Secondary Q

Hello! I'm making my first cider from a gallon of unpasteurized cider I got from Uncle Johns. I put it in a glass fermentor a month ago with some nutrient and just let it ride while I was at school. I recently bought 2 half-gal growlers to transfer the cider to in order to let it age/clear up. I also plan to add cinnamon to one fermentor and ginger to the other (just curious to see how they taste comparatively).

From what I've read, every says how bad O2 is for cider and that you should keep a decent head of CO2 in the fermentor at all times. Since I guarantee my cider has dried out completely, should I boil some DME and add it to the secondary to combat the O2 head? If so, would I need an airlock, or would a regular cap be fine (since I'm not adding enough sugar to carbonate it)?

My other questions are:

1.) Should I use powdered Ginger, or the real deal?

2.) How much is enough for a 1/2 gallon batch to give a hint yet not do what ginger does best and overpower it?

Thanks for any help, Hope you all enjoy your Turkey Day!

I would sprinkle a couple tsp of white can sugar or dextrose in your growlers. This will kick fermentation off again, but barely. Then you've got your CO2. I would indeed airlock them at that point. I had a growler explode in my house while doing a yeast starter.
I would use real ingredients whenever possible. The best ingredients tend to make the best products.

Thanks Colby, I guess I'll do a quick boil of some dextrose and cinnamon, and another with dextrose and shaved ginger and see where that takes me. I'm curious how much ginger to use though, it's a pretty powerful spice.

I would be sure to use cinnamon sticks, not ground cinnamon. Reports of floaties abound.