Methods to increase yield of low-yield apples?

[Bertramhage]

I have some apples that yields quite a low amount of juice compared to other ones. Does anyone have experience with ways to increase the juice yield of such apples.
Have been considering freezing them or using a coarser cloth.

(I’m currently using a regular grater mill and basket press)

 

[MtnGoatJoe]

By "regular grater mill" do you mean a grinder that pulps the apples before pressing? If not, I'd look into that.

 

[rivalry15]

Did you “sweat” the apples for a few weeks baby letting them sit out and slightly soften? Pressing a fresh picked hard apple can often lead to a lower yield.

 

[Nick Z]

Depending on your basket press the portion of apples at the bottom is probably getting more juice pressed out of them than the portion on top. Once you've done a pressing you can reload the press with the stuff that was previously on top now on the bottom. You may get a little extra that way.

More than one trip through the mill might help a little.

I've noticed that some apples just will not give up much juice.

 

[AzOr]

Ive heard of people freezing apples and after thawing, placing directly into press without grinding.

 

[Bertramhage]

Thank you for all the replys. I ended up doing a test by placing one in the freezer, thawing it and trying to squeeze it through a cloth, however, it did not seem to increase the yield, rather the opposite. I pressed them like I did the others, grinded them to a pulp and pressing in the basket press. The apples had been sweating beforehand until slightly soft. I guess some apples you just don’t get very much from.

 

[madscientist451]

Just curious, what is your yield of juice that is considered "low yield"? Also, adding Pectinase and letting the pulp sit in a covered bucket for 24 hours or longer seems to increase yield for me.
I also have a simple basket press and my juice yeilds seem low to me, but I get apples cheap enough that I don't really worry about it.
I get about 2.5 gallons per bushel. Sometimes I add a few gallons of water to a 5 gallon bucket of lightly pressed pomace and let it sit for 24 hrs and then press to make a "second run" juice. The second run sometimes has decent sugar levels but definitely less flavor. It all depends what you are starting with. Sometimes I blend it with the first run, boil it down to increase flavor and ABV or use it in as a mead or beer ingredient.

 

[Nick Z]

My understanding is that a basket press doesn't give a great yield. There aren't enough "channels" for the juice to flow through or something.

But they are (relatively) cheap, easy to set up and they can be made compact.

I looked into a bladder press and the cost was astronomical.

I got between 1.5-2.25 gallons out of forty pounds of apples in the basket press.

With some apples I got a pretty good yield by pureeing them in the food processor and squeezing the pulp through muslin. But this only worked with certain eating apple varieties.