Is Yeast Nutrient Necessary?

How necessary is Yeast nutrient in cider making? If so are raisins sufficient as a yeast nutrient? If so, can I add them after fermentation has started? (my airlocks have slowed bubbling to about 1 every 5 seconds.

Are there any other natural yeast nutrients that one could use?

High,
Yeast nutrient (usually DAP) is only needed in the initial growth phase of the yeast cells.
Max. dosage is 40g / 100 litres.
It should not be added all at once, to prevent cell stress from too high a dosage.
Add 1/2 of it at the beginning of fermentation to the wort, before pitching yeast, another 1/4 about 4 days down the road and the last quarter after a week to ten days.
Never add more than miniature amounts to your starter, as too high a concentration will definitely stress your yeast cells and they will produce off-flavours.
C YA
swillmaker
p.s. : there are some really good articles on the web about yeast nutrients and DAP

You dont need Yeast Nutrient. It helps make sure your yeast is healthy and will work well, but its not necessary.

I have dry-pitched safale yeast in 2 ciders with no prep and just juices with some added sugar (only added to boost abv) and the yeasts started right up and were going crazy after about 12hrs.

I have dry-pitched safale yeast in 2 ciders........

High,
I´m sure that this is not meant as a proven-as-safe standard.

And anybody who just dumps yeast into a wort/juice, without having made a starter is sure taking a chance.
When having made a yeast starter, you can smell right away, whether you have a healthy yeast, just by taking a whiff of it, before pitching. That can sure save a lot of money.
A starter thus sniffed, that smells off or like vinegar, can sure save numerous gallons of juice/wort from turning into a vinegar-like product or worse.

Some apples leave a very clear juice after pressing, where it is definitely advisable to add some yeast nutrients.
Just personal experience and no offence meant.

C YA
swillmaker

People have made cider for centuries & mostly not used any commercial additives. That being said, I use yeast nutrient/yeast energizer of some sort in every fermentation except beer. For a few cents, I give the yeast the best environment & food source I can so I can get the best results as I can. Nutrients also help to cut down on the rhino farts some fermentations generate. Regards, GF.

I use it. You can buy a bottle of it for a dollar or two and it lasts a long time. The same goes for energizer. It's definately helpful on high gravity ciders.

I use it, but only about 1/4 of the recommended dosage because it's kind of expensive here and I make a lot of cider I know that the yeast don't need it to fully attenuate and create a delicious cider so don't go over board with the DAP.

I never used it in ciders and I am always happy with my results. Apples have a lot of natural nutrients. I save my nutrients for my mead.

I've done hundreds of batches and never used nutrient - although I dont go above 1.065 or maybe 1.070 tops for the initial sg. If you want to stop the fermentation while it still has some residual sweetness, adding nutrient will work against you.

I've also dry pitched hundreds of batches and never had a slow start. The key is to sprinkle it in slowly so that it rehydrates slowly. Dont just dump it in. And you want the cider to be at least 65F when you pitch, preferably a little warmer. Same principle as making a starter, but one less step, one less thing to clean and one less chance for something to go wrong

i use the nutrients and hydrate the yeast as well but only if im making jack. the og or sg is 1.140. so you want a fully hydrated mature yeast colony to gorge on as much sugar as can be done before the alcohol tox kills them. then into the freezer for ahem, and finally a sweeten maybe if it needs it but for sure the spices, aging and final filtering. get many requests for my "jack" from friends and family.