AnneLine Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 :evil: :hehe2: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arfink Posted October 1, 2013 Author Share Posted October 1, 2013 Fun stuff today! I began work on my cider press, and it's about halfway done. The legs of the press need some attention so that it will sit level when in use, and I have to prepare a proper drain pan for it, and make the part that the hydraulic cylinder sits on. The cylinder is rated for 4 tons of pressure, but I'm pretty sure the wooden frame would crack far before I ever reached that level of pressure, and I'm also pretty sure the aluminum press pan would also fail long before I ever achieved 4 tons of pressure. Not to mention that I don't think I need anywhere close to that level of pressure for just smushing apples. That said, 4 tons was the smallest size they had at Harbor Freight. It was a $17 jack. All the wood and the pan for the rest of the press were just scraps laying in the workshop. I'll have pics of it tomorrow when it's done, and possibly a testing video. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arfink Posted October 1, 2013 Author Share Posted October 1, 2013 [media]http://youtu.be/cArTKnWVq1U[/media] Well, the press is done! I think it will probably survive the rigors of pressing a batch of apple cider, after testing its mettle against some pop cans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheresaThoma Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 Most interesting I would like to see how it performs when you get some apples in there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arfink Posted October 3, 2013 Author Share Posted October 3, 2013 (edited) I don't have video of the cider press in action from tonight, because we had so many problems. Fortunately, I think all of the issues we had can be easily fixed. First of all, the wood frame is just not quite as strong as I want. I think I could make it far stronger. This frame has a tendency to bend in scary ways and generally made us nervous. It did not crack, creak, or break, but it sure looked freaky when the top was bending upwards! We obviously tried not to go too crazy with the jack while using it. In future, I think I will retrofit the top of the frame to use 2x4s like the bottom. That ought to work well. Second problem, the part of the press that actually squashed down onto the apples was cut to the wrong size, which was just stupid. So we had to cut it down again. Finally, the drain pan was wayyyyy too small. We ground the apples in a food processor first, and then wrapped them into bundles with cheese cloth. If you let the edges of the bundle touch the edges of the drain pan, it leaves nowhere for the juice to go, and clogs the drain. Then when you let the pressure off, the apples act like a sponge and suck all the juice back up again. It's stupid. We need a way bigger drain pan. Fortunately the frame is big enough to hold a way bigger pan, so this will not be an issue for next time. For tonight's pressing we made about 2 gallons of the best tasting apple juice I've had in a long time. We drank some, and the rest is being made into hard cider. We used a little of everything for the apples themselves. Macintosh, haralson, braeburn, golden somethingorother, and some other apple I forgot. It was too expensive. :P But it was good fun. Edited October 3, 2013 by arfink Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xTrishaxLynnx Posted October 3, 2013 Share Posted October 3, 2013 That's pretty nifty! Also, hard cider: :drool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arfink Posted October 3, 2013 Author Share Posted October 3, 2013 Yeah, I personally like to take the freshly pressed juice and freeze it into popsicles. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmilyAnn Posted October 3, 2013 Share Posted October 3, 2013 The apple juice thing sounds really cool! Especially frozen in popsicles....save some for me. :P Although I'm wondering now what "cider" means to you guys and what "hard cider" might be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arfink Posted October 3, 2013 Author Share Posted October 3, 2013 The apple juice thing sounds really cool! Especially frozen in popsicles....save some for me. :P Although I'm wondering now what "cider" means to you guys and what "hard cider" might be. In the US, some people have the gall to call clarified apple juice made from concentrate a "cider," while others refer to freshly pressed apple juice as cider, and the term hard cider is usually meant to refer to alcoholic cider. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmilyAnn Posted October 3, 2013 Share Posted October 3, 2013 In the US, some people have the gall to call clarified apple juice made from concentrate a "cider," while others refer to freshly pressed apple juice as cider, and the term hard cider is usually meant to refer to alcoholic cider. Ohhh okay. You learn something new every day! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arfink Posted October 5, 2013 Author Share Posted October 5, 2013 (edited) I am soooooo sick of gossip about Pope Francis. :pinch: Edited October 5, 2013 by arfink Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnneLine Posted October 5, 2013 Share Posted October 5, 2013 I'm sick of it, too, ARFink! I just hope he had a wonderful Feastday and a wonderful trip to Assisi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristinaTherese Posted October 5, 2013 Share Posted October 5, 2013 The cider sounds good! Fresh, hard, in popsicles.... And that's why I don't read news about Pope Francis when it shows up in the newspaper. Every. Single. Time. I'm pretty sure they stole about half of a sentence and decided to go and have a party about what liberal connotations it has when you read it out of context. It gets really tiring. (Okay, and I don't really read the newspaper either. So it's easy to avoid.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tab'le De'Bah-Rye Posted October 5, 2013 Share Posted October 5, 2013 (edited) cool fair and conservatory snaps, and i'm glad you have found a girlfriend, or she has found you :) or perhaps Jesus has found you both. :) Edited October 5, 2013 by Tab'le Du'Bah-Rye Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tab'le De'Bah-Rye Posted October 5, 2013 Share Posted October 5, 2013 (edited) I'm sick of it, too, ARFink! I just hope he had a wonderful Feastday and a wonderful trip to Assisi. Me thrice. Viva La Papa Francis. Edited October 5, 2013 by Tab'le Du'Bah-Rye Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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