1. Have you considered using a new kitchen disposal to grind your
apples? I have been doing this since the fall of 1997, and wrote it up
in the January, 1999 Cider Digest and the 1999 winter edition of
Pomona. I think quite a few small-scale cidermakers have adopted this
idea, though I have no way of knowing how many.
2. The idea occurred to me after we had installed new countertops in
the kitchen, and I was left with a nice new piece of formica from the
sink cut-out. It seemed that piece of formica should be used for
something, so I went over to Home Depot, bought a Badger 1 disposal
(from ISE), built a small table from scrap lumber, installed the
disposal, wired it up, and began grinding. It worked much better than I
had reason to expect. The fall grinding/pressing has been a family
project here, and we are easily able to process 20 gallons of cider in
an afternoon, which requires about 7 bushels of apples. My cider yield
immediately doubled from about 1 1/2 to nearly 3 gallons per bushel.
The hand cranked grinder I had been using produced apple chunks, but the
disposal produced a beautiful pomace, which I pressed in a basket press
after removing the pomace from plastic buckets lined with Happy Valley
nylon pressing bags. I cannot explain why no one had ever tried this
before, but, as far as I know, no one had.
3. Veteran NAFEXer Claude Jolicoeur has recently published a new Cider
Maker's Handbook, which included a description of the disposal grinder,
along with commercial models, and his own home-built apple grater, which
is surely the Rolex of apple grinders. But if you are not an engineer,
and favor the conservation of financial resources, a disposal grinder
can be put togther in around two hours at very low cost. My total
expenditure was $33, the price of the disposal, but I think the bottom
of the ISE line, which is what I recommend, is more than double that
now. You may also have to buy a switchbox and extension cord, and
possibly a little lumber for the table. I had those things on hand.
4. If you have questions about any aspect of the disposal concept,
please post here or e-mail me directly at: don.yellman@webformation.com.
Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA
[nafex] Apple Grinder Recommendations,
Don Yellman, 09/24/2013