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This
press was designed and constructed by Jeff Donaghue
of the Brewery Creek Brewing Company, 23 Commerce
Street, PO Box 163, Mineral Point, WI 53565, USA.
![[picture of press]](images/ciderpress3.gif)
So,
you want to make your own cider press? The setup
which I described in "Pomona" is easy to make, relatively
cheap and efficient. First I'll go over a few general
points, then discuss each component and the operation
of the system. I don't claim to have made the best
system on the planet, just one that works, so feel
free to experiment, improve, innovate. I prefer
to make the most use of what I have on hand around
me, then go out and buy materials. Sometimes I end
up with junk and have to do it all over but sometimes
it works just fine. The "art" factor in cider making
is up to you. Whether you ferment or not, which
varieties of fruit you choose to blend, your sanitation,
etc. all have more to do with the quality of the
final cider than what kind of machinery you use
to squeeze the juice out of the fruit.
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The
Plans
Did I say plans? More of a concept really. Listen
carefully, here's the plan...! 1.
General Points
1.1
Bigger is usually better. This means that if you
have a choice between a16 inch or 20 inch wide press
get the 20 incher. A 20 ton jack will be better
than a 12 ton jack. A 1/2 hp grinder will work longer
and harder than a 1/3 hp grinder. Any size components
can be combined. Your budget will dictate what you
get.
1.2
Think "food grade". Your grinder and press will
have "incidental contact" with food that you and
your loved ones will consume. It will take a little
more money and effort to find food grade products
but will probably be worth it. Therefore:
1.2.1
Stainless steel is best, but not absolutely necessary,
for grinder components, nails and screws you will
be using to put stuff together, juice collection
tanks, spoons, etc. etc. After stainless, brass
is good. Cement coated nails are probably worst.
1.2.2
Plastic. Non-food grade plastics may have heavy
metal plasticisers and toxic fungicides incorporated
into them. This includes plastic trash bags, garbage
cans, 5 gallon paint buckets, etc. It will be safe
to store and wash fruit in non-food grade plastic,
but don't put your cider in it. Read the labels.
"NSF" is like a "UL" listing for food handling products.
If it doesn't say "food grade" or "NSF" it isn't.
Don't you think you've been exposed to enough poison
already?
1.2.3
Lubricants, paints and caulk. There are "food grade"
products available from bar and restaurant suppliers
and retailers who deal with dairy farmers, dairies
and food processors. Ask and read the labels. Epoxy
paints suitable for food contact should be considered
if you plan to paint a surface that will have extended
contact with your cider. Most silicone adhesive
/ caulks have fungicides in them. Some don't and
are approved for food contact. Read the fine print.
If you can't find any at your local builders' supply,
tropical fish stores should have it. Ask and read
labels.
1.2.4
Acidity: Remember that apple juice is pretty acidic
with a pH between 3 and 5 so you want to avoid contact
with iron, steel, galvanized steel and aluminum.
While the connection between using aluminum cook
ware and Alzheimer's disease has been pretty well
disproven, prolonged contact could give a metallic
taste to your cider. You don't want that, do you?
1.2.5
Garbage In Garbage Out. When making the cider remember
that no matter how great your processing equipment,
if you use apples that are rotten, or have deer
manure on them quality will suffer. While you can't
sterilize your raw materials and equipment you can
sanitize some things and clean the rest. Think cleanliness.
1.3
Safety. A hydraulic press develops a lot of pressure
and parts can break. Electric grinders will grind
fingers as easily as apples. They also have electricity
running through them and you will probably be outside,
on the ground with wash water and apple juice all
around so be careful. When trimming or cutting fruit
for the grinder knives get slippery, and slippery
knives slip. Five gallons of cider in a container
will weigh 50 to 60 pounds, ten gallons double that
etc. Watch how you lift, carry and pour. Its not
much of a bargain if you spend two weeks in traction.
Enough said.
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2.
The Press
I got a used 12 ton shop press at a farm auction for
$60. See the picture. Available new for about $125.
It consists of two "I" beams on feet with a fixed
cross piece at the top and a moveable cross member
below. On the top is a hydraulic bottle jack. They
are used to press out bearings, straighten steel rods
etc.etc. Whether new or used the press may have grease
and oil on it. The paint finish may be chipping. Clean
and degrease well. The jack that supplies the power
is filled with hydraulic oil. Check to make sure it
isn't leaking around the seals. It can probably be
replaced cheaper than it can be rebuilt. Get a good
one from the start. If you're handy and enjoy woodworking
you could even build a simple frame like this and
add a jack for the power source. Use hardwood as the
press will experience a lot of pressure. The finish
should be smooth and hard for cleaning.
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3.
The Collection Platform
The first year I used a big plastic tray on the ground
to collect the juice as it flowed out of the press.
Crude but effective. The garage was well baptized
after two days. So, last year I cobbled together a
collection platform. I used a piece of Formica counter
top. You know the piece that's left over when they
cut out the hole for the kitchen sink? What's important
is that it is a strong, non-porous, cleanable surface.
Several layers of plywood painted with a suitable
epoxy paint would also work. Strips of hardwood flooring
on top of plywood would work. A sheet of stainless
steel over wood... You will have to be inventive here.
One end of the platform rests on the bottom cross
member of the press, extending out 2 or 3 feet. The
"cheeses" holding the ground up apples sit on the
platform. The extended part then rests on something,
like a table or ladder. You could make some 2x4 legs
like I did. The far end should be a little lower than
the press end so that when pressed out the juice "flows"
that way. You then drill a drain hole at the low end
under which you put your juice collection bucket.
I put in a small section of vinyl tubing as a "tail
piece" to better direct the juice flow. Get as fancy
as you want. Finally, the collection platform has
to have some kind of lip around it to channel the
juice toward the hole. I bought an 8 ft.. section
of anodized aluminum roof flashing, screwed it all
around the edge, then caulked with food grade silicone
caulk. Much better than the "waterfall" of cider method
I first used.
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4.
The Grinder
New 1/2 h.p. or larger garbage disposal with stainless
steel grinder plate, $40 to $60. If I did it over
I think I'd get a bigger motor. Once or twice I forced
too many apples through mine (1/2 hp) and the breaker
popped. No big deal, but you have to wait for the
motor to cool off before it can be reset. You could
use an old disposal, but I couldn't get past the idea
of all those bits of garbage lurking inside. Yuck.
To mount the grinder, I had a square piece of counter
top, again left over from a sink job, in which I cut
a hole. The result is like a small table top with
a disposal in the middle. I wired a heavy duty power
cord to the unit. No on-off switch, just plug in -
un plug. The first year I mounted this work surface
on a horizontal ladder I had propped up to the right
height with a collection bucket underneath. It worked
OK. The second year I mounted the grinder surface
on a big old stereo speaker cabinet that had no front
or back. More stable and portable. You could mount
yours on an old wood table, or even make a four legged
stand. How about in an old sink mounted somehow? What's
important is to have it a good work height for your
height, 32" to 36". It should be easy to clean and
easy to move your pomace collection bucket in and
out. I have a 10 gallon stainless stock pot that I
also use in home brewing. and it gets heavy.
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5.
The Racks
These are the foundation of your "cheeses" and may
take the most ingenuity. I made four 16"x16" racks,
($3 to $5 each) out of some fancy stainless steel
which I got at the scrap yard but a lot of other things
would have worked too and maybe better. You could
make a hardwood lattice with nails or screws. I saw
some 3/4 inch scraps of Plexiglas which I thought
about. I could have routed channels or fastened thin
strips on top to form grooves. 1/2" plywood with some
kind of channels added? 1x or 2x lumber with channels
routed into the surface? What's important is that
the rack is strong, and that it have holes or channels
to allow the juice to flow out during the pressing.
A textured surface will also help to keep the cheese
full of pomace from slipping but it must be cleanable.
Each rack is cut to a size that will conveniently
fit under the press on your collection platform.
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6.
The Cheese Forms and Cloths
You will need only one cheese form.
It is like a dresser drawer without a bottom. Get
a 1"x5"x6' board. Make a bottomless "drawer" that
will easily fit between the press uprights and fit
over the rack. The outside dimension should match
the edge of your rack. Nail or screw together and
if desired caulk the seams The cheese cloths are used
to form the bundle of pomace that will fit between
the racks and from which the juice will be pressed
out. The cloths must be both strong and porous. Commercial
press cloths are very good and very expensive. I made
mine from 45" wide nylon mosquito netting that I got
at a local fabric store (see enclosed sample). A little
finer mesh may be better, but mine have worked well
for two years and never broken.
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Having
assembled you press it goes something like this:
7.
Grinding
You've collected your apples. From what I have read
and three years experience, it is a good idea let
the apples "sweat" in a heap before grinding, as long
as for a week or two. Just remove the really bad ones,
heap the rest up out of the weather and let them relax
before the pressing. This gives you a chance to harvest
your fruit when you can or as it ripens instead of
all at once. The apples soften, making grinding easier
and giving more yield. The flavor is supposed to improve
with some oxidation as well. It isn't necessary, but
the point is you don't have to press your apples as
soon as they've been picked. When ready to grind give
your fruit a good wash to remove spray residue, dirt,
deer manure, etc. If using larger apples you'll have
to cut them into pieces to feed the grinder. Heavy
rubber or nitrile gloves are a good idea. Make some
kind of a wooden pestle to "force" the apples through
the grinder. Your grinder is spinning away, you chop
up some apples, push them into the grinder, and nothing
happens. It just seems to fill up with pomace. Pour
a little water in there and voila, apple sauce will
start to come out! Whenever the pomace flow seems
to bog down you can add a little water, or later you
can add cider or some already ground pomace to help
what's in the grinder flow out. Hard apples like Northwest
Greenings take more pushing and coaxing than soft
varieties. The pomace will be much finer that what
you'll get from other grinders in the market, seeds,
stems, skins and all will be pulverized, along with
the end of your push stick which eventually hits the
blades. Don't worry. Commercial cider makers mix rice
hulls with the pomace to loosen it up and make the
juice flow better. I haven't tried this. You will
gain new respect for the humble garbage disposal.
