http://www.instructables.com/id/Apple-Cider-Press-with-Grinder/

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Apple Cider Press with Grinderby mcraghead on September 10, 2012

Table of Contents

Apple Cider Press with Grinder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Intro:   Apple Cider Press with Grinder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Step 1:   How it Happened... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Step 2:   Research, design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Step 3:   Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Step 4:   The grinder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Step 5:   The Grind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Step 6:   Pomace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Step 7:   Press . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Step 8:   Cleanup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Step 9:   Future plans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Related Instructables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Advertisements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

http://www.instructables.com/id/Apple-Cider-Press-with-Grinder/

Author:mcraghead    HumboldtMusic.comWarthog-faced buffoon.

Intro:  Apple Cider Press with GrinderAn all-oak cider press with an integrated apple grinder.

Image Notes1. big screw. This one came from a bench press, but a piano stool could becannibalized to similar effect.2. slatted "barrel"3. slatted drain4. tray5. sacrificial bit of oak6. press board7. 5 gallon bucket

Image Notes1. the apples go in here to be ground to pomace2. This bucket catches the pomace for squeezing3. A swing-out arm holds the bucket in place

Step 1: How it Happened...It was built in 2012, the same year I started writing this instructable (because I'm clearly a bit of a slacker). But I'm happy to report that as of this writing (2014), it's beenworking great! The oak has aged nicely and we're all stocked up on cider. No "hard" cider yet, but we'll get around to it one of these days.

So here's how it all started:

I have always subscribed to a theory I once heard on NPR’s “Car Talk” (R.I.P., Tom Magliozzi!) in which two people are far less capable of abandoning a silly idea thanone person: “One person will only go so far out on a limb in his construction of deeply hypothetical structures, and will often end with a shrug or a raising of hands toindicate the dismissability of his particular take on a subject. With two people, the intricacies, the gives and takes, the wherefores and why-nots, can become a veritablepas-de-deux of breathtaking speculation, interwoven in such a way that apologies or gestures of doubt are rendered unnecessary.” -http://www.cartalk.com/content/andy-scale-0

During the apple season of 2012 John was over and we all got to talking about how many apples were on the tree in our backyard and what we were going to do aboutthem and how cool would it be to have an apple press and we could probably crank one out it a weekend if we applied ourselves. Dammit.

So off we went, researching and doodling, collecting bits on my wife Dawn's shared Pinterest board. Eventually we whittled it all down to a plan in which I concentratedon the easy parts, while John set about building the parts that require knowledge and skill and real tools.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Apple-Cider-Press-with-Grinder/

Image Notes1. An early press test. Note: no mesh yet, so this is a big "welcome" sign for yellowjackets and such.

Step 2: Research, designHumans have been in the apple-squeezing business for centuries, so there was no reason to reinvent the wheel. Besides just looking at a bunch of web images of coolold machines, here are a few of the resources we used:

http://www.motherearthnews.com/diy/build-a-cider-p...

http://www.pinterest.com/dmcrag/cider-press/

http://www.whizbangcider.com/2009/01/new-technique...

http://www.van-vliet.org/dempseywoodworking/applec...

http://www.sentex.net/~mwandel/press/apple_grinder...

http://woodgears.ca/cider/index.html

http://makezine.com/projects/Apple-Cider/

We "cherry-picked" our favorite features from the various versions out there, and there are endless ways to remix the various components: A bottle jack can besubstituted for the big screw, for instance.

Among other lessons, we learned that grinding maximizes the juice better than blending or chopping or otherwise smooshing, and that stainless steel screw heads canreally chew up an apple in a hurry.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Apple-Cider-Press-with-Grinder/

Image Notes1. Woodcut from 1676: Making apple cider. Looks like the screw on the press ismade of wood! Scanned from "Apples - History, Folklore, Horticulture, andGastronomy" by Peter Wynne, 1975.2. Grinder3. Giant wooden screw!

Image Notes1. John's barrel

Image Notes1. Mike's doodle of the hopper. the outer box shape changed quite a lot but thecutaway image ended up being pretty accurate.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Apple-Cider-Press-with-Grinder/

http://www.instructables.com/id/Apple-Cider-Press-with-Grinder/

Image Notes1. Fieldbrook Valley Apple Farms' restored vintage press. Grinder has beenmotorized, tray is lined with custom stainless steel, and the whole thing is raisedon a cement platform.

