Total Novice, Advice needed please!

[herminator]

Hi,
Just stumbled across this forum and looks great and full of advice. I'm a total novice to cider making and today just finished making my own cider press!

I wanted to ask a question about the barrel i have used. Instead of using wood for the pulp to sit in for me to press down. I have used a steel barrel (an old oil can it would of been)?? Its all clean as a whistle now of course.
Am I wrong in doing this and should is really be made out of wood?
I want to get the setup right before I carry on.

I know I will have lots more questions, as Im taking this step by step.

Any help I would be very grateful.

Thanks Tom

 

[CandleWineProject]

oh, that is not good! Apple is high acid and will leach out metals with the exception stainless steel. (do a "find" for metal on this site: http://www.cider.org.uk/part5.htm) I've heard other things warning against metal.

And honestly, if it had oil in it, it isn't a food grade container, and I wouldn't trust it to ever be clean enough after it had (motor?) oil in it. That is like rule #1 for homebrewing - don't use anything that contained chemicals, espeically oil, to make beer, wine, cider, mead, etc.

 

[herminator]

Thanks Candle wine... I was thinking this myself, I was given the barrel and had in the back of my head not to use it.
Think I will come up with a wooden barrel to use instead.. Great website as well, so thanks again!!