How to Build a Cider Press

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HOW TO USE THE PRESS

At this point, you're ready to start squeezin' cider. Which means it's time for you to round up a few bushels of crisp, juicy apples.

While it's true that each variety of the fruit has its own distinct taste, don't hesitate to mix Jonathans with Winesaps or Red Delicious with Gold or ovoids with oblates, you'll get some of the best qualities of each in the final product. Whatever is out in the backyard or is cheapest at the market is the variety of apple to use. (If you need free apples, quite frequently a farmer will let you pick up his orchard "drops" if you've taken the time to chat with him.)

Make sure your apples are fairly clean. A bruise here and there won't affect the taste of the squeezin's, but rot and mold will, so pare away those bad spots. For the maximum yield, cut the fruit into walnut-sized chunks. (A meat grinder or heavy-duty dicer is a good way to get the job done.)

OK. Now screw the press's handle all the way up, slide the trough and drain into the frame, set the basket on the drain, and fill it to within a couple inches of its top with chunks of apple. Then place a pan under the trough, lay the squeezer board on top of the basket and start cranking. When you reach the point where you'd swear only Charles Atlas could twist the crank any further, lean into that handle a little more to force out those last precious drops of juice.

After stopping for breath, unscrew the handle and take out the squeezer board. Slide the slotted drain to the rear of the trough, lift "the works"—the pulp-packed basket—from the frame, and dump the pulp. (It makes an excellent acidifying fertilizer, particularly for rhododendrons and azaleas.) Then reload the press and repeat the whole procedure again and again, until you've converted all your apples to ambrosia.

Once the collecting pan is brimful of juice, pour the raw squeezin's through cheesecloth or a clean bedsheet into clean containers and bottle the liquid, leaving enough out, of course, for a healthy swig or two. (For instructions on how to preserve cider, see Judy Whites article in Issue 41 of Mother Earth News. — THE EDITORS.)

SOMETHING TO SAVOR

When you quaff your first mug of raw cider from your own press, you'll wonder why you ever used to buy that refined, watered-down liquid that the grocery trade sells under the name of apple juice. Homemade and commercial apple squeezin's are about as much akin as frozen orange juice and the pulp-rich exudate of hand-squeezed Valencias.

From just the food-dollar point of view alone (not considering the quality of the cider you bottle at home) having a cider press makes pretty good sense. In Seattle, not far from where we live, raw cider sells for a whopping $4.50 per gallon, which means that my little $30 apple crusher easily pays for itself several times over every year.

And as I mentioned earlier, having a handcrafted cider press isn't a bad idea from the standpoint of giving your great grandchildren something to talk about.

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