Step 3: MaterialsThere are approximately four gazillion ways to build one of these so I'll leave it up to you to figure yours out, and will spare you the exact measurements. See, I'm sparingyou, it's not like I just made that up as a flimsy justification for not measuring anything very carefully. Here's what we used:

- White and red oak. All of my design doodles were done with "pine" dimensions in mind: 2"x4", 2"x2", 4"x4".... but all that goes out the window when you're dealing withoak, because they don't pre-cut oak and other hardwoods to specific sizes like they do with soft wood - they sell it by the board foot. So I had to do some quick math atthe lumber yard, and pick through the stock to find all the pieces I needed for the frame and hopper and tray. In the end, my 4"x4"s became 3"x3"s, and my 2"x2"sbecame 1"x1".

- Stainless steel nails. Big square-drive ones for the grinder, 1"x1/2" small ones for the frame and hopper, shorter ones for the barrel and base.

- Big giant screw from a bench vice, that had been unused in John's garage for decades.

- Carriage bolts to mount the vice.

- Aluminum stripping, for the "barrel."

About Oak:

We ran all the wood through John's jointer, which is really fun if you've never done it with hardwood: a grungy-looking chunk of wood goes in on one end, and a beautifulpiece of artwork comes out the other end, the grain suddenly visible on an almost perfectly smooth surface.

While John building the cool parts (using knowledge and skill and real tools), I fumbled through my first experience making something with oak.

As for building with it: Oak is really hard, and stainless steel nails are really soft. I drilled good pilot holes, soaped each screw... and still stripped the hell out of quite a fewof them. So when you look at the parts I made, please do not look very closely.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Apple-Cider-Press-with-Grinder/

Image Notes1. White oak, photo from from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quercus_alba

Image Notes1. Big screw, from a bench press. A piano chair could be cannibalized for its screwto similar effect.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Apple-Cider-Press-with-Grinder/

Image Notes1. Mounted to the frame using carriage bolts.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Apple-Cider-Press-with-Grinder/

Step 4: The grinderJohn's grinder wheel was one of the first things we were able to really play with as the frame was coming together. The hopper is removable, both for cleaning and so itcan all be packed up smaller when the season is over. A small clamp provides a little insurance so the act of grinding doesn't pull the hopper off of the frame.

Here is a video of the grinder in action, using a drill instead of the hand crank that we use now:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Apple-Cider-Press-with-Grinder/

Image Notes1. Hopper2. sides removable for cleaning3. Grinder wheel. Beautifully engineered by John!4. The axle of the grinder wheel fits precisely in its bearing, and spins alongresistance-free with a little mineral oil.5. Stainless steel square-head screws. A few are slightly raised to help grab themore reluctant apples.

Image Notes1. The top half of the bearing is attached to the side wall, removable using thestainless steel wing nuts.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Apple-Cider-Press-with-Grinder/

Image Notes1. handle spins2. crank arm

http://www.instructables.com/id/Apple-Cider-Press-with-Grinder/

Image Notes1. The grinder assembly hooks over the frame and is easily removed. I've addedclamps to keep the hopper from hopping, which it does unless you're careful, andwho wants to be careful?

Image Notes1. grinding wheel drying

Step 5: The GrindThe best way to show off all the pieces is to show them in action, so here's how we do it:

To maximize juice yield, we let the apples sit for a week or so.

A mix of sweet and tart apples usually tastes best, but I've never met a batch I didn't like.

The apples are cut in halves or quarters (otherwise they'd just roll around in the hopper!). We toss any brown gross bits in the compost, but minor blemishes on the fruitare no big deal.

A 5-gallon bucket sits under the hopper to catch the ground apples, held in place by a little wooden arm that swings out into position.

Then we fill up the hopper and start grinding!

A full pressing can be done when the bucket is about 3/4 full of pomace, which is close to 3.75 gallons. We've also found that letting the pomace sit for a few minutesbefore grinding provides slightly juicier results.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Apple-Cider-Press-with-Grinder/

Image Notes1. Leo, apple supervisor.2. Supervised apples.

Image Notes1. Apples are halved or quartered before grinding

http://www.instructables.com/id/Apple-Cider-Press-with-Grinder/

Image Notes1. Apple Grinding Technician2. Almost there: for a full pressing the bucket is about 3/4 full, so... 3.75 gallons?

Image Notes1. Arm swings out to support the pomace bucket

http://www.instructables.com/id/Apple-Cider-Press-with-Grinder/

Image Notes1. Bucket held in place by the support arm.

Step 6: Pomace(Note: we learned to do this part from WhizBang Cider)

About 20 pounds of fruit later, we're left with a bucket about 3/4 full of ground apples, or "Pomace." The pomace is placed into a container (the bottom 4 inches or so of aplastic bucket) which is lined with netting material. A "cheese" is made by tying the apples into a bundle.

