There has been some talk about different methods/equipment for getting the cider out of apples. And I think I am familiar with the traditional ways (grinder, mesh bags, press). But for now, until my many younger trees come into full production, I don’t really have enough apples to justify a full cider pressing operation. But I would like to make a bit of cider with some of the smaller harvests I am getting now, and was thinking about the kitchen juicer appliances one sees around. Quite a few different brands of those, mostly it seems patterned on the same design: a high speed grinding wheel and something that presses the fruit into that wheel. And then some means of separating the juice from the pulp.
I am curious if any of the folks here have tried using such machines for making small quantities of homemade cider. If so, how did it work? Which style/brand machine did you use and would you recommend it.
Yes I have one. I’ve used it recently for juicing does an okay job, I’m not sure if it grinds perfectly but gets the job done for small amounts. I’m afraid if I used it to much the motor would blow out because of the amounts I have. It also leaves behind a thick froth on top of the juice which some other people have mentioned I believe.
I found it by searching for the key word “jack”, The thread is about cider presses and mentions jack lalang juicers , I would link it but I’m to tech ignorant
Thanks for the replies. I’ll pass along what I have discovered.
There are quite a few very similar juicers, similar in function and design to the Lalane one. Basically fruit chunks go down a tube to a fast spinning grater/strainer. Juice comes out one side and pulp collects in a bin on the other. I can’t say much about them other than people seem to like them, and there is one out there that is marketed under several different brands but appears to only vary in color.
Anyhow, I grabbed a used one off of craigslist (because I needed to clear a bin of apples out of the garage fridge in order to have room for the turkey). Juiced (cidered???) that bin of apples, maybe 1/2 bushel. It seemed to go fairly fast. with little effort (wash, quarter removing bad spots), put them into the juicer. All in all much easier and faster than I expected.
One thing I quickly found out, these designs need regular cleaning out of the apple waste to keep them working. If you don’t they will clog up (don’t ask how I know). Second thing is they do make juice, but a bunch of foam comes along with it. I’ll have to see if that foam eventually settles back out into juice. The apple waste is fairly dry (I don’t think I could squeeze any more out of it by hand) but not as dry as I have seen coming out of a real apple cider press. So some juice is lost no doubt.
All in all, a reasonable gadget for making small amounts of juice/cider.
My apple juicers / press grinder
I started with a cheep centrifugal juicer ,did not like it,to slow.
Bought the jack lalannes,really good for small amounts of juice. Large feed tube.2 3/4". Small apples go in whole. Affordable $100.00 ?
I like the jack Lalanne
Lower right.in photo:
Bought a Ruby 2000 on eBay ( nutrifast is about the same ?)
Smaller feed tube, apples needed to be 1/4 ed. So slow to feed.
An industrial machine for sure. Great for carrots other veggies .
Just not the production machine for me for apple juice .
Mostly because of the small feed tube.
It will eat apple 1/4s as fast as 2 people can feed it.
It uses a lot of power ( this is a issue for me , as I am solar powered)
It cost a lot -$500.00 used --$2000.00 new ?
I wanted a lot of easy cider !
Next upgrade :
I bought a hydro press and electric grinder from pleasant hill grain.
The grinder will eat apples as fast as 2 people can throw them by hand.
You can not dump them in ,it will jam.very fast, easy clean up.
Uses a lot of power but only for a short period of time .
The hydro press is so cool.it is a bladder type press that uses your house water pressure (50#) to fill a central bladder that squeezes the juice out from the center , not down. Fill press with pulp.Just hook it to a garden hose ,turn on water, and the juice just just pours out . Totally quiet.
Does a great job , really happy with it !!!
The only disadvantage is that it must be full.you can not use it 1/2 full,it will blow a hole in the bladder.
You can save dry pulp from the first run to top off the last run so it will be full
So don’t buy one that is to big. Pleasant hill has 2 modules 10gal. And 20gal.
Easy clean up with garden hose.
I love this machine
A look in side the press ,top off,nylon press bag, bladder in center ( think inertube ) notice… small air bleeder valve at top of central screw.
Fill with ground pulp. Put lid on ,tighten top wing nut,
Turn water on, open bleeder valve, wait for water to push air out of bladder, must turn off bleeder when full of water .then the water fills bladder pushing the juice out.
This is a perfect time to open a bottle (or so ). …of last years Apple wine
And just kick back and watch that juice, gush out , pour out ,keep coming out then slow , then drip, drip ,drip. Don’t worry. Their are Moore ."…""…?.."
As Johnthecook has stated…The centrifugal juicers produce a lot of foam; but the masticating juicers work well. I have an Omega 8004 that I bought for $40 on Craigslist…It is surprisingly fast and extracts a lot of juice (leaving an almost dry pulp)…Its downside is that you have to cut up the fruit into rather small pieces to go down the chute.
And this pic is the same scratter - pretty much done except I have a hopper on top to make the loading of apples less manual - like shake them in out of a bucket.