Cider Press

We had a bumper crop of crabapples this year, so I decided to make a press.  By squeezing the apples, I won't have to cook them to make juice for jelly or wine.

Since it was my first try, I just used construction lumber and plywood scraps I had around the shop to make the structure.  For the press mechanism, I borrowed the bottle jack out of my truck.

A $3 plastic bucket, a valve from wine making supplies, a yard of muslin and three discs of 3/4 plywood served for holding the mash while pressing.

I didn't feel like constructing a grinder for just a few gallons of apples, so I used the food processor to mash up the apples.

I got a quart of beautiful juice from each gallon of crabapples.

Next year, I will remake the structure with hardwood and bolts instead of Hem-Fir and screws.  I think it should knock down to a two dimensional affair so we can store it easily.  And using a bucket to hold the bags of pulp while pressing wasn't really necessary.   Next time, I'll just make a square tray and stack the apple pulp with hardwood lattice.

We netted about 30 half-pints of jelly and 2.5 gallons of wine!

Crabapple/Rhubarb juice ready to ferment.