Bottling Bucket Question

OK. So I cold crashed my juice at 1.010 for 48 hours and am ready to bottle. I am making this for my consumption only and have plenty of fridge space so I am looking for advice. I would like to avoid pasteurizing since I am not keeping these bottles long term.

I believe I should rack again to get the juice off the yeast. The juice is currently in a 96oz. glass demijohn. I'm guessing it's best to rack it to another sanitized 96 oz. dj. I've heard the term bottling bucket but that makes me think of a big, open fermentation bucket and I'm guessing all that exposure to air wouldn't be good. Do I have the wrong image?

Since I believe it is sweet enough for me I won't be adding xylitol or anything like that. But i would like it carbonated.

Should I add priming sugar to the juice in the new dj and then bottle directly from there?

Finally, if I bottle into Grolsch bottles and let them sit at 70F for 5 days they should be ready to drink? And if I take all the bottles at day 5 and throw them in my fridge they should be safe to drink later since they are stored cold?

Any help appreciated!

If it were beer, I'd say prime it, bottle it, and put it in a closet.

I prime big batches by mixing in a bottling bucket then immediately bottling. Smaller batches typically get primed in a similarly sized container. For you a second DJ should be fine.

Long term storage in the fridge depends on the type of yeast you're using. Many are only slowed by cold crashing and not stopped completely, resulting in a drier and overly carbonated (possibly bombing) cider.

Hi FFc,

You don't have to rack again, but it will help the clarity for bottling purposes...If you have a smaller vessel, you can certainly use that. I don't' believe it will make a difference because oxygen will be introduced either way, but when you prime and bottle there will be a layer of CO2 between the cider and oxygen to protect the bottled cider.

So add priming sugar and bottle from whichever is easier.

The carbonation part is trickier because there is no way exact way to estimate when you have enough carbonation without opening a bottle and testing. One thing to help is bottle in a plastic soda bottle (one that was made for carbonated liquid) and when it becomes firm (like an unopened soda bottle) you at least know that you are close. At that point you should chill them in the fridge and try one. If it's at the right level your good, otherwise take them out and let them go a little longer.

You just HAVE to monitor them or you WILL get bottle bombs if left for too long at room temp.

Otherwise, you are right on the money and will enjoy a nice carbed chilled cider for a while!