North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Claude Jolicoeur <cjoli@gmc.ulaval.ca>]

Anton wrote:
> Anyone have anything good or bad to say about the models of manual apple
> grinders out there for smaller quantity cider making?  A few brands I've
> seen are Lehman's, Weston, and Enoitalia.  How much volume is reasonable
> to expect to do with one of these models?  Also curious if anyone has
> had any luck converting any of these models to electric.


I have used the manual grinder provided with my Jaffrey press bought 
in 1989 for a few years, but replaced it by one that I built that had 
an electric motor. I still use the press tho, but modified as a rack 
and cloth press, which is more efficient than the original basket setup.
If you are young and have good arms, you may use a hand-cranked 
grinder for up to about 30 gallons of juice per year maybe - more 
than that and you'll probably want to upgrade soon!
Another factor is 2 people are needed  - one for feeding the apples, 
and one for cranking. If electric, you can work it alone.

Note the Happy Valley Ranch grinder is available with a motor kit 
(www.happyvalleyranch.com), but I haven't seen it in action. If you 
need to buy and need something better, you could go to the OESCO HDPE 
grinder (www.oescoinc.com) or an italian mill or the Speidel mill 
sold by morewinemaking.com which are all excellent, but are built 
(and priced) for serious cider makers.

Or you can build your own - see mine at
http://picasaweb.google.com/cjoliprsf/applegrinder2010

For more see my website www.cjoliprsf.ca
or my book, which covers the subject quite extensively
 <http://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/the_new_cider_makers_handbook/>The 
New Cider Maker s Handbook by Claude Jolicoeur - Chelsea Green

Claude