The Press

Thanks to all those who posted on Facebook the topics they’d like to read about on the Apple Independence Blog.  Sorry, I can’t deliver a photo of Matt’s bicep as one reader requested, but we can definitely talk about our equipment.

90L Hydropress

This blog posting will talk about our German water-powered press – The Hydro Press from Speidel (http://www.speidel-behaelter.de/form/foreign/enghausm.pdf).  For those  cranking down on the old wooden presses in the backyard as we did… well… there is no going back.  When it is done, the pulp feels like dry oatmeal (except this oatmeal goes to the chickens at Greyrock Commons – http://www.greyrock.org/).

It is a brilliant design.  You simply fill the 90L shell lined with cheese cloth with the crushed pulp.  A rubber bladder is position in the center of the shell and connected to a simple garden hose fitting. The water is released into the bladder and the additional water pressure presses the cider from the pulp through the shell into the receptacle below and discharged into the food-grade bucket of your choice.

We’ve typically filled the Hydropress with about 120lbs of pulp per press. Our yields are about 7 – 10 gallons per press depending on the apple variety.  Thomas Jefferson would have lauded that level of efficiency when he pressed cider.

When you are done, you casually lift the pulp (two people) along with the cheese cloth to a collection bin for storage until it can be composted or fed to local livestock.

So, we’ll keep the posts coming.  Maybe a bicep shot will appear at some point in the future.

–Aaron

Did you know that over 80% of all apple juice consumed in the United States comes from another country?  Branch Out Cider is dedicated to breaking our dependence on foreign apples.

The Apple Independence blog is our chance to share this endeavor in urban agriculture with you.  We’ll post stories about how we’re collaborating with apple tree owners to create apple wine from their local apples.  Maybe, you’d like to submit “Your Story” idea?