This is a cider press that I made for about £40 - it uses a 1.5 ton car jack to squeeze 5 layers of apple pulp, yielding between 6 and 8 litres of juice per pressing.
Just as well you used the bolts because as a carpenter I can tell u that the glue alone would probably have began to crack and split due to the force put on the joints. When I use my press I place the cloth inside the former, fill with the pomace, fold the cloth and then remove the former. Much quicker and neater.
Using a car jack for the press is brilliant. I was wondering how to do this at home (we have quite a few apple trees on the property and can never use all of the apples before they start to rot) I'll have to follow this example, brilliant.
Thank you folks, very helpful. I just finished making a press today. It was good to read how you improved your technique on the cloths etc- can't wait to get cracking...cheers.
Great video, thanks very much. Just whipped up my own press closely based on yours and pressed my own juice ready for fermenting. Thanks for the helpful advice.
Very nicely made - love the laminating idea! I've just knocked up a trial press myself and gave it its' first run today. Yours has given me some ideas for improvement though.
Love it...maybe you can put your press on a table so you don't have to sit on the ground and you can also have a taller container to drain your cider, but other than that, I love it
The cloths are just made from cotton canvas (they were cream coloured when new, but are now indelibly stained with apple juice, even when washed). Any strong, lint-free cloth will do. Cotton dish towels would be fine.
The blue racks are just cheap polypropylene chopping boards - I cut the slots in them by drilling big holes, then cutting between them with an electric saw. The former is just four pieces of aluminium plate with half slots cut in them at either end. Full construction details can be found on the Atomic Shrimp website.
Sometimes in northern France the cider makers will soak the pomace in water for a few hours then repress to get more juice and sugars from the apples, this second pressing is then fermented and goes into the making of calvados spirit.
not too bad a set up. I use an old 60qt stock pot that I preforated with my drill as a drum and put my pulp in a pillow slip, then into my press seems to work pretty good.
You have a much better method than shown in this video, in my opinion. I use a Kitchenaid mixer with the vegetable shredder attachment to shred my apples. Still a lot of work! I like an idea I've seen for using a dedicated disposal unit with a repurposed motor that can stand up to continuous operation without overheating.
the original "press" was used for grapes (for like wine 'n stuff) it's amazing to see how it developed into other things like apples, and more importantly, the printing press.....
Hi Mike. We have more apples that we can use this year so let us know if you'd like some. We could use with some willing hands to get the crop in, so what about payment in fruit?
3:20 ... LOVE IT .. when the camera-woman SPEAKS LOUDER than the presenter ... I love hearing about the neightbors in-grown toenail ... instead of ... " how to press cider "
We just wash the cloth in the washing machine, but without any washing powder - so like a really thorough rinse. The press could probably be used for pressing cheese, but I don't think it would work for herbs or nuts
Hi, you say you didn't add any yeast to ferment out. What sort of results did you get? did you check the SG before and after? what sort of ABV did you achieve in final cider. Every recipe I have looked at says to add a white win or cider yeast. Great video by the way!
I made several batches of cider - some using wine yeast, but the best one was made from feral apples and fermented on the wild yeasts that occur naturally on the skins of the apples - this is a bit of a gamble, as it can be easily ruined by other wild micro organisms, but it paid off. No idea on the ABV as I didn't measure, but it fermented down to a pale, crystal-clear, bone-dry cider that, by my subjective judgment, was somewhere around 8% alcohol
AtomicShrimp how often would you say that the cider goes bad rather than fermenting as desired? I've heard that theres a 25% chance of it spoiling when fermenting naturally. Is that at all accurate?
Suggestion: put first the frame, then the cloth, then den appel pulp, close the cloth and then remove the frame. Thats the way i know it. Lovely video!
Dear Mr. Atomic Shrimp, thank you for an excellent way to juice press apple pulp. I shall copy your press construction (best form of compliment yes?) pierre from New Mexico
It's just a light cotton canvas. Anything that is clean, relatively porous, and non-stretchy will work. If you're thinking of making one of these, make it taller than I did - I ended up switching the scissor jack to a bottle jack, and it takes up more space inside the press.
I did that with one batch that I peeled and cored (not too keen about eating large quantities of apple seeds) - I dried the remaining pulp to make a sort of fruit leather - it was pretty bland tasting though; a lot of the flavour is in the juice
it's in about 16 comments above =D 'They were just cheap chopping boards from Wilkinson - one pound each. I drilled holes in them, then cut between the holes with an electric saw.'
Yes. Hard cider is the only meaning of the term 'cider' where I come from. I've also pressed pears, blackberries, grapes and elderberries in this little press
If you use the waste for compost maybe consider a worm bin. They absolutely love crushed food mixed with a little soil and will return you "black gold" and "worm tea" for your garden!
We've got two worm bins - this stuff composted quite well, although it is a little wet and so has a tendency to compact and then decay anaerobicaly - if my press was more powerful, the pomace would be drier. Best compomise seems to be to mix it with last season's oak leaves, or chipping from my woodworking projects - the mixture composts quicker than either component on on its own.
For the juice that I intended to drink as just apple juice, I stored it in the fridge; for juice to be made into cider, it's just left at room temperature and (of all goes well) it ferments until all the sugar becomes alcohol
Sure - a friend of mine who owns a small orchard preserves apple juice - he puts it in glass bottles and heats them in a water bath to pasteurise the juice
You would rather use something to deactivate the yeast naturally occuring in the apple. Use activated wine yeast paired with 7-10 days of fermenting. Stir out the carbon dioxide, put into second fermentation jar, and give 3 days. Bottle and enjoy
I started doing it that way later - it wasn't easy to do this because of the size of my cloths, so I cut them down by one third - it's much easier to build a nice straight, even cheese now.
The press plates are just plastic cutting boards that I got from a kitchen store - I cut slots in them with a drill and saw. The cloths are cotton canvas that I bought off the roll and hemmed. Any kind of cloth that is strong, non-stretchy and fairly open weave will work
+Elwia Duposzewska The cloths are just strong cotton fabric. - anything that doesn't stretch too much should work. When I have finished pressing, I wash the cloths in the washing machine, but without adding any washing powder or fabric conditioner (the scent would stay on the cloths and spoil the next batch of juice)
Good video and good description. But i think, if you want to make more than 20 liters, you need a bigger crasher. We make apple juice with a spin-drier and a garden shredder. Our result by 2 poeple is about 100 liter / hour.
+Fruchtweine selber machen i'd love to see you guys do 100 liters appelcider, i recently went in to your channel to see. But i have a hard time to understand german :( but if you guys could do a video where you speak english you sure would have a subscriber and a like :D ! Salutes from sweden.
+Obione cannobe OK. The solution for the future coud bi to make videos with english and german subtitles (UA-cam-tools). Maybe it works. One problem - my englisch isn't very good. Many greetings
+Fruchtweine selber machen it's all good, you could also do a video in your language, but text it with english. I guess that's much easier for you guys and i would be able to understand :D, you could use google translate to help with texting! I look forward to see a video. in the meantime i will try to learn german!
Many juicers will allow too much air to come in contact with the juice, causing oxidation. Not to pick this guy apart, but the cuisinart he used probably allowed too much air contact. This is where an old style scratter will chop the apples without whipping up any froth. The frothiness introduced is a source of oxidation, that is to be a avoided. One advantage of an old style press is the ability to make LOADS of juice/cider. For some, making many gallons at one time is the way to go.
The best batch of cider from the season when I made this video was made from a diverse mixture of apples including a lot of small feral apples (trees that have grown wild from discarded apple cores) I picked from trees in hedgerows and parks. Good cider needs a bit of tannin for flavour - apples with deep red skins often have this in abundance.
By the time the jack is in place, there isn't a lot of space left for the apples. If I started this project again, I would make the whole thing taller so that more layers of apple could be stacked in there - the jack only has a limited travel, but it's possible to press, release the pressure and add a spacer block, then press again, etc.
kitchen scale juicers are nowhere near as efficient at extraction as a press - I pressed about 50 gallons of juice with this press in total last year. The apple grinder is the bit I need to improve on
What a stupid comment. Little bit of juice? You're obviously extremely lazy and aren't willing to put forth any kind of effort for anything. This very resourceful man made apple juice in the best and most efficient way possible. Solar power and battery banks? HAHAHA!
Wow. This video is so old, it’s before Mike started doing his signature purple intro screen and music 😊👍🏻
Just as well you used the bolts because as a carpenter I can tell u that the glue alone would probably have began to crack and split due to the force put on the joints. When I use my press I place the cloth inside the former, fill with the pomace, fold the cloth and then remove the former. Much quicker and neater.
Using a car jack for the press is brilliant. I was wondering how to do this at home (we have quite a few apple trees on the property and can never use all of the apples before they start to rot) I'll have to follow this example, brilliant.
Dayum he’s been going for years on this channel that’s amazing
Thank you folks, very helpful. I just finished making a press today. It was good to read how you improved your technique on the cloths etc- can't wait to get cracking...cheers.
Great video, thanks very much. Just whipped up my own press closely based on yours and pressed my own juice ready for fermenting. Thanks for the helpful advice.
