pomme homme
Regular.
Originally I posted the following as an afterthought on another thread (Scrumpy making with Ollie) but it achieved limited feedback - which is hardly surprising as only those subscribing to or chancing to read that thread would have been aware of it! So I thought that I would transfer it to a bespoke thread in the hope of getting more feedback.
Whilst I know that the rack and cloth press, with its stack of cheeses, is the traditional way to press apples for making cider, does anyone know whether, in general terms, such a press is more or less efficient than a basket press?
I use a 160 litre capacity basket press to press my apples - simply because, living close to the wine producing regions of western France, such was far easier to come by (at least in a practical size - one that I was offered was so large that I thought of converting it to a jacuzzi!).
It's a manual press and even if I exercise patience and apply maximum physical force to the bar, when I remove the spent pomace from it the 'core' is always still moist. This is, I suspect, because the outermost layers become so compacted that they prevent any further juice flowing from the 'core'. A rack and cloth press, with its stack of cheeses, presumably does not have this problem as each cheese 'works' independently of the others and, I surmise, can express more juice from the pomace for the same application of pressure as on a basket press. Is this theory correct?
Whilst I appreciate that the amount of juice expressed depends, additionally, on the apple variety (I use mainly Clochard), the ripeness of the apples (I try for the maximum possible by picking late and leaving the apples in bins for a week or more before milling) and how finely the pomace has been milled (I use a 13 hp petrol engined semi-professional shredder to mill my pomace), as a rule of thumb I'd say that I can obtain between 100 and 120 litres of juice from each pressing (the basket being full to within two or three centimetres of the rim - don't ask the weight of its contents, because I don't know). If it is possible to say, how does this compare to the results achieved by a rack and cloth press with a stack of cheeses?
I've seen basket presses adapted by adding an electric motor to rotate the head on the screw and thereby achieve more pressure on the 'lid' and thus the pomace. Presumably the same approach could be taken by using an hydraulic ram (either manually or electrically powered). However what worries me about that is the potential to damage the press. Mine is not new and I don't know how much pressure the structure could take without there being 'tears before bedtime'! Has anyone tried this with a basket press and, if so, are they prepared to divulge the outcome?
Whilst I know that the rack and cloth press, with its stack of cheeses, is the traditional way to press apples for making cider, does anyone know whether, in general terms, such a press is more or less efficient than a basket press?
I use a 160 litre capacity basket press to press my apples - simply because, living close to the wine producing regions of western France, such was far easier to come by (at least in a practical size - one that I was offered was so large that I thought of converting it to a jacuzzi!).
It's a manual press and even if I exercise patience and apply maximum physical force to the bar, when I remove the spent pomace from it the 'core' is always still moist. This is, I suspect, because the outermost layers become so compacted that they prevent any further juice flowing from the 'core'. A rack and cloth press, with its stack of cheeses, presumably does not have this problem as each cheese 'works' independently of the others and, I surmise, can express more juice from the pomace for the same application of pressure as on a basket press. Is this theory correct?
Whilst I appreciate that the amount of juice expressed depends, additionally, on the apple variety (I use mainly Clochard), the ripeness of the apples (I try for the maximum possible by picking late and leaving the apples in bins for a week or more before milling) and how finely the pomace has been milled (I use a 13 hp petrol engined semi-professional shredder to mill my pomace), as a rule of thumb I'd say that I can obtain between 100 and 120 litres of juice from each pressing (the basket being full to within two or three centimetres of the rim - don't ask the weight of its contents, because I don't know). If it is possible to say, how does this compare to the results achieved by a rack and cloth press with a stack of cheeses?
I've seen basket presses adapted by adding an electric motor to rotate the head on the screw and thereby achieve more pressure on the 'lid' and thus the pomace. Presumably the same approach could be taken by using an hydraulic ram (either manually or electrically powered). However what worries me about that is the potential to damage the press. Mine is not new and I don't know how much pressure the structure could take without there being 'tears before bedtime'! Has anyone tried this with a basket press and, if so, are they prepared to divulge the outcome?