That bundle is placed into the barrel or "pressing tub," then a disc made of cutting board material is placed on top.

That is repeated until four bundles have been stacked.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Apple-Cider-Press-with-Grinder/

Image Notes1. Netting2. the bottom 4 inches or so, cut from a 5-gallon bucket.

Image Notes1. Netting up the pomace: "making cheese"

http://www.instructables.com/id/Apple-Cider-Press-with-Grinder/

Image Notes1. A bag of pomace, tied with string: the first of four "cheeses," ready to press.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Apple-Cider-Press-with-Grinder/

Image Notes1. A disc made of food-safe cutting board material is placed between each"cheese."

Step 7: PressThe barrel, drain, and tray all slide under the screw, and a small sacrificial bit of oak (that has yet to be replaced as of the writing of this 'ible!) protects the pressing boardfrom direct contact with the screw.

We place more netting on top of a bucket, secured with a giant rubber band, and slide that under the opening in the tray.

We spin the screw until it hits the board and slows down, then crank it a few more turns until the whole structure gives a little groan. Depending on how juicy the batch is,the cider starts pouring out immediately, and the first couple of gallons happens right away.

When the juice slows, we turn the handle another half turn, and continue that for at least 15 minutes. If there's not another round ready to squeeze we can extend thisprocess for a couple of hours and still get another pint or so of additional cider, but if we're going through a big pile we'll call it done after the first squeezing.

Another option is to unscrew the press and give each cheese a shake to redistribute the pomace, then put it all back together and give it a second squeeze. Again, not aton more comes out, but it can be worthwhile.

We get at least two gallons out of a pressing, sometimes more. And it's delicious. And who knows how many apples you're consuming when you knock back a glass ofthis stuff. Imagine how many doctors are being repelled!

http://www.instructables.com/id/Apple-Cider-Press-with-Grinder/

http://www.instructables.com/id/Apple-Cider-Press-with-Grinder/

Step 8: CleanupWhen the pomace has been fully squeezed, the cheese becomes a lightweight disk. What to do with that? Well, you can compost it, share it with your chickens andducks, or do what Dawn does: make Apple Cider Vinegar. There are too many uses to list here, but she makes a ton of it each apple season. And this year she just ranout of last year's supply as this year's season started!

After a pressing (or a day of pressing), everything is hosed off (the ducks enjoy that), and left to dry.

Unfinished oak is naturally resistant to decay, and turns a charming gray color as it ages. A coat of mineral oil rubbed on all the surfaces helps keep it healthy for thewinter.

This setup, including the buckets and the grinder, can all be nested inside its frame for storage.

It's all quite heavy, but if all the removable parts are removed, two people can move it easily. Or one person can stand inside it and hold the sides and waddle alonglooking silly, but still move it.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Apple-Cider-Press-with-Grinder/Image Notes Image Notes

http://www.instructables.com/id/Apple-Cider-Press-with-Grinder/

1. Walls of the hopper, flipped upside down to dry.2. The grinder wheel, hanging by a rubber-tipped clamp to dry.

1. The Stray Apple Bits Management Team in action.

Image Notes1. After use, everything is hosed off and allowed to dry.2. hopper walls disassembled and flipped upside down so they'll dry.3. pomace bucket support

Step 9: Future plansWheels would be nice. But to avoid a wobbly grinding and pressing experience, they'd have to either be removable or be able to swing out of the way to allow directcontact between the frame and the ground.

For storage I'd like to come up with a good cover, perhaps a modified barbecue cover or a tarp sewn into a giant envelope, that could close all the way around the pressand keep the spiders out.

Grinder options: It would be fun to affix a bike gear to the axle of the grinder wheel, slap on a chain and figure out a way to pedal the grinder with a bike. John made theaxle of the wheel removable, so the possibilities are endless... maybe we can hook it up to a stairmaster or a rowing machine or some other piece of exercise equipment?

Hard cider: so far we've managed to not make this work, mainly because we start a batch and get busy and forget to do the next step on the right day... but we'll getaround to that. Meanwhile the "soft" stuff is fantastic!

All in all this has been a great addition to the family, and I highly recommend building one of these to anyone with the inclination, and apples, and skill and real tools (orfriends with skill and real tools).

Cheers!

http://www.instructables.com/id/Apple-Cider-Press-with-Grinder/

Image Notes1. Leo, apple supervisor.2. Supervised apples.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Apple-Cider-Press-with-Grinder/

Image Notes1. Condemned apples.2. Stray Apple Bits Management Team, hard at work.

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