Newbie question - Can I juice my apples then....

[Jenny P]

Hi there, another newbie here. My freezer is filling up fast, and my apples are just starting to ripen. I have multiple varieties of cold climate apples. The Honeycrisp and Dolgo are ripening now, the Chestnut crab will be starting in a week or so, then there are the Sweet Sixteen, Haralson, and Hazen, plus the old tree that was here when we moved in which is best after it a light frost in late September.

Here is my dilemma, these all ripen at separate times, and right in the middle of my busy season at work. I don't have an apple press. Well, I do, but it's huge and with everything ripe, at different times it doesn't work so well. Wish it was smaller for small batches. I am wondering if I used my juicer and then froze the juice if it would work to make wine with later this winter? I know with grapes and other fruit it's better to use them with the skins on for extra flavor, does that hold true for apples? OR should I see if I can find space for a second freezer and freeze the apples whole?

Thank you
JennyP

 

[RPh_Guy]

You need to read The Complete Cider Maker's Handbook by Claude Jolicoeur.

Fermenting on the skins does add flavor. It's not really a traditional practice though. Not sure why.

 

[Mr impatient]

I would love to be in your position with different types of apple, I would make a batch per apple and see how the taste differes from each other. I have three apple trees but they are all young and not many apples yet. The recipe I use calls for all the apple cut roughly including skin stalk pips and all, 5Lb per gallon then I run them through a food processor and add 3 1/2 Lb of sugar 1 1/2 Ltrs of water and boil for 15 minutes.

With 5Lb of apples and the sugar in the largest pan I have it only takes 1 1/2 ltr of water to fill to nearly overflowing, the pan is supposed to be a 5ltr pan and filled to the brim it is about 6 1/2 ltrs volume. Boil for 15 minutes and add to your fermenting bucket. Because it is the only way I can do it I repeat this process for however many Lbs of Apples I have at 5Lb at a time plus sugar.

The next day I take a reading and add the yeast, (a good wine yeast which will give around 15%) I leave the whole lot in the buckets for a week. then strain through muslin and put in demijohns and leave it until the fermentation stops completely, even then I leave them for another couple of weeks just to make sure. Bottle and enjoy

I have two fermenting buckets and fill one with 4 batches which comes to around the 25 Ltrs mark, and 3 batches, about 20 Ltrs volume in the other, there just isn't room for everything in one bucket. When I have strained the apples out with some muslin after a week I am left with just under 25Ltrs of liquor in total to clear in to demijohns. I do not like sweet wine so I let all the sugar ferment out.

I have been surprised at how drinkable it is when really young and when left a year or two it becomes like alcoholic apple nectar

 

[Jenny P]

I would love to be in your position with different types of apple, I would make a batch per apple and see how the taste differes from each other. I have three apple trees but they are all young and not many apples yet. The recipe I use calls for all the apple cut roughly including skin stalk pips and all, 5Lb per gallon then I run them through a food processor and add 3 1/2 Lb of sugar 1 1/2 Ltrs of water and boil for 15 minutes.

With 5Lb of apples and the sugar in the largest pan I have it only takes 1 1/2 ltr of water to fill to nearly overflowing, the pan is supposed to be a 5ltr pan and filled to the brim it is about 6 1/2 ltrs volume. Boil for 15 minutes and add to your fermenting bucket. Because it is the only way I can do it I repeat this process for however many Lbs of Apples I have at 5Lb at a time plus sugar.

The next day I take a reading and add the yeast, (a good wine yeast which will give around 15%) I leave the whole lot in the buckets for a week. then strain through muslin and put in demijohns and leave it until the fermentation stops completely, even then I leave them for another couple of weeks just to make sure. Bottle and enjoy

I have two fermenting buckets and fill one with 4 batches which comes to around the 25 Ltrs mark, and 3 batches, about 20 Ltrs volume in the other, there just isn't room for everything in one bucket. When I have strained the apples out with some muslin after a week I am left with just under 25Ltrs of liquor in total to clear in to demijohns. I do not like sweet wine so I let all the sugar ferment out.

I have been surprised at how drinkable it is when really young and when left a year or two it becomes like alcoholic apple nectar

Thank you, when we moved to this property (a 5-acre homestead) 25 years ago, my hubby started planting fruit, he planted at least 5 plants every year for the first few years. NOW we have various varieties in apples, chokecherries, currants, grapes, gooseberries, plums, apricots, and we had raspberries, but I got tired of fighting off the insects on them a couple years ago and mowed them all down.

I will make note of the process you use.

Jenny P

 

[bernardsmith]

You need to read The Complete Cider Maker's Handbook by Claude Jolicoeur.

Fermenting on the skins does add flavor. It's not really a traditional practice though. Not sure why.

Totally agree with you regarding Jolicoeur's understanding of cider making. But I am not sure I agree that fermentation "on the skins" is not standard practice. No one who presses apples peels their apples and the scratter simply chops the apples - skins and all while the press "ex-presses" (literally) the juice. That juice may not contain lumps of peel but the apples prepared for juicing have often been allowed to macerate for a 6- 12 hours, sometimes more. Here is one source: https://www.tompress.co.uk/A-10003323-macerating-apples-for-making-cider.aspx and here is another from the opposite end of the planet.
http://www.utas.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/978097/Cider-science2.pdf

 

[Mr impatient]

Thank you, when we moved to this property (a 5-acre homestead) 25 years ago, my hubby started planting fruit, he planted at least 5 plants every year for the first few years. NOW we have various varieties in apples, chokecherries, currants, grapes, gooseberries, plums, apricots, and we had raspberries, but I got tired of fighting off the insects on them a couple years ago and mowed them all down.

I will make note of the process you use.

Jenny P

WOW all that fruit, lol I would be in heaven with all that, gooseberry wine apricot wine cherry wine and plum, wonderfull. I have planted a fruit hedge between myself and my neighbour, with cherry pear apple with blackberry and blueberry bushes to fill in the gaps. It is only 15 yards long and everything is being trained along the wire fence and interwoven with eachother. It has been in since 2007 ish and we add more as we can, the last apple tree only going in last year. I have planted another cherry and a plum but they have only just started flowering and no fruit yet.

Have fun and enjoy it while you can.