How many apples?

[lordspudz]

Hi, looking to make some 'proper' cider with real apples soon, (currently have three batches of turbo cider on the go), as was wondering roughly how many apples, in pound weight, would I need to produce 1 gallon of cider? Would it be a case of multiplying that amount to produce 2 or 3 gallons?

 

[gregbathurst]

It is easier to think in the metric system for this sort of thing. A decent press will give 60% yield so for a litre of juice you would need 0.6kg of apples, for 10L = 6kg. If you use a basket press it will be more like 50% yield.

 

[madscientist451]

I get about 2.5 to 3 gallons of cider per bushel of apples, which is like 45 lbs? Note that some apples are "jucier" than others, and I also let my apples "sweat" or age for 4-6 weeks before pressing, which reduces the juice content somewhat. Apples with the highest juice content don't always make the best cider, there are too many other factors to list here. I use a basket press, which has very low efficiency.
Check with local growers for "seconds" or apples otherwise rejected for retail sale. I can get seconds in my area for about $7/bushel, but better quality apples are $15-20 a bushel. Some seconds are the wrong size (too big or too small), or have blemishes or are just small apples that were picked before they are ripe, unripe apples don't make very good cider.

 

[Chalkyt]

"Gallons ain't Gallons". Your US gallon is about 4 litres. I use a 5 litre carboy, which we call a gallon. except that an Imperial Gallon is about 4.5 litres. Confused?

Anyhow as we say in Australia "the answer is a pineapple!". In the first instance it depends on the juice yield that you get from your pressing. I need about 100-120 apples for 5 litres (obviously depending on the size of the apples) if I get 50% yield. So, 80-100 apples per US gallon should do the job for you.

On average, my apples weigh around 100g (say 1/4 lb). So, after rounding off the numbers a bit, 10kg (or 22 lbs) should give you something like a gallon of juice. As a bushel is a volume measure it is a bit hard to get a straight mass to volume figure since a bushel will weigh differently depending on the product (I notice that in his chapter on Apple Mills, Jolicoeur works on a bushel of apples being 40 lbs or 18kg, but this probably depends on the size of the apples). This suggests that a bushel of apples will probably contain a lot of air space, so you don't get a lot of apples in a bushel.

On this basis you could start off working on a bushel of apples yielding around two gallons of juice, but it could be a bit different, depending on the size of the apples and the yield you get. And, yes... just scale up the quantity of apples for different volumes of juice.

Still confused?... so am I. Good luck!

 

[doublejef]

It is easier to think in the metric system for this sort of thing.

So true. For this sort of thing and also for all the other in fact...

A decent press will give 60% yield so for a litre of juice you would need 0.6kg of apples, for 10L = 6kg. If you use a basket press it will be more like 50% yield.

It's the other way around, it seems to me.
If you get 10l of juice with 6kg apple you are a kind of magician cause it will give around 1,5kg of juice from 1kg of apple.
So with 10kg of apple, with 60% yield, you'll have 6kg of juice, which makes around 5,7l because juice is around 1.050 Density so (1/1,05) l/kg. But well, around 6l of juice for a 10 kg of apple.

 

[gregbathurst]

Ha, yes we all need magic apples. When discussing yield cidermakers fudge a bit, so if 10 kg of apples gives 6L of juice we call that 60%, even though thats not 100% accurate. thanks for correcting my mistake, it was early morning here in Australia when I posted, if that is any excuse.

 

[AzOr]

I use a hydro press and get 1 US gallon per 12-15lbs of apples. Each apple variety juices differently in addition to other factors such as letting your apples sweat etc.