I’d like to try pressing apple cider, but buying a cider press is outside my budget. Any suggestions on where I can find plans for building one?
Making a cider press is well worth the effort, because fresh apple cider tastes way better (and costs less) than the bland, pasteurized stuff sold in most stores. Plus, by pressing your own cider from local apples, you’ll save some of the unnecessary energy being used to haul heavy drink products around the country. You can learn more and find free plans in our cider press articles. The Maytag Cider Press, from September/October 1982, explains how to convert a washing machine into a cider “press.”
For a more conventional design, check out How to Build a Cider Press from September/October 1976.
We also recommend cider-making books available in our online store. And if you decide you are interested in buying a ready-made cider press, two good sources are Correll Cider Presses and Jaffrey Manufacturing.
Cheryl Long is the editor in chief of MOTHER EARTH NEWS magazine, and a leading advocate for more sustainable lifestyles. She leads a team of editors which produces high quality content that has resulted in MOTHER EARTH NEWS being rated as one North America’s favorite magazines. Long lives on an 8-acre homestead near Topeka, Kan., powered in part by solar panels, where she manages a large organic garden and a small flock of heritage chickens. Prior to taking the helm at MOTHER EARTH NEWS, she was an editor at Organic Gardening magazine for 10 years.