How to Press Apple Cider using Rescued Fruit and an Antique Cider Mill
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.ย. 2024
- It is the middle of August and the early ripening apples are ready in Alberta. Generally you can tell when apples are ready when they come off with a light touch and or taste sweet.
Unfortunately you can also tell when large numbers of apples fall off the tree by themselves. This leads me to a problem I would like to help solve. There are many fruit trees this time of year with piles of fallen and rotting fruit at the base. When have spoken the trees owners they often just cant use the produce or cant harvest it.
Inspired by groups like Operation Fruit Rescue out of Edmonton I went to social media looking for apples to rescue and wow was I surprised with the immediate response..
So I went collecting apples as fast as I could. With so many apples that don’t have a long storage life my solution was to make cider.
At the suggestion of my father I found a working antique cider crusher and press or a Cider Mill. As luck would have it last month I found just the piece all the way in Southern Ontario.
The mill I found was restored by a fellow named Lorne whom had rescued it from an antique shop. Using reclaimed lumber from a neighboring Victorian Farm house he painstakingly resorted it to working condition over a 3 month period.
My parents were in the area and were kind enough to drive it 4500km or 2800 miles to Alberta. I now could process the abundant amount of fruit I have collected.
Once I got the mill home, installed in my shed and thoroughly cleaned I took some time to research the piece. As it would happen the cast Iron pieces were cast in 1866 making them 149 years old… that is older than the confederation of Canada!
I will continue to research this peace as I want to know the full history of my press.
Before I started to use the cider mill I made sure to lubricate any of the moving parts with vegetable oil. Vegetable oil is food safe so if it falls in your cider it won’t harm anything but it also works as a great lubricant that is not likely to cause rust issues while preventing damaging friction.
When using apples to make juice or cider you first have to crush the fruit. The first few years I did this using a cold press juicer. The trouble being it was electric, had a small opening requiring you to cut the apples up, required clean outs often and it did not do a great job getting every drop of juice out of the pulp.
The mill can do the same work, that took many nights with the juicer, in a matter of an hour. After installing a temporary hopper I simply loaded whole apples and turned the crank. The crusher works by spinning tines that grab the apples and mash then through a set of blades. Once the chunks have gone through that there is a set of cogs below that mash them further before dropping them into the barrel.
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working with such a historic piece of machinery must be a very special feeling.
+Nicholas Hay It sure is I am honoured to be able to!
Nice to see a little bit of history working and "one the job". Well done.
+James Brown I will keep this guy working as long as I can ;) its a wonderful heirloom and piece of history! did you know in 1866 Billy the Kid committed the first armed bank robbery in the US?
Phenomenal video Stephen! The premise was excellent. Loved all of the great info. And the pacing and video scenes were done very nicely. I thoroughly enjoyed this man. Thanks!
I am so very happy you enjoyed the video. I am sure you can tell I had a lot of fun putting this video together :)
That mill is amazing! Enjoy the "fruits" of your labor!
Hugh Janus I tried to put the pun in there but it came off sounding odd where I put it lol. Thank you my friend!
*****(8D)
Awesome! Yay, you showed us your antique cider mill! Thanks!
Julianna HM It was hard with the light but I was very excited to get this and put it to use so I just had to share it with my friends !
that is sweet! never let food go to waste if you dont want it to. there is always some sort of purpose you could use it for, i am hoping i can borrow some of your knowledge and apply it to the same wastefulness in my neighborhood. apples are a saviour
Garrett petshower I hope you can my friend! As I get better with this I hope to be able to save more and more apples year after year!
Glad you weer able to get a press. I inherited my family press which has two barrels so that one can be filled while the other is being pressed. The teeth are finer so the mush is softer to press. The barrels are only half the size of yours. the screw is long enough that it reaches maximum compression with one pass. With two or three people working the juice can be pressed fast enough that it dose not turn brown.
Each fall I take it to the local school and the children and teachers in kindergarten gather apples to grind. With 20 kids lined up along the fence each one picks up 2 apples steps up on a box and drops them one at a time into the hopper. soon the janitor and the principle show up to take there turn at the crank.
When the apples are gone the kids go back to the class room and start making pictures or writing to the best of there ability about their experience while some of the cider is pasteurized so they can taste it. The rest goes home with the 4 teachers.
