How to make homemade apple juice - some useful advice - Fruit press, apple press, cider press | Pressfruit.co.uk (2024)

How to make homemade apple juice - some useful advice - Fruit press, apple press, cider press | Pressfruit.co.uk (1)

For the best juice the apples should be properly ripe. Normally this is checked by cutting open an apple. Dark brown/black pips are ripe, not white, green or light brown. Some judge by if the tree is dropping the apples, but be careful, as sometimes the trees will shed a load in summer so it can concentrate on the others. These "June Drop" apples are not suitable for pressing. Also if the fruit is going rotten or mouldy, it's not good for juice. But you needn't be too fussy; a bit of windfall bruising, or some skin damage is fine, although I recommend washing windfalls.

The best juice is made with a balance of sugars and acidity. In practice, this means a mix of cookers and eaters. Personally, I prefer a tilt of the balance towards cookers (so a bit sharper, not oversweet.) But if you have a sweeter tooth, or youngsters, then 50/50 is great. If you find the juice of your trees too sweet (or too sharp), then its easy to fix by adding some from the other end of the spectrum.

A lot of orchards have a wide variety of apples and you can get nicely complex and more interesting juices by mixing than through just a single variety. Some varieties, such as Bramley, will actually keep improving/sweetening after they’re ripe and have dropped in the autumn, and can even keep into the new year. But you must avoid the really unpleasant type of apple – eg. crab apples or strong tannin cider apples. Use these for cider – “The worse the juice, the better the cider.”

After you’ve milled and pressed the apples, the juice can be drunk as it is. But after two or three days it will start to go fizzy, even in the fridge, as it begins to ferment. It may taste delicious at this time, but it can also be dangerous as it can lead to exploding bottles! So to keep your juice fresh and stable for more than a few days, you either need to freeze or pasteurise.

How to make homemade apple juice - some useful advice - Fruit press, apple press, cider press | Pressfruit.co.uk (2)

Freezing is the easiest, if you have the space. Simply fill clean plastic bottles (eg. milk containers) to about 2 or 3" from the top (the juice will expand as it freezes) and put upright in the freezer.Or you can pasteurise to kill the yeast and any bacteria. If you have an Aga/range, then you can do it on top, or we sell a small electric portable pasteuriser. Whichever way you do this, it must be done carefully to avoid the danger of exploding glass bottles. The normal hobby style of pasteurising is 'in-bottle', but you can also pour into sterlised bottles at temperature. If you choose to pasteurise, I'd recommend reading up on it first. If you have any queries, you can always ring us here at Pressfruit to ask.

Whether you freeze or pasteurise your juice should then last easily until the next season. Cheers!

How to make homemade apple juice - some useful advice - Fruit press, apple press, cider press | Pressfruit.co.uk (2024)

FAQs

How to make apple juice with an apple press? ›

Load your apples into the press's basket, making sure not to overfill it, as this can lead to inefficient pressing. Start turning the press or activating the motor, and gradually apply pressure to crush the apples. As the apples break down, the juice will flow into your collection container.

What is the difference between pressed apple juice and cider? ›

Southern Living says that apple cider also uses pressed apples, but unlike apple juice, the pressed apple is unfiltered and unpasteurized. This is the reason consumers may see residue at the bottom of the drink (the best solution is to shake the bottled cider to mix).

How to make apple cider press? ›

Cut out a 2” thick circular wood press that is slightly smaller than the circumference of the base of the 5 gallon bucket. affix a wooden dowel centered to the top for a smaller Jack to make up the distance to the apples. Drill lots of holes into the base of the bucket this is where the juice will flow.

How many apples for 1 gallon of cider? ›

How many apples does it take to make a gallon of cider? - It will take just a little over a peck or 36-42 medium apples to make just one gallon of cider.

How long does home pressed apple juice last? ›

Fresh apple juice will keep in the fridge for 2 to 3 days before it begins to ferment or go off, but if pasteurised can be stored for anything up to 2 years. Careful pasteurisation will kill off any organisms that could cause spoilage of the juice whilst preserving its fresh apple flavour.

How long do you press apples for cider? ›

The press essentially grinds up the apples into a pulp and then presses the juices out. Once you get going, the liquid gold keeps flowing. You go from press to glass in 30 seconds! There are many kinds of presses, from a very simple hand press to the traditional cider press with a grinder.

Do I have to core apples before juicing? ›

#2 You can juice the core with a slow juicer.

However, if you are using a blender or centrifugal juicer, we recommend removing the core as apple seeds contain a small amount of cyanide. Slow juicers expel the seeds, but high-speed blenders and centrifugal juicers can mix them into the juice.

Do you need to crush apples before pressing? ›

It's a common misconception that apples can be juiced whole, but crushing your apples before pressing them is essential! In this guide we'll break down how to crush your fruit, why you should and give you some equipment recommendations.

Which is healthier, apple cider or apple juice? ›

Cider contains more of apples' polyphenol compounds than clear commercial apple juice. Fresh cider from cider apples may contain from two to four times the amount of these healthful compounds compared to clear commercial apple juice because of the apple varieties used and the extra processing to make clear juice.

What apples are best for cider pressing? ›

The apple varieties that we generally find in stores and that are used for the making of modern-style ciders include McIntosh, Golden and Red Delicious, Goldrush, Honeycrisp, Cortland, Idared, Jonagold, Granny Smith, Gala, and Fuji.

What does pressed apple cider do for your body? ›

Apple cider contains polyphenols, which are compounds in plants that act as antioxidants. They can help the body to fight against free radicals and cell damage, lowering your risk of certain types of cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. Polyphenols also help to ease inflammation in the body.

What is the best wood for apple press? ›

This is because softwoods–pine or fir, for example–are likely to impart undesirable flavors to the cider. Thus, make a maximum effort to fabricate this part of your press from hardwood, preferably maple or oak, that has NEVER been soaked in a preservative.

What pressure is a cider press? ›

The ideal pressure range for optimum juice extraction and taste is 70 to 90 psi. Higher pressure is wasted effort and detracts from the juice. What is the juice yield? The juice yield by weight, for the apples we've run, has been 60% to 65%.

How many apples to make 1 gallon of juice? ›

It takes roughly 12 pounds of apples to produce one gallon of fresh juice. That means you're getting almost one pound of apples in each serving.

How to make apple juice with press? ›

Position the vessel you're collecting the juice in under the spout of your press and begin to turn the spindle or cross beam. It is best to apply pressure gradually, waiting until the flow of juice stops before adding more. This will help to increase your juice yield as well as reducing the amount of effort required!

How many apples do you press for cider? ›

Three bins of apples with approximately 20 bushels in each bin are used to make one cider pressing. Each bushel has about 90 apples. Hence, a total of 5,400 apples are used for each pressing. It take about 3-6 medium sized pressed apples to make an 8 oz cup of cider.

What is the difference between pressed apple juice and regular apple juice? ›

The truth about regular juice

Unlike cold-pressed juice, regular juