[NAFEX] Centennials / apple pressing
Bob Hartman
hartmansfruittrees at wport.com
Thu Oct 19 15:51:33 EDT 2006
We have a Correll Cider Press and have been very happy with it. I don't
know if Bob Correll has a non-motorized version. You would have to
check with him. See them at http://www.correllciderpresses.com/.
Bob Hartman
Western Washington
Mark or Helen Angermayer wrote:
>Thanks for the info Steve. I had wondered how well the Happy Valley Ranch
>presses work. I'm anxious to start pressing even though we're several years
>away from apples. I've only found a couple non-motorized presses on the
>Web. Happy Valley Ranch looks like it's the better of the two.
>Incidentally, I've driven by Happy Valley Ranch and it doesn't strike me as
>unusually "Happy" or "Valley". It's a metal building (a nice one) on a
>flat pasture. The price of the presses don't make me happy either. I'm
>hoping we won't have to cash in our 401K when it's time to buy one. Joking
>aside, they look like good quality presses with good quality materials.
>
>I did have a question though, does your arm get tired grinding all the
>apples?
>
>Mark Angermayer
>Zone 5 Kansas
>20 miles north of Happy Valley
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "loneroc"
>To: "North American Fruit Explorers" <nafex at lists.ibiblio.org>
>Sent: Thursday, October 19, 2006 6:31 AM
>Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Centennials / apple pressing
>
>
>
>
>>Thanks Del,
>>
>>Centennial must keep its crisp texture longer the less heat there is (duh,
>>
>>
>I
>
>
>>suppose). Southerners on this list really like Centennial, but state that
>>it turns to moosh very quickly. I have a two week window of crispness
>>
>>
>here
>
>
>>in SW WI, maybe a little more. With your August average highs of 40F up
>>there things must last a lot longer.
>>
>>I too, took the cider press plunge this year. I'd used an electric
>>
>>
>kitchen
>
>
>>juicer for several years, cutting and coring, before putting the slices
>>
>>
>down
>
>
>>the chute. Fun for a bushel or two. I went the absolutely extravagant
>>route of paying a grand for the Happy Valley press. I'm not really a
>>tinkerer type--who might fall in love with the internal intricacies of
>>garbage disposals. Esthetically, I figured I'd get more satisfaction from
>>using a manual, quiet, old-timey contraption and the Happy Valley fit the
>>bill. Now that the press is paid for, I can forget about the economic
>>calculation that I'll need to make several hundred gallons of Juice (Cider
>>is the fermented product) to recoup my "investment".
>>
>>I'm satisfied overall with the HV's performance. It did come with the
>>crappiest directions I've ever seen on a US-made product. I can
>>
>>
>understand
>
>
>>why the instructions written by a Chinese widgetmaker might be nearly
>>unintelligible, but Kansan seems to be mutually intelligible with English
>>
>>
>so
>
>
>>far as I can tell. I managed to assemble the press after a couple phone
>>calls to the maker and an extra day or two of effort beyond the predicted
>>assembly time, but that nightmare has faded into the dim recesses of my
>>50-year-old memory.
>>
>>Freezing the juice produces magnificent results. Towards Spring there are
>>some very subtle changes in flavor and after a year or so you can notice a
>>slight "artificial apple flavor" tastes starting to become more
>>
>>
>noticeable.
>
>
>>Unless your electricity is either very expensive or absent altogether I'd
>>recommend freezing over any method except fermentation. But ya can only
>>drink so much hooch! Canning turns the juice into a product little better
>>than Del Monte or Mott's.
>>
>>Contrary to the advice of almost every cidermaking information I've read I
>>use drops to make juice in addition to squeezing the 2nd's. I remove all
>>the fallen fruit from beneath the trees all summer long to interrupt pest
>>lifecycles anyway. I compost the bad stuff. I have no livestock to
>>contaminate fruit butt he drops that seem to be pretty good are washed in
>>
>>
>a
>
>
>>mild bleach solution and rinsed well anyway. I then inspect each apple,
>>cutting out bruises, rot, and any other spot where the skin has been
>>
>>
>broken.
>
>
>>Can anyone see a down side to this process that I'm missing?
>>
>>I like to allow the trees to drop a third of the actual main crop (not
>>counting June drop and other early falls) or more before I pick . The
>>
>>
>drops
>
>
>>are nearly all fruit that have some sort of insect or disease damage and,
>>because of the ethylene produced by decay, those fruit fall first---the
>>remaining fruit tends to be the undamaged stuff. I pick from the tree and
>>can, for the most part, just bag the fruit. True 2nds go into the press.
>>Perfect fruit is separated into more-ripe, and less-ripe. The riper stuff
>>is the first fruit pulled from storage and the greener fruit is left for
>>late season eating. I don't wash prior to bagging because several months
>>have passed since my two scab/curculio sprays in May. Fruit with bird
>>
>>
>turds
>
>
>>are not bagged but there are only a few of them
>>
>>My small orchard produces more apples and product than I can possibly use
>>with out adding 200 pounds to the mid-section. The rest goes to friends
>>
>>
>and
>
>
>>family.
>>
>>Cheers,
>>
>>Steve Herje, SW WI
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
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