who lack shop skills or
access.
I wasn't asking for myself in particular, although I would welcome an
off-the-shelf press of reasonable size, price, and easy-to-use design.
(Yeah, I know...why not wish for world peace while I'm at it, right?)
I've got my own DIY design in mind, although it has suffered 2 years
from fixing-the-roof syndrome.
My own old basket press is a Happy Valley Ranch, but I've done various
improvements over the years. I set aside the grinder--which produces
an unacceptably coarse pulp for this type of press, and pulls large
pieces of apple through whole. Instead I use a large commercial food
processor which produces shreds. I modified one of the shredding plates
to produce shreds of an intermediate size which empirically worked best.
Rebuilt the juice tray and had a stainless liner made for it. Replaced
the top plate with one of adequate strength and properly glued-up. Most
recently I made some grooved discs of HDPE which I set into the pulp as
I fill the press. (See John Simmons' article in CD 1585--I think this
is very similar.) With this latest change I'm at 65% efficiency give
or take a few %, and I think that's about the best I can expect from
this poor old press. It's time to move on.
Oh, one anecdote: Obviously one can increase the yield from a basket
press--within reason--by increasing the pressure. So just use a longer
bar to turn the press screw. How's that go..."Give me a long enough lever,
and a place to stand, and I'll break the lever"? Well, some years ago
when I was stronger and my back was healthy, I was trying to squeeze
that last little bit out by playing gorilla on the bar to turn the
screw...and the pressure snapped the weld on one of the bands that
hold the basket together. Frantic hour-or-two to get a friend to
re-weld it, clean up the weld, and get back to pressing. Know the
weak points of your equipment! Presses have serious forces at work.
- --
Dick Dunn rcd@talisman.com Hygiene, Colorado USA
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End of Cider Digest #1586
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