I also run grapes through the mill. I generally do not have to line the press barrel for the apples because the slats are close enough together but without a cloth the grapes come out of the skins and squeeze between the slats and then pop back into shape.
I hope my experience helps you make full use of your press as a community asset.
Hans Quistorff I will likely look for a smaller lighter unit that I can move around. as you know I am big into teaching especially the next generation of gardener. A cider mill is a fantastic way to do that. I am really glad you take the time and just want to say thank you on behalf of the children!
I am quite inspired and may now spend some time planning how I can do the same!
Thank you very much for sharing!
What an amazing find with the antique mill. My favorite part of this video is when you show today's technology trumped by the 149 year old technology.
Lol that's not even the half of it. I chose not to use the choice words I had when the juicer exploded on me last year and I cut the tip of my figure off ( there is a clip of me harvesting apples and my left hand has a bandage from last year )
I have always admired the over engineered antiques !
I love the cider mill, Stephen! It's great you were able to collect so many apples that would otherwise go to waste too.
+OneYardRevolution | Frugal & Sustainable Organic Gardening I am so happy that i got it as well. I feel as if I have won the lotto! Rescuing the fruit isa great bonus!
I love your new presser Stephen, it sure works great too. This antique came to a good home with you and we can see that you will continue to extend its life to last many generations to come. I enjoyed this video...ta! :)
***** Thank you my friend! I hope to use it for decades to come and when I can't pass it on to the next brewer / gardener!
It was fantastic watching you work with a 1866 crusher and it works well. Looking forward to watching the fermentation .
+Patrick Meehan I was lucky to pick it up in such good condition. There is some more restoration left to do but that can come with time now!
Hello Stephen, this is very timely, I also have many (fallen) apples to deal with. You made a terrific purchase with the masher and press! Two years ago I tried running apples through a blender to extract the juice and found it an unprofitable effort.
Robert Seviour Juicers like the one I showed do a fair job they are just slow!!!! I bet you could find a better one for making apple juice out there but really there is nothing better than a crusher and press!
Thanks for the info....I was driving through my neighborhood and saw a bunch of apples that has fallen too, what a waste. Nice apple mill, looks really neat! I bet that cider is delicious!
Learn To Grow I can't help myself I stop and introduce myself! at this rate next year Ill have a lot more apples I will be more than willing to press ;).
The hard apple cider is FANTASTIC! It makes such a great christmas drink and gift I look forward to it all year!
Great idea . :)
Top video Stephen! I'm glad you too don't like seeing food go to waste. Also the mill looks amazing and there isn't anything much better than drinking that freshly squeezed juice :)
HuwsNursery - Grow Organic Produce Inexpensively Thank you so very much my friend! This video I had a lot of fun making!
I bet in your part of the world you could find old mills like this. here it is super rare! my country isn't even as old as it is!
Such a gorgeous old machine!
I really like that fact that you are using historic equipment and just wonder do you think it would be much easier with some newer machinery ? I also like idea of reusing older inventions rather than always grabbing latest stuff available.
Raf's Kitchen Garden You would defiantly get more juice out of the newer equipment but this is more than fine for me.
Awesome project.
DW Marschall Thank you my friend! I have to say I feel quite lucky I was able to find this one!
this video was very interesting Stephen
+LCJ farms I am glad you enjoyed it!
Save your pulp, ferment it with some water (same as hard cider) then add some "Mother" and make your own Apple Cider Vinegar(ACV) makes a wonderful smelling environmentally friendly cleaner , Probiotic and food preserving fluid for other crops being preserved :-D
Suburban Stewards unfortunelty this year I did not save it but I should next year! Thanks for the tip my friend!
Very interesting, Stephen! Thanks for the look!
Keyplayr61 Greenhouse Hydroponics And Gardens I thought you might enjoy this one my friend! Apples are kind of the only thing I can grow up here that I believe you southerners have a hard time with. The mill is a treasure I use to put them to work ;)
This is so cool. An awesome peace of equipment and history.
ZeaMoore4 It sure is a neat efficient machine !
What a find!!!! I am sure lots of people are jealous!! I am!! OMG that is fantastic!!
I have had a few people offer to take it off my hands ;) I think I'll hold onto it for a few generations lol.
