[lucan rowan.]

hi, can anyone recommend a good fruit press, around the 12l mark? ive fermented all my apple must (about 150kg) now want to press the pulp.
thanks
luke

[Bodger]

Hi
Have you your terminology right? I've never heard of anyone fermenting their apples before pressing, its just not done that way.
As for your press, have a look at the Vigo site. http://www.vigopresses.co.uk/Catalogue/Fruit-PressesTheir prices can be a little steep but it will give you a good idea as to the range of presses there are out there.

[lucan rowan.]

im aiming towards 15% more like a wine so ive fermented the must its around 10% now and really tasty, ive racked off 10litres to mature for christmas. 

ill have a look there now. thanks

[luckylady]

We got our press from Vigo.  Pricey compared with others but very good quality.  We tried a cheaper one initially which collapsed quite quickly.  It pays to go for quality in this case, as we found out.  Good luck with the pressing.

[FrostyM]

Would you consider building your own? I was looking into buying a press and found that for the price they were charging I could make a bigger one myself. I am finishing it today and will probably have a blog up this evening if you are interested? I used a blog post I found as inspiration. Here is the link http://thedeliberateagrarian.blogspot.ie/2008/11/introducing-my-homemade-whizbang-cider.html?m=1

EDIT:
I have put up my own blog about building my cider press if you are interested
http://myovercrowdedgarden.blogspot.com/2013/10/building-my-cider-press.html

[lucan rowan.]

thanks ill have a look later

[HesterF]

We've just got a Vigo hydropress and it's great. I'm equally confused about your process so I don't know whether it would work for you. Have you crushed the apples already? So your must is the crushed apple? My post-crushing mix is still quite solid so I can't imagine trying to ferment it. Surely you can get a high alcohol mix by fermenting post-pressing just as easily as pre-pressing? Isn't it more to do with the sugar/yeast balance at whatever stage?

H

[Bodger]

Hi Hester.
 
At the moment we use one of these http://www.vigopresses.co.uk/Catalogue/Fruit-Presses/Rack-Cloth-Screw-Press-91307 and while we get lots of apple juice out of it per hour, it is rather labour intensive. We've decided that we're going to invest in this http://www.vigopresses.co.uk/Catalogue/Fruit-Presses/90-litre-Hydropress-91320 ready for the start of next season. We'd very much appreciate it if you could let us know how  you've got on with yours. How you rate it and what draw backs if any that you've found.

[HesterF]

Hi Bodger,

See, I sort of took your advice? That's exactly the one we have. It's very efficient, I can use it by myself and it's very quick to press. The most we've loaded into it is 40kg of crushed apples and that was maybe 2/3rd full - so big capacity which I imagine would suit you. Downsides:

1) You have to use it outside really (but I think you press outside anyway) because it's just fed with a hose and when the pressure reaches the desired level (I.e. the balloon inside has expanded right to the edges of the tank), the valve underneath just opens and you have water at tap pressure pouring everywhere. Very hard to prevent unless you're standing there just at the right moment to shut off the inlet valve.
2) Turnaround time is not great because you have to empty all that water out (also all over the floor) before you can load the next batch. This can take five to ten minutes. Not sure what you can manage with your traditional presses?
3) There's a sort of filter cloth (not a very fine filter) which sits between the apples and the metal outcase. It stops some of the gunk getting though and I imagine stops the apple coming into direct contact with the metal which should help prevent it oxidising. However, I've yet to work out how to clean it hygienically. If you're doing back to back pressing it should be fine for the day. But at some point you have to get the bits of apple out and give it a good wash and I don't think it would be open to boiling water. I keep meaning to ask Vigo how others clean it but I think we may have done our last batch for the season (and it's still sitting in the kitchen sink!).

I reckon I can do a full load (or as full as we've got) of apple cleaning, crushing, pressing and cleaning up all the equipment afterwards in about an hour and a half. Quite a lot of that time is cleaning up afterwards!

H

[Bodger]

Many thanks for that, its certainly given me room for thought. Vigo don't sell one, but I think that from what you've said, I'd be better off with a bigger version of what I already have.

[HesterF]

Have you checked the Vigo professional website? They have their bigger presses on there.

[Bodger]

The next step up from what I have is around £4000

[HesterF]

  Yowowow indeed! Mind you, on your scale it might be worth it. I just worked out how much it cost us to press our apples, compared with the cost of buying apple juice (of an inferior nature) and we're quids in. So even if my first aim is just to produce enough juice for us to drink our own all year round, our investment so far pays back in less than three years (assuming I reuse the same bottles rather than keep buying in bottles). And then the business model for juicing other peoples' apples is also very attractive - because you can charge near shop prices and you have no cost of apples (just labour, bottles and energy which are more expensive anyway).

H

[Bodger]

Not counting cider, we've pressed coming up to 1500x 75cl bottles of apple juice and pasteurized them. Its very labour intensive pastime but good fun. I've been out this morning and picked six trugs of apples for free, which should make just over 100 bottles.

[lucan rowan.]

im on 300 wine bottles of 10% 'cider/wine' now. thatll do nicely for sfa