While making pomace for you it is doing what it was
designed to do, grind up food. I have run mine for
hours without a hiccup.
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8.
Pressing
Having
assembled your press and ground some pomace it goes
something like this. Put a rack form on the press
platform. Put the cheese form on the rack. Put a rack
cloth in the form. Fill with pomace to make a heap
three to five inches high. Fold the press cloth around
the pomace to make a nice tight bundle. Remove the
cheese form, put a new rack on top of the first and
start over to make the second cheese. When learning
make only a couple of cheeses. When you have assembled
the cheeses put a rack on top and maybe some blocks
of wood to help distribute the pressure. Then gently
apply pressure with the hydraulic jack. Out comes
the juice. After a bit, when the juice stops, apply
a bit more pressure. More juice. Eureka! Pause a moment,
get a cup or glass and fill it with your own home
made cider. Drink. Liquid apples. Excellent. When
the jack reaches the limit of its travel, you'll have
to back it off, put a wood block or something in there
and start pressing again. You'll know when to stop.
While the juice flows you go back to washing, chopping
or grinding. After pressing I have "rearranged" the
pomace and pressed again getting a little more juice,
but generally the extra I got wasn't worth the effort,
especially with bushels and bushels of apples heaped
all around screaming to be pressed. Have a place ready
to dispose of the spent pomace. You should have some
plan for dealing with the many gallons of cider you
will be making. You can use clean glass or food grade
plastic gallon jugs. I use 5 gallon stainless "soda
kegs" which I also use for kegging the beer I brew.
What to do with all the cider? I have my ideas, but
I'd better stop now.
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Parts
List (sort of...)
- THE
PRESS
- 1.1
(1) Shop press, new or used, with 12 to 20
ton hydraulic jack.
- 1.2
(1) Press platform. As wide as the inside
width of the press. Length 4 feet or so, depending
on what you have and what works.
- 1.3
(1) Material to make an edge / lip / around
the platform. Wood, flashing, etc. Length
equal to the "circumference" to the platform.
See text.
- 1.4
(1) Material to make "legs" for the end of
the platform not resting on the press. See
text.
- THE
GRINDER
- 2.1
(1) Garbage disposal, new or (yuck) old; 1/3
hp to 1 hp. See text.
- 2.2
(1) Surface on which to mount the grinder.
See text.
- 2.3
(1) A structure to hold the grinder with top.
See text.
- 2.4
(1) Electric cable / heavy duty extension
cord to run power to the grinder.
- 2.5
(1) Pestle or "club". To push apples through
the grinder. A piece of 2x2, large dowel,
handrail, closet pole, small tree branch,
12" to 18" long
- THE
CHEESES
- 3.1
(3-5) Racks: flat squares made from some heavy
solid material with ridges, groves or holes
for juice to flow around or through. Should
be a proper width to fit under the press,
on the platform. E.G. The i.d. of the press
is 20", lip takes 1/2" on each side, you want
1/2" to 1" space on each side for the "cheese"
to bulge out as pressed, so rack width is
17" to 18". Wider won't fit, narrower would
work too. See text.
- 3.2
(1) Cheese top. A solid rack, lumber etc.
which will be on top of the last cheese to
distribute pressure. Same dimensions as the
racks.
- 3.3
(1) Cheese form. Topless, bottomless box made
from 1"x 4", or 1"x 5", or 1"x 6". O.D. matches
the o.d. of the racks. Can be a little smaller
too.
- 3.4
(3-5) Cheese Cloths. Heavy duty nylon, cut
large enough to "bundle" the pomace completely.
Depending on width of the material, e.g. 18"
rack, 36" wide fabric cut about 48" long.
Try one first , then cut the rest. Make an
extra or two. Should wash the sizing out before
using.
- MISCELLANEOUS
HARDWARE
- 4.1
(1) Large container to collect pomace under
the grinder.
- 4.2
(?) Several large or many small containers,
jugs etc. to collect and store the cider.
- 4.3
(?) Funnels.
- 4.4
(?) Strainers lined with cheese cloth to get
the "big pieces" out.
- MISC
OTHER
- 5.1
Fermentation stuff, sulfites, fermentation
locks, anti-oxidants, pectic enzymes, acid
titration kits, tannin, fining agents yeast
cultures, etc.etc.
- 5.2
Fasteners, nails, screws, angle braces, etc.
as needed for your setup.
- 5.3
Epoxy paint, silicone caulk, paint for the
press. etc. As needed.
- 5.4
Books? Wouldn't hurt to read up on the subject
of cider making.
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