Tips on keeping FG high (i.e., residual sweetness)

So, I'm about to make my second cider (last year's is just about all gone). I bottle age AND I want a sweeter cider. So, that eliminates the (a) campden, (b) add sugar to sweeten, (c) force carbonate process.
For last years cider, I pitched a well used ale yeast, then after 48 hours of fermentation, I cold-crashed it--dropping the temp to 32 degrees in my chest freezer. The yeast dropped out and I was able to rack the cider into a secondary leaving much of the yeast slurry behind. The fermentation kicked back up a bit, not much, and I was left with a FG of 20--perfect for my liking.

So, my question is this: what would be the best way to keep the final gravity high? Was I on the right track? Any easier methods out there? Again, .020 seemed perfect, and a year later, and my bottles are perfectly carbonated, with no exploding bottles. Any other suggestions?

Why no to force carbonation? If you have the means to force carbonate you can still bottle age. Use the campden tabs, crash cool it, force carbonate in the keg, fill bottles from the keg, and age.

Yeah?

i don't have the means to force carbonate. no co2 tank.

I may not understand your method from last year, but I would be afraid of bottle bombs. You only need 2 or 3 points of fermentation in the bottle to carbonate, so bottling before fermentation is complete is risky. You crash cooled and racked to get rid of most of the yeast, but you had some yeast left to carbonate in the bottle. I'm not sure why the yeast stopped fermenting at 1.020, unless you exceeded their alcohol tolerance.

Let it ferment out and add 1/2 cup of Splenda before bottling.

It'll have the kick from the high OG/low FG and the sweetness from the Splenda.

When you drink it, use 3 parts fermented to 2 parts juice. That should get you around 1.020 in the glass.

Why mess with success? Getting a sweet bottle carbed cider is no easy feat.

Its interesting that you were able to get good carbonation after cold crashing. I cold crash to stop fermentation all the time and only rarely get any carbonation at all. I have only had one bottle crack and that was with a wild yeast that I bottled at 1.020. Usually though I cold crash right after primary fermentation and then let it sit in a secondary for another 3 weeks to clear before kegging.

How long did you crash the cider and what yeast did you use? Its possible that you hit on a crashing temp/time that didnt completely kill the yeast but stopped it from reproducing, in which case you could get some carbonation from the yeast without it running away with all that sugar.

If you can replicate your method again, you may have really hit on something

Well, first thing: I used a well-used yeast strain (American Ale II, I believe). It was the fourth generation, so that might've been a crucial component. The original gravity was around 65-ish, not too high at all. But after 3 days of vigorous fermentation--I cold crashed it. The fermentation was still going quite strong at the time. I let it remain at 32F for a few days. When I was ready to rack, I noticed a 3-inch yeast slurry (and other particles) near the bottom of the fermenter. It reminded me of a vinegar/oil solution. The slurry wasn't solid at all--but definitely separated from the rest of the cider. When I racked, I made sure to take as little visible yeast as possible to the secondary. Then, I kept the cider out in room temperature for a week or so. A small secondary fermentation kicked back up, but at this time, the yeast were so few (and so stressed) that the final gravity never reached below .020. I bottled the cider with a 1/2 cup of priming sugar. One month later, there was very little carbonation--very little. 2 months later, there was more. By the end of the 3rd month, the cider was adequately carbonated--just in time for my wedding!! A year later, I've noticed that the carbonation is quite strong now--almost champagne-like. One of the best ciders I've ever had. It reminds me of "K" cider from England.
So, bottom line. I'm not sure if the yeast were just so stressed, if the cold-conditioning worked, or a combo--but I'm going to try it again next week. I'll keep you posted!

I'm basically on the same path with my first cider. See this thread.

I basically let fermentation go for 4 days, currently into my second day of cold crashing in the garage (40-50F) and a taste test last night was nicely carbonated, slightly on the sour side (SG around 1.000). Reminded me of Strongbow if I can get the sweetness up a bit. I'm also noticing a growing layer of "slurry" at the bottom and my plan was to rack off here in another couple days and let it sit back in the house for a few months. My plan sounds almost identical to what you have experienced.

Hey thanks for the post. We might be on to something with this cold-crashing. I'll let you know how this year's cider goes.

I think the point others are trying to make is sure it will work, but its a constant game of russian roulette. I personally would want to risk a few months of effort into a cider, just for all the bottles to explode because the yeast performed a little better than expected.

I used Splenda to backsweeten my cider. I was very weary at first about using artificial sugar, but I must say I can't tell in the least that it's splenda. I'm very happy with Splenda and would do it again in a heartbeat.

Thanks for the tip! I may try that route if what i'm doing backfires.