You know I really wonder if it is something that could be repattented. I know these computer scanners exist that you put something in it... get a 3-D scan... and then you can basically send off to somewhere a detailed part list of what you would need to manufacture a new apple press just like that one.
I have no idea how cost effective any of that would be... but I suspect there is a need for doing something like this.
I could reverse engineer it for sure. I think it would be interesting to do.
It would be best to use cast iron or machined parts.
Cast iron has been so much more cost effective with the compressed sand method. I suspect those 3D printers could produce the wax mold for such a process. I know there are scanners that copy 3D items. I would hope you could do all of that. Thank you so much for thinking about it.
my wife has been helping me. one day ill get around to it :)
Beautiful! Great work sir, it makes me super happy to see this.
I hope I pronounced your name correctly. Thank you very much for the great work ! If you could not tell I am more than pleased !
Around here, this time of the year, when you drive down the highway, all you smell is peaches. 10s of thousands of lbs are on the ground, unable to be sold. A lot of those peaches get "redistributed" to people making mash to put into a still.
+Joe Feser Wow that is such a shame eh! so much wasted. at least some people are able to save them in their stills ;)
Nice equipment. I love apple juice. winner.
MrMac5150 Thank you my friend!
A very nice press you've got. Just watched another youtuber from Germany who has a similar one, but with a ratchet mechanism for pressing screw.
That sure is a beautiful setup you have yourself! I'm happy for you :]
TheNorthwestForager Thank you my friend! Its a gem of a find and I look forward to keeping it company as long as I can and passing it on to the next gardener / brewer :)
It is a gem indeed and it makes me feel good to know it's in the hands of someone who can appreciate it. Thanks for sharing it wish us :]
I was more than glad to share ! I just hope I can do it justice !
really cool !
+Pople BackyardFarm I agree ;)
What an awesome press! Heck of a drive to get it you though. I've tried doing it with a juicer as well and it's just not viable. I great video stephen but I think I'll stick to my beer making 😉
Ben Jamin It does take time with a juicer but I am MORE Than happy with my new toy ! I am not sure i could go back to a juicer for the volume I deal with now !
روعه .. شكرا
Exellant thank you
I do not know english
I am translating with google
ام عبد العزيز أنا سعيد لأنك تتمتع الفيديو. شكرا لكم لأخذ الوقت الكافي لكتابة من خلال ترجمة جوجل
LORNE?! Oh cawd!
Great video and channel! I'm a fan. I've subscribed!
Question: You said you are using veg oil to lubricate the cider mill. Doesn't veg oil go rancid? I typically use 'food grade' mineral oil on the cutting boards I make, but I can't speak to its use on machinery.
Perhaps others can offer ideas on food grade lubricant that provides the right viscosity to reduce friction and rust on machinery.
The areas that get lubricated are not in proximity to the food and yes it does go bad. That said at the time this mill was made there were limited other options. That said the mill gets a good cleaning and I am in search of mineral oil for the wood too.
Sounds like you have it well under control.
Trying at least ;)
How do you clean up the initial rust on the cast iron so it does not get into your juice?
+Joe Feser light use of a vinegar based wash. it helps pick it up and keep it out. the key is for the remainder to stay dry so it does not rust.
dude, this rules.
I could not agree more :)
Nice press you have there. I want one so bad I don't know what to do, but I can't afford what they're going for nowadays. Do a little more research there buddy. Most of them presses were designed to, while pressing, add a 2x4 into the press screw to give you more leverage what you're your using as handles are actually the dogs for the 2x4 (or like sized piece of wood)
This one was cheaper than a new one for sure. It just took a long time to fine and a long drive !
Keep your eyes out.
I can appreciate the quality of the juice or cider you're making, but man, that's a TON of work. 12-16 hours of work for some hard cider... :/
Royal Poison Its a good amount of work but I have 20 gallons of cider brewing ;)
I'm sure it's a labor of love and that the cider will be phenomenal. Enjoy!
It really is :) we mostly drink it around Christmas with family!
I sent you a private message regarding my cider press that is the same as yours. Looking forward to hearing from you. Cheers
Send me a message on my Facebook page and I’d love to talk
This time I will do it manually with the help of woodglut designs.