Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => General Forum => Topic started by: Tim Ingram on November 05, 2012, 06:19:28 PM
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We have some thirty or more varieties of apples in the garden, mostly on dwarf rootstocks and over 30 years old now. Some produce a lot of not very good fruit which usually goes to waste. So what about making apple juice? A friend has a part share in an apple press and these are some pictures of the process in operation. The apples are first broken into a pulp by a 'scratter', powered by an electric drill (a simple drum with a few screws in it to catch the apple pieces). The pulp is then layered in cloth 'cakes' in a press and squeezed using a small car jack. Result about 20 litres of juice which was pasteurised at 90°C for half an hour. The apparatus was made by a local craftsman and shareholders have access to it for a number of days on and off over the autumn. Great fun!
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Ingenious and clearly effective. Super idea to have as a "community" device.
I can smell that delicious juice from here, I'm sure! 8)
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I wouldn't press my Apples with that device. I will only get micro chips, broken glass, aluminum pieces etc. :P ;D ;D
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Could you go on to make cider?
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I had wondered - hic!
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I wouldn't press my Apples with that device. I will only get micro chips, broken glass, aluminum pieces etc. :P ;D ;D
Best thing for them, in my book. My kids got apple itunes vouchers for Christmas. They are useless as we don't have New Zealand credit cards! ;D
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Maybe you should have given them some other gift then.......? :P ;D ;D ;D
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I love it, I mean the apparatus, especially the craftmanship, never mind the juice. That scratter is so lovingly shaped, makes you want to run your hand over the curves. What a nice idea to let your friends use it.
I too get the occasional glut of apples from my mini orchard of semi dwarf trees on my allotments. Most of the time they get stolen just on the day before I want to pick them or eaten by 'visiting' muntjak deer. I'll have to put a fruitcage over them, with a big padlock. ;) ;) That worked well with my blueberries, where I increased the yield from nothing to several kilos a year. ;D ;D ;D
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Tim,
Thanks for showing. We have lots of apples and I have thought of making an apple press by myself, and your pics have given me a very good idea how to do. Specially the scratter is a simple and easy design.
Enjoy your apple juice!
Poul
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A small electric garden shredder kept especially for apples is good for breaking them down before you start the pressing. You have to modify the inlet hole to allow the apples in.
Susan
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Traditionally, grape pressing was begun by foot.... perhaps these might help with the preparation of the apples for pressing :
[attachimg=1]
;) ;D
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We went to an Apple Day near to us and watched them using a Press to get juice from the fruit. We reckon we get just as much from our Electric juicer., which was a lot cheaper than the cheapest Apple press we could find.
Don't forget that the juice may be frozen for future use too.
In the days when I could drink alcohol, we made Cider once. Sadly that made from non Cider apples is extremely sweet, much too much so for us.
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Yes, apples used for cider making are very bitter indeed.
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Traditionally, grape pressing was begun by foot.... perhaps these might help with the preparation of the apples for pressing :
(Attachment Link)
;) ;D
Those are wicked!
You naughty girl you :D 8)
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Maggi:
Are those boots from the back of your closet?
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...... and have you got the whip to go with them :o
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Back? of her closet. She wears those out every Saturday night. ;D
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Maggi - it looks like this is going in a different direction! I thought bare feet were the thing.
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Bare feet may work for grapes, but I think something "sturdier" is needed for apples, Tim.
- sorry that my suggestion has lead to a lowering of the tone of the thread..... :-X
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- sorry that my suggestion has lead to a lowering of the tone of the thread..... :-X
.........but the mood has risen :)
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This year has been a bumper crop for apples in our area, and earlier this fall we did a cider pressing with friends using a rented press. In all we pressed about 12 gallons of juice. Our gathering even made the local TV news - you can view the news clip at this link:
http://www.kezi.com/harvesting-apples-the-old-fashioned-way/ (http://www.kezi.com/harvesting-apples-the-old-fashioned-way/)
Ed
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I'm going to go off in the opposite direction and say that small apple presses are labour intensive and are of exceedingly low productivity - ie a waste of time
I borrowed and tried one, and saw another in operation and they were both the same.
I bought a large electric fruit juicer off the internet (~£80) and found it far more productive, both in extracting the juice and in speed of operation. The pulp was really quite dry, the process was quick and the juice excellent. OK- not so romantic but then why waste so much ?
Rob