I go for a more efficient juicer but don’t make more than a few gallons of cider typically at a time. Most I make is 10 gallons per year . https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001RLPFA6/ref=mp_s_a_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1474539305&sr=8-7&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=jack+lalanne+juicer&dpPl=1&dpID=51kjlkMXPnL&ref=plSrch. See this old post Good options for small-scale cider press?. For the harder stuff here is the basics http://www.motherearthnews.com/real-food/fermenting/how-to-make-hard-cider-zmaz07onzgoe.aspx. Many recipes have you add water so what you can do if your fruit pulp coming from your juicer is not dry add that water to the pulp. I make sweet cider in most cases but if I wanted to I would ferment pulp and water into alcohol using a strong yeast such as champagne with some sugar or honey. That’s more of an apple wine or mead with apple flavor than hard cider but it’s very efficient. I do the same trick with wild cherries , rather than separate the juice I ferment with pulp in because it’s easier and then I strain out the pulp after the initial fermentation. Juicers like The one in my link can’t handle seeds and pits such as grapes and cherries. Those juicers do great with apples, carrots and things like that. They do pears but not well because pears are mostly thick pulp not juice like an apple. If your apples are not sweet enough use the pears as a sweetener when making sweet cider. I use a steam juicer for cherries and grapes. The best sweet ciders in my opinion are about 20% pear juice. Maybe it’s just that I have more pears than apples but I believe the two fruits compliment each other. Add Aronia’s 40:1 and it taste reminiscent of grape juice. Aronia’s are easy to raise and bump the orac content of apples and pears significantly.
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