Anything to stay away from with store bought cider? I want pasteurized and found some at Walmart, but it says it has Ascorbic Acid, is that ok? I am not sure what to stay away from if I want it to ferment the juice?
Ascorbic acid is fine. You should stay away from sodium benzoate, which kills yeast, or potassium sorbate, which stops it from reproducing. The Walmart cider is probably Musselmans, which I have used in the past with good results.
I've also heard that you should pre boil the cider, but if it has the Ascorbic acid in then that means it's already pasteurized and I should have to do that. Any ideas??
You don't need to boil it, and most people say not to because it makes the cider cloudy. You don't even really need to start with pasteurized cider, because any dangerous bacteria won't survive the fermentation process (if you use unpasteurized cider you'll need to add campden tablets to keep any wild yeast or bacteria from taking over).
The option I use is possibly somewhat limited to apple country but look for UV processed cider. This is simply where the cider is exposed to ultraviolet light which kills pathogens without altering the taste of any or all of the apples used in making the cider. You are left with cider that tastes exactly like the old straw filtered cider. The process is becoming more and more popular.
The option I use is possibly somewhat limited to apple country but look for UV processed cider. This is simply where the cider is exposed to ultraviolet light which kills pathogens without altering the taste of any or all of the apples used in making the cider. You are left with cider that tastes exactly like the old straw filtered cider. The process is becoming more and more popular.
+1 for this--I used to only use unpasteurized cider, but that's getting harder and harder to come by. I was despairing, since the flavor difference between pasteurized and non-pasteurized cider in the final product is IMO, huge. But the UV-treated cider tastes just like the farm-fresh stuff, and no worries about bacteria or wild yeast (although I never worried about that stuff anyway!). If you can find it, I highly recommend it.
It's common (particularly with Montrachet yeast) to have sulfur smell during the first few days of fermentation, but it won't leave any taste. If it lasts for a long time, though, it might be necessary to use copper or something to get rid of it.
