75% extraction by weight on homemade press

[barnaclebob]

Its hard to find reliable extraction %'s so I figured I'd add mine to the pool

I pressed 250lbs of apples Saturday and got between 21 and 22 gallons of cider with an OG of 1.05. 1/3 granny smith, 2/3 honeycrisp. Didn't actually weigh the apples but it was 6x 40lb boxes +11lbs from peoples yards. Water weighs 8.34lbs/gallon *1.05 o.g. *21 gallons = 184lbs of juice. We weighed about 60lbs of pulp for a total of 244lbs. 184/244= .754


Apples were sliced with a restaurant type apple slicer and ground with a 3/4HP Cabela's meat grinder using 1/8" plate, pretty time consuming and grinding was the holdup. It took us 6 hours + cleanup to grind and press the apples.

The press setup is as follows (pics to come soon):

Large strainer bag sitting inside of a metal steamer basket which was sitting on 3/4" wood staves which was inside my 10 gallon bayou classic mash tun. Drain tube went form the valve to my 16 gallon boil kettle, or straight into the fermenter if you don't care about exact volumes.

Mash tun would then be set inside of a wooden frame and the oak pressing boards/column added on top. We used a 4 ton bottle jack for pressure.


Tips for this setup and I suspect many others:

Don't press too much at once or the juice cant escape the middle of the pulp pankake. You shouldn't end up with pulp more than a few inches thick after each pressing.

We pressed, then mixed up the pulp again and pressed one more time. This got another .5 gallons or so.

Let the pulp gravity drain as you grind into the strainer basket. The more juice you can get out before pressing the better.

First do a hand pressing to get as much juice as you can out, see point above.

 

[barnaclebob]

Here are some pictures:

 

[oljimmy]

I got just about 70% the other day as well. Kind of disappointing, was hoping for higher. Thanks for the tips on pressing!

 

[barnaclebob]

I was satisfied with 75%. I think I could get more if I built some proper dividers so I could have more pancakes or whatever they are called. the strainer basket probably causes some resistance. Then I wouldn't need to worry about all of the hand squeezing and i could press more at once.

 

[WVMJ]

freckleface.com sells round poly cutting boards in different sizes and thicknesses that work perfectly, we use 2 spacers plus the top and 3 bags WVMJ

 

[barnaclebob]

freckleface.com sells round poly cutting boards in different sizes and thicknesses that work perfectly, we use 2 spacers plus the top and 3 bags WVMJ

I'm looking to make something that has more of a waffle fry look to it so the juice can flow from the center more easily.

 

[stpug]

I've used pectinase (i.e. pectic enzyme) with fruit wines in the past and it has greatly improved the "press-ability" of the fruit. My understanding is that it breaks down the pectin molecule into smaller pieces which don't hamper the ability of the juice to flow as much. Additionally, apples (particularly Granny Smith) apples are quite high in natural pectin and can probably benefit from a molecular breakdown of the pectin. My general process is this: crush fruit, sulfite, wait 6-12 hours, add pectinase, wait 24-48 hours, press fruit, pitch yeast. This may prove helpful to you in the future.

As for crushing, pectinase can help here as well. Since it works enzymatically I believe the pieces need not be too small. I would suspect that you could put your apples through a 3/8-1/2 grinding plate (or kidney bean plate) and the pectinase would take care of the rest. The larger hole size should greatly speed up the flow of apples through the plates. Not to mention you split the process into two days so it's less work at each sitting.

Ideas for future anyway. Cheers!

 

[WVMJ]

Did you grind the seeds up with the grinder? WVMJ

 

[barnaclebob]

Yeah everything went thought he grinder and the seeds definitely got chopped up. The chickens are still alive and kicking if you were concerned about the trace amounts of poison in apple seeds...

 

[WVMJ]

More like the taste from all those seeds? WVMJ

 

[oljimmy]

Wvmj, since people have been making cider this way for 500 years, i wouldn't worry about the seeds, right?

 

[oljimmy]

Bob: would plastic work? Like, a simple old plastic bag or sheet with a hole in it?

 

[oljimmy]

Hey pug: good call on the pectinase. Two things: why sulfite beforehand ? Does this get you any added benefit? Second, 36 hours of maceration seems like a very long time. Do you get higher yields by letting the pulp sit this long?

 

[stpug]

Hey pug: good call on the pectinase. Two things: why sulfite beforehand ? Does this get you any added benefit? Second, 36 hours of maceration seems like a very long time. Do you get higher yields by letting the pulp sit this long?

The sulfites are a biological control since you'll have an extended maceration time prior to yeast inoculation.

Yes, the extended maceration (along with the pectinase) tend to increase yields.

 

[barnaclebob]

Bob: would plastic work? Like, a simple old plastic bag or sheet with a hole in it?

Plastic wouldn't work since the apple pulp would just squirt out the holes in the bag.

This pre pectic enzyme addition tecnique sounds intersting but it would turn an all day 1 day event into two partial days.

The seeds didn't have any bad effects on last years awesome batch.

 

[Pommeau]

I'm looking to make something that has more of a waffle fry look to it so the juice can flow from the center more easily.

The nylon cutting boards are pretty soft, got a router?

 

[WVMJ]

People have been grinding seeds up in a Cabelas grinder for 500 years Crushing apples is different from grinding them. Craft cidermakers crush their apples vs grinding them, figuring they must know a bit about making cider. If it works for you great. You can also add pectinases right at crushing to get more juice. Also, chickens love pokeweed berries, probably not so good for people WVMJ