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wiscdave74 · 10-24-2011, 02:34 PM

I have my own cider press, and make my own unpasteurized cider. Would there or could there be any dangers in using it to make hard cider?

**dinnerstick** · 10-24-2011, 02:40 PM

the only conceivable danger is that you might get addicted

chef_toby · 10-24-2011, 03:39 PM

aside from improper sanitation and a bad batch the only thing I would think of is ecoli. However I'm assuming you washed your apples before, right? Apple pickers can pick up fruit that has fallen to the ground so make sure you wash them.

**CvilleKevin** · 10-24-2011, 03:57 PM

fermentation will kill ecoli

wiscdave74 · 10-25-2011, 10:47 AM

Yes, I do wash my apples in a diluted bleach/water solution and rinse them before making the cider. The only danger I had heard was from this one guy who bought my cider was that there could be wild yeasts present, which would make for inconsistent cider. Some prefer the reliability and consistency of using pasteurized cider instead.

Rockape66 · 10-25-2011, 11:12 AM

Take care of your sanitation w/ your press. I just rinse my apples in lukewarm water. Either use campden/k-meta or sodium bisulfite to shock the wild yeasts and other bugs. You can also do a low temp(145 to 150*F if I remember right) pasteurization before pitching yeast. I haven't had any problems doing any of these. Do you have an apple crusher/grinder? It sure improves your yield. I have an old hand crank meat grinder, and it helps. It is a lot of work, though, I have to quarter the apples to get them in the grinder.

wiscdave74 · 10-25-2011, 01:03 PM

I typically have to use cold water with my apples, as I usually do several bushels, and press them outside. I purchased my cider press (which came with an Apple grinder) from happyvalleyranch.com they have a standalone Apple grinder you can purchase that you could mount to the end of a workbench or the wall...it makes quick work of the apples.