Just referenced this video in the book I'm writing about our orchard.
Very nicely made - love the laminating idea! I've just knocked up a trial press myself and gave it its' first run today. Yours has given me some ideas for improvement though.
Love it...maybe you can put your press on a table so you don't have to sit on the ground and you can also have a taller container to drain your cider, but other than that, I love it
The cloths are just made from cotton canvas (they were cream coloured when new, but are now indelibly stained with apple juice, even when washed). Any strong, lint-free cloth will do. Cotton dish towels would be fine.
Great design on the press. What I've noticed with mine is the less extra cloth there is the better. This way there less cloth to soak up your juice.
Rotate the cloth 45degrees. And if these are dedicated cloths for the job, cut them down a little bit.
Very nice. Simple build. This is probably the one I'll go for. Thanks for sharing!
The blue racks are just cheap polypropylene chopping boards - I cut the slots in them by drilling big holes, then cutting between them with an electric saw. The former is just four pieces of aluminium plate with half slots cut in them at either end. Full construction details can be found on the Atomic Shrimp website.
Sometimes in northern France the cider makers will soak the pomace in water for a few hours then repress to get more juice and sugars from the apples, this second pressing is then fermented and goes into the making of calvados spirit.
I think in the UK, the results of that second pressing were made into something called 'ciderkin' - which was a less-alcoholic drink, for children.
not too bad a set up. I use an old 60qt stock pot that I preforated with my drill as a drum and put my pulp in a pillow slip, then into my press seems to work pretty good.
You have a much better method than shown in this video, in my opinion. I use a Kitchenaid mixer with the vegetable shredder attachment to shred my apples. Still a lot of work!
I like an idea I've seen for using a dedicated disposal unit with a repurposed motor that can stand up to continuous operation without overheating.
the original "press" was used for grapes (for like wine 'n stuff)
it's amazing to see how it developed into other things like apples, and more importantly, the printing press.....
you think the printing press is more important?
LOL😂 Barry.
Hi Mike. We have more apples that we can use this year so let us know if you'd like some. We could use with some willing hands to get the crop in, so what about payment in fruit?
How is it performing? I found my top beam broke under the screw pressure one year
Impressive! ;) Like the car jack idea...Them things don't get used enough in my opinion!
Put left overs in freezer and press again in a day or two. But I always fill a chest freezer with my apples and get twice as much juice.
Wonder how this turned out, seems amazing
always creative! I love your videos
cool press the only thing id suggest is ferment in in glass not plastic
3:20 ... LOVE IT .. when the camera-woman SPEAKS LOUDER than the presenter ... I love hearing about the neightbors in-grown toenail ... instead of ... " how to press cider "
Now is there a reason you couldn't just use 4x4s instead of layering the planks?
6 litres, out of what weight of apples? What percentage of the weight are you extracting? Thanks
How do you care for the cloth between uses? How to launder and store it? Also, can nuts and seeds or herbs be pressed this way?
We just wash the cloth in the washing machine, but without any washing powder - so like a really thorough rinse.
The press could probably be used for pressing cheese, but I don't think it would work for herbs or nuts
If pressing, does it need to be blended first? just thinking about the arsenic...
There's no arsenic
Hi, you say you didn't add any yeast to ferment out. What sort of results did you get? did you check the SG before and after? what sort of ABV did you achieve in final cider. Every recipe I have looked at says to add a white win or cider yeast. Great video by the way!
I made several batches of cider - some using wine yeast, but the best one was made from feral apples and fermented on the wild yeasts that occur naturally on the skins of the apples - this is a bit of a gamble, as it can be easily ruined by other wild micro organisms, but it paid off. No idea on the ABV as I didn't measure, but it fermented down to a pale, crystal-clear, bone-dry cider that, by my subjective judgment, was somewhere around 8% alcohol
AtomicShrimp how often would you say that the cider goes bad rather than fermenting as desired? I've heard that theres a 25% chance of it spoiling when fermenting naturally. Is that at all accurate?
Suggestion: put first the frame, then the cloth, then den appel pulp, close the cloth and then remove the frame. Thats the way i know it. Lovely video!
Do you need to water down the vinegar to reduce acidity after the fermenting process is done?
Dear Mr. Atomic Shrimp, thank you for an excellent way to juice press apple pulp. I shall copy your press construction (best form of compliment yes?) pierre from New Mexico
pierre5325
Where in NM? I live in Alb. Do grafting and have started growing a few trees in Costilla and Taos.
How many KG of apples did you press to get 6-8litres? nice set up by the way.
All waste pulp can be covered in water with some lemon juice and this will make apple cider vinegar.
