Inaugural Cider Batch

We’ve done it!  We gathered up a whole bunch of granny smith apples on Saturday morning (for free!) and turned them all into wonderful cider.

So, here’s how the process works:

Start by washing your apples.  I used the bottom section of the 55 gallon tub I used to make my chicken plucker, filled it with water and Courtney and I sat around while the kids were napping and inspected all the apples.  We sorted them into two buckets, one for good apples and one for those that had a moldy/wormy spot.  We rubbed each apple with our hands to knock off any dirt, etc.

Halve or quarter all of the apples.  This is so that they fit into the grinder.

Grind away!  The grinder will chew up the apples as fast as I can feed them in there.  It is amazing.

The ground up apple pulp is collected in a food grade bucket.

Another view of the grinding in action.

Filling the pressing bags.  The bottom three inches of a five gallon food grade bucket acts as the form.

Tie the bag with a piece of kitchen twine.

Loading the press.  Put a bag in the bottom, then a pressing disc, then another bag, and so on.  A lot of juice will come out into your catching basin before you even begin pressing, so have that in place first!

Start pressing.  On the ground is the scissor jack from our mini van.  You start with that and once there is room, switch to the 6 ton bottle jack.

The final product.  One sip and you’ll know what the “Wow” factor is all about on this fresh squeezed cider.  It is comparable to nothing else I’ve ever had.  Courtney and I drank a large pitcher of it over the next few days.  The rest was split between a few half gallon Ball jars to make vinegar with the balance put into a fermenter to make hard cider.

Thanks, Robert.

Other Apple Grinder/Cider Press Posts:

Project Introduction

Status Report

Cutting a Keyway

Completion

Being Bold: Apple Collecting

Apple Cider Vinegar (future post)

Hard Cider (future post)

Sinus relief

The past month has been very low on blogging activity here; since the birth of our daughter, we’ve been quite a bit busier.  In the mean time, we also had a very bad cold run through the house.  This cold started with a sore, scratchy throat and then ended up settling in your sinuses for a few days doing the runny/stuffy combo.  Pressure was created to the point where your nose feels as if it is six times bigger than it really is.

I started doing a little internet searching about prevention of sinus infections, because I wanted to steer clear of a doctor’s visit and antibiotic medication.  I was very surprised to find tons of natural remedies out there.

Here’s what I did: several times daily make yourself a hot cup of tea.  Green tea or black tea, whatever your preference.  A little caffeine will help you feel better.  After steeping the tea, add a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, a dash of cayenne pepper and a little honey to combat the sour taste of the vinegar.

I’ve always known that hot beverages will help drain sinuses, but the apple cider vinegar does the same thing.  Especially when hot, those vapors rise and do their magic.   Spicy foods also make your nose run, and so that was the cayenne’s contribution.  The main point is that you want to get as much of that stuff out of your sinuses as you can and it will help to alleviate the pressure too.

It made me feel a lot better and so I did this several times daily and continued a day or two after I thought I was better.  A few days later, Courtney started with a sore throat.  I immediately made her one of these doctored-up teas.  Much to our surprise, her symptoms disappeared!  I had also read that taking a little apple cider vinegar soon after noticing symptoms of a cold can completely change the course of a cold and shorten its duration.

I’ve also read that a neti pot can help to remove a lot of that sinus junk, but I didn’t try that.  Maybe next time.

Thanks, Robert.