Any way to do apple cider with out a press??

Have 4 cases of apples and really love hard cider so any way to make cider with our a cider press?? Could have got on today but for $175 not in my ball park

Old you can make a cider press real easy. Just take a five gallon bucket drill a row of holes around the base. I used a 3/8 drill bit.

I then made a frame out of 2x4s and 2x6s bolted together. Then for the press part I used an old car jack. You know the old bumper type.

I made the frame with two 2x6 across the bottom. I spaced them about 6-8 inches apart. I nailed a 3/4 piece of plywood to the top. This held them a part and made a place for the five gallon bucket to set. Then on each end I used two good oak 2x4s as uprights. I bolted a single oak 2x6 across the top. I put a short piece of angle iron in the middle for the jack to catch on. For the push board I just screwed two round pieces of the 3/4 plywood together.( used the bottom of the bucket as a pattern) I just set the jack on the plywood and under the cross board. Jack it up tight and leave it for just a while. Come back and you will get a few more clicks.

Almost forgot. I took a large flat pizza pan to set under the five gallon bucket. I just bent the lip on one side so the apple juice could run off that side. I just put a short one gallon pitcher under that to catch the juice.

Just think about how a hydraulic press is framed. So just make one out of wood and then use the bumper jack for the force part.

I built it all out of things I had laying around. We made cider every year until the last one my first wife was alive. My oldest son still uses the old press to make some each fall.

I always cut the apples into quarters an then pressed them. It seemed to work better.

I'm thinking those turf tires on a tractor should do it. LOL Yes it has been a long day.

Thanks for the tips J.D.. got some good ideas there.

If they are Ripe enough, put them in a #2 wash-tub and mash them with your Feet..!!!

Saw Lucy and Ethel do it with Grapes..!

Actually, I think you could pulp them in a blender or food processor, then put them in a good bag and hang it over a bucket and twist the Bag, to squeeze the juice out..

Ron..

Can also just use the shop press to press apples for cider. by the same method as Jd Seller describes.

You can have your apples ground, pressed and jugged here.I have used a small grinder and press,hard work.A hand cranked grinder will make you puff so have a helper ready to take over.

Before I got my cider press, I used a enterprise sausage stuffer. Place a flour sack inside stuffer and filled with chopped apples and pressed. If you had a lard basket for the stuffer, it works a little better

Making the press part out of wood would be the easy part, the grinder is something I have not yet figgured out. If I could come up with a commercial size press and grinder I have a market for it.

I picked up an old press with a hand grinder and a garbage disposal on a stand last Sunday for $150 at a yard sale. I have tried both and the hand grinder works pretty well but it is slow and a lot of work. The garbage disposal is slow but very easy, just drop in one apple at a time and what comes out is mush instead of bits. I found that I got a lot more juice out of the mush than the bits, and had a lot less waste pulp left over at the end. When I took it out of the press it looked just like particle board. I like JD Seller's idea to make a press, I had thought about making one out of a house jack.
Zach

I made one this year with a hydraulic cylinder. Run it off the hydraulic on tractor.
Another way that is real simple and can do lots of juice. 5 Gallon bucket,5 round puck board or plywood same diameter of the bottom of bucket. 5 pillow cases. If you have a French fry cutter or meat grinder with large hole plate VERRY LARGE. Grind apples into pillow case,1.5 gallons in each( 1.5 before you grind). Layer them in bucket with round disc between each pillow case. Take front end loader with fence post on top and push down. If no loader use hydraulic jack under a truck or tractor bumper. We set the bucket in a large plastic tub and just dump the tub after squeezing.

With the hydraulic press I made we did 90 gallons in about 4 hours.

A neighbor just made cider using a leaf shredder as a grinder. Doesn't take much to get juice out that way.... it literally almost seeps out by itself. Put the pulp in a deer bag and squeeze it with something.

Got a hydraulic log splitter (vertical would be best)? Five gallon plastic bucket with holes around the bottom & plywood push board as suggested by JD Seller. Grind the apples in a food processor, put them in a clean cotton bag and push with the log splitter. Figure out a catch tray with a spout to drain into a container.

Get some high heel cowboy boots and a large pot do a lot of stomping.
Walt

OLD, Run em through a blender strain through a cheese cloth. Add sugar, put it is a crock. If not enough juice, add juice, package of yeast from grocery store. Let it ferment, siphon off through cloth , cork the bottles.Drink when cold. LOU.P.S. we use to do home made wine. Gallon jugs , welch's grape juice concentrate. add sugar,yeast, put a balloon on the neck of the jug, wait till the balloon quits inflating. Voila, home made wine. Works with any fruit juice including apple.

I use an old washing machine set on the spin cycle.
It's faster than a press and the yield is higher.

"Gallon jugs , welch's grape juice concentrate. add sugar,yeast" Lou: How much sugar and Yeast per gallon

Sean, 1/4 cup sugar. small package yeast. Set jugs over hot air registers to speed up process. Worked for me until I gave up making wine. DIABETES. LOU.

Thanks Bud, as winter comes along going to have to give it a whirl.

I used an old burr mill to chop the apples. Put 5 gallon bucket below to catch juice and pulp. We made a sieve out of a screen section from a grinder mixer. Cut a plate to fit inside with a verticle rod and horizontal lever. It was'nt pretty but we put up a lot of juice. gobble