Why did you build your press so low to the ground? It seems that if the legs were longer you could use a deeper bucket.
Why did you do a thing you did?
@@AtomicShrimp ? I don't understand your question?
@@theresazelazny7445 just 'why didn't you do it a different way?' questions. They seldom have a satisfying answer.
Excellent demonstration. Your video was no doubt partly the inspiration behind this interpretation: Cider Pressing!
What kind of material did you use to put apples in? And what exactely are that blue trays? :) Thanks!
thank you!
Nice setup I'ma try to copy. What kind of cloth is that? Great demonstration!
It's just a light cotton canvas. Anything that is clean, relatively porous, and non-stretchy will work.
If you're thinking of making one of these, make it taller than I did - I ended up switching the scissor jack to a bottle jack, and it takes up more space inside the press.
That sounds good Steve - I think I'm free on Saturday...
Thank you so much.
if you used the pulp left over to make biscuits and in baking or even dried it to add to a trail mix I wonder if it would be any good,
I did that with one batch that I peeled and cored (not too keen about eating large quantities of apple seeds) - I dried the remaining pulp to make a sort of fruit leather - it was pretty bland tasting though; a lot of the flavour is in the juice
Hello! Checking this out in 2020. Wondering what you use for the racks/dividers to separate the bundles?
it's in about 16 comments above =D 'They were just cheap chopping boards from Wilkinson - one pound each. I drilled holes in them, then cut between the holes with an electric saw.'
Do you make some hard cider with this contraption, and can you do this with pears to make a perry? Thanks!
Yes. Hard cider is the only meaning of the term 'cider' where I come from. I've also pressed pears, blackberries, grapes and elderberries in this little press
If you use the waste for compost maybe consider a worm bin. They absolutely love crushed food mixed with a little soil and will return you "black gold" and "worm tea" for your garden!
We've got two worm bins - this stuff composted quite well, although it is a little wet and so has a tendency to compact and then decay anaerobicaly - if my press was more powerful, the pomace would be drier. Best compomise seems to be to mix it with last season's oak leaves, or chipping from my woodworking projects - the mixture composts quicker than either component on on its own.
How is it preserved? Do you just close the lid and that's it?
For the juice that I intended to drink as just apple juice, I stored it in the fridge; for juice to be made into cider, it's just left at room temperature and (of all goes well) it ferments until all the sugar becomes alcohol
@@AtomicShrimp is there anyway to preserve the apple juice like they do in stores?
Sure - a friend of mine who owns a small orchard preserves apple juice - he puts it in glass bottles and heats them in a water bath to pasteurise the juice
@@AtomicShrimp ty
Hi, great video. After you've pressed the apples and put into the container, what do you add to make alcoholic cider? thanks
Just wine yeast, but even that's not always necessary - apples have natural yeasts on their skins. If you press apples and do nothing, you get cider.
You would rather use something to deactivate the yeast naturally occuring in the apple. Use activated wine yeast paired with 7-10 days of fermenting. Stir out the carbon dioxide, put into second fermentation jar, and give 3 days. Bottle and enjoy
Nice machine! How many kilos of apples did it take to make 6 liters?
Isamu T not sure. I think it was about 15kg
Great video and a easy one to build
Was wondering what size bolts you used?
Thanks
Please tell why do you need making pulp first and do not press whole apples?
Artem Smirnov It is necessary to release more of the juice
the pro's put frame first, then cloth on top of frame, then pomace in cloth, close cloth, and remove the frame.
I started doing it that way later - it wasn't easy to do this because of the size of my cloths, so I cut them down by one third - it's much easier to build a nice straight, even cheese now.
Good vídeo and good description.thanks ...of Norberto in Brasil
this is a lot of fun! would you ever press any other kind of fruit or veg? haha
can you tell me where you purchased the press plates and cloth.
The press plates are just plastic cutting boards that I got from a kitchen store - I cut slots in them with a drill and saw. The cloths are cotton canvas that I bought off the roll and hemmed. Any kind of cloth that is strong, non-stretchy and fairly open weave will work
Thanks for this video. What material is made of a filter?
+Elwia Duposzewska The cloths are just strong cotton fabric. - anything that doesn't stretch too much should work.
When I have finished pressing, I wash the cloths in the washing machine, but without adding any washing powder or fabric conditioner (the scent would stay on the cloths and spoil the next batch of juice)
Good video and good description. But i think, if you want to make more than 20 liters, you need a bigger crasher. We make apple juice with a spin-drier and a garden shredder. Our result by 2 poeple is about 100 liter / hour.
+Fruchtweine selber machen i'd love to see you guys do 100 liters appelcider, i recently went in to your channel to see. But i have a hard time to understand german :( but if you guys could do a video where you speak english you sure would have a subscriber and a like :D ! Salutes from sweden.
