Unlimited apples, but no press or juicer :(

I have a ton of apple but no way of juicing them. I am considering buying a cheap 50 dollar juicer, but from what everyone is saying a press or an expensive cold press juicer is needed to properly extract most of the juice. Any advice on this? Can I get away with a cheap juicer? Has anyone had success with a particular model?

You will burn out a juicer the first time you use it for any large amount of cider. I build a press from 2x4's and some scrapes, and used a modified garbage disposal as a grinder. Less than $100 and you can press out about 10 gallons in an hour. After a few changes this year I should be able to double that.

Rent one from your LHBS. We have one in town that rents out their press.

jmayerl said:

You will burn out a juicer the first time you use it for any large amount of cider. I build a press from 2x4's and some scrapes, and used a modified garbage disposal as a grinder. Less than $100 and you can press out about 10 gallons in an hour. After a few changes this year I should be able to double that.

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Any chance of some pictures or plans? Sounds interesting.

i agree with the build or rent a press suggestions but disagree that a juicer will burn out, i am still going on the cheapest model i could find after 3 years of improbably large cider volumes. you can't tell the difference between the finished product from a press or juicer (i have done side by side tests with the same apples), but the juicers are less efficient than a good press by about half, and do take a while to process the apples, they get clogged, you have to cut the apples, etc. but if you have space limitations and loads of fruit they can do the job

There are many different press pictures and plans online if you search. One of the cheapest is to buy a cheap hydraulic bottle jack from Harbor Freight or some other discount tools source, and bolt together a stout frame to handle the pressure.

Get a thick press plate under it and wrap your apple mush in some straining cloth (the proper type can be found by searching cider sites as well) and collecting the juice.

Or you can buy or build a more sophisticated apparatus with a slotted press bucket, but honestly they all make juice.

Some people have used a NEW garbage disposal for chewing up the apples prior to squeezing.

Building a cider press was supposed to be one fun summer project for me for the past couple of years, but I haven't got round to it. I have 2 screws capable of pressing ready for a frame to go into.

Don't forget the garden shredder for scratting. I have put a few tonnes of apples through my shredder, makes a great apple mill. Some commercial apple mills are just shredders built with stainless steel.

Thanks guys. I was thinking about it and it will probably cost me about 100 dollars to make a press(although it would be a fun project). For that price I could buy more than enough dirt cheap cider locally in the fall and make hard cider from that. Thanks.

HoboBrewing said:

Thanks guys. I was thinking about it and it will probably cost me about 100 dollars to make a press(although it would be a fun project). For that price I could buy more than enough dirt cheap cider locally in the fall and make hard cider from that. Thanks.

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Totally agree with you. Making it from your own apples is cool, but for the cost of the press, you can just buy the cider.

drew1d said:

Totally agree with you. Making it from your own apples is cool, but for the cost of the press, you can just buy the cider.

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And if you have a cider mill or three nearby that caters to home brewers it's a home run. One near me actually does a brew press one sat a month with varietals perfect for hard cider and another even closer sells to home brewers with a container for only a few $ per gal.

Read the info I posted in this thread, I have a few low cost/diy grinder and press ideas. Apples but no press, or freezer room

MarkKF said:

And if you have a cider mill or three nearby that caters to home brewers it's a home run. One near me actually does a brew press one sat a month with varietals perfect for hard cider and another even closer sells to home brewers with a container for only a few $ per gal.

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Thanks I will have to check around. I might be able to find something like that near me

HoboBrewing said:

Thanks guys. I was thinking about it and it will probably cost me about 100 dollars to make a press(although it would be a fun project). For that price I could buy more than enough dirt cheap cider locally in the fall and make hard cider from that. Thanks.

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but then you have no say in the composition of the juice, you're fermenting what they give you.

HoboBrewing said:

Thanks guys. I was thinking about it and it will probably cost me about 100 dollars to make a press(although it would be a fun project). For that price I could buy more than enough dirt cheap cider locally in the fall and make hard cider from that. Thanks.

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If you think $100 is too expensive for a hobby, you probably shouldn't bother. With a $100 press you can easily make $1000 of cider which will be better than the stuff you get at the local liquor retailer. If you can source some apples locally you can be sure of the quality. Also the cider will be healthier and less carbon emissions. For some people it is great fun and something you can drink all year. For most people it is too much bother.

I have to agree with gregbathurst here, it is primarily a hobby and so you have to invest a little. And even if you don't consider cider making a hobby you'd like to pursue, a well made press and grinder will last you a lifetime. You'll get thousands of dollars worth of cider ...that you made yourself from scratch too!

And you're right, building a press and grinder is a fun project. I had a blast building mine. And if you're handy it's not that hard.

Here's where I got the inspiration for my grinder:
http://www.sentex.net/~mwandel/press/apple_grinder.html

And here's what I based my press on:
http://www.van-vliet.org/dempseywoodworking/appleciderpress.shtml

Yah I see both sides of it. When I have a little more cash and some more time (maybe next summer), I might invest in building one. For now the plethora of local of local farmers should be good enough to get me started on my first real batch.

Also when you built yours did you decide if there was significant difference between a plastic press and a wooden one? I feel like plastic would be much better but more expensive.

I still hold that it's a lot quicker, easier and cheaper just to buy the cider.

Unless it's apples from your own tree, or some personal pride thing, why not buy the juice/cider?

Bought an antique press for 55 bucks! Works great!!

HoboBrewing said:

Yah I see both sides of it. When I have a little more cash and some more time (maybe next summer), I might invest in building one. For now the plethora of local of local farmers should be good enough to get me started on my first real batch.

Also when you built yours did you decide if there was significant difference between a plastic press and a wooden one? I feel like plastic would be much better but more expensive.

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Didn't give it much thought actually. My other hobby is woodworking, so I didn't even consider plastic. But I would imagine it's easier to clean and maintain, but might be more expensive than wood.

Seen this thing on ebay where its a long metal rod with blades on the end... It hooks up to a drill and goes in a bucket to grind up the apples.... It was around 25 bucks after that u need to just get some screens and squish em together with something to extract the juice.