Over the past several days Hubby and I have been pressing cider. Hubby's pa had given us a press last Christmas, intending to come out this fall and help us press apples. Covid prevents that, of course, but we could not ignore the huge bounty of beautiful apples on our trees.
Harkening back to our fabulous times with Bette at the Big Stone Apple Ranch, we gathered our materials and began to pick. B helped us fill up the first wheel barrow.
After giving the apples a good wash, one by one they were dropped into the chopper hopper.
Hubby turned the crank and the metal teeth spun on the spindle, chopping the apples into rough chunks. The chunks were collected in a mesh bag underneath the hopper, inside the tub.
When the tub was full, we put the lid on and turned the top handle to screw it downward, pressing on the apple bits.
Lovely cider poured through a hole in the base. We attracted a few bees during the process, who thankfully were more interested in the apple bits than us.
We filled empty jugs by straining the cider through a sieve funnel.
Look at that dark brown appley goodness! And it tastes so good. We filled two wheel barrows worth of apples, and got about ten gallons of fresh cider, now safely tucked away in our freezer. One gallon was already given to O and E this evening, and two more will be delivered to Hubby's pa and bro during a whirlwind visit in Rochester next week.
And all the rest will be for us! Hooray!
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