+Obione cannobe OK. The solution for the future coud bi to make videos with english and german subtitles (UA-cam-tools). Maybe it works. One problem - my englisch isn't very good. Many greetings
+Fruchtweine selber machen it's all good, you could also do a video in your language, but text it with english. I guess that's much easier for you guys and i would be able to understand :D, you could use google translate to help with texting! I look forward to see a video. in the meantime i will try to learn german!
Fine, that you try to learn german :) and i learn more english.
Very useful video thanks. Where did you get the blue trays from?
They're just plastic chopping boards from a cheap kitchenware shop - I cut slots in them with a spade drill and scroll saw to assist with drainage
what's the different if I use apple juicer instead of cider press? at the end I will get the juice
That should work OK - it might just take a long time to produce enough juice to make a batch of cider with a typical juicer.
Many juicers will allow too much air to come in contact with the juice, causing oxidation. Not to pick this guy apart, but the cuisinart he used probably allowed too much air contact. This is where an old style scratter will chop the apples without whipping up any froth. The frothiness introduced is a source of oxidation, that is to be a avoided.
One advantage of an old style press is the ability to make LOADS of juice/cider. For some, making many gallons at one time is the way to go.
Where did you buy the blue trays you put in to drain the juice away with?
They were just cheap chopping boards from Wilkinson - one pound each. I drilled holes in them, then cut between the holes with an electric saw.
AWWW, Homemade trays, very good. Didn't see that as homemade for some reason. Like the design of your press. Good work.
nice setup mate,take a look at mine,going to do 40 gallons next year
how long do you ferment your cider?
It depends a lot on ambient temperature. I just keep going until it stops. Usually only a few weeks
Brilliance. Thank you.
what kind of apples are the best for making apple cider
The best batch of cider from the season when I made this video was made from a diverse mixture of apples including a lot of small feral apples (trees that have grown wild from discarded apple cores) I picked from trees in hedgerows and parks. Good cider needs a bit of tannin for flavour - apples with deep red skins often have this in abundance.
@@AtomicShrimp Feral applies scary world you live in?
the carm lifter is actually a really nice idea :D:D
would a good juicer work as well?
Maybe - my experience of juicers is that they don't seem to be built for high volume, so it might take a long time
@@AtomicShrimp Of course wasn't thinking, lot of apples for gallon of juice
A catering grade juicer might handle it
Love apple cider... It made me thirsty just watching...
very interesting press but almost all voice was lost in the loud music that should have been background?
Donald Culley there's no music in this video at all
@@AtomicShrimp I'd love to hear your reply, but I can't read it because the font you used is all wobbly and faded
Forgot about your laws,wanted to offer from the cake to make Calvados )))
Very good-now, if you can just get it off the ground.
awesome
I Make A press But Your effort is Great, Holz, God Bless
Easier if you use a grape basket press.
Nice socks, man. Try to use this thing in higher place and find decent chopper..
You spilled some
Guess what you get by using AtomicShrimpPress (apple used for fusion process)
...AC liquid instead of plutonium stick :(
вначале рамку, в неё ткань, в ткань тёртые яблоки и потом заворачивать.
Quite de pressing..huh...
The whole setup is pretty elaborate for the yield of cider🤮
By the time the jack is in place, there isn't a lot of space left for the apples. If I started this project again, I would make the whole thing taller so that more layers of apple could be stacked in there - the jack only has a limited travel, but it's possible to press, release the pressure and add a spacer block, then press again, etc.
Shouldn't feed too much of the leftovers to livestock due to the seeds containing a chemical that degrades into cyanide.
That naturally target cancer cells in the body - one of nature's gifts.
Пресс для гномов.
That's a lot of work for a little bit of juice could of saved money and time and bought a juicer and used solar power and battery banks to use it :-)
kitchen scale juicers are nowhere near as efficient at extraction as a press - I pressed about 50 gallons of juice with this press in total last year. The apple grinder is the bit I need to improve on
What a stupid comment. Little bit of juice? You're obviously extremely lazy and aren't willing to put forth any kind of effort for anything. This very resourceful man made apple juice in the best and most efficient way possible. Solar power and battery banks? HAHAHA!
mellotron
No reason to not be polite
You realize that juice is different than cider
get a holz its the real deal,,,,holz
What a coincidence that your name is Holz!
Cloth looks dirty or very stained! I’ve seen better video’s on home made presses. 👎🏽
It's stained by the juice of previous pressings
According to you, the Apple after it bites off,in a minute, also becomes dirty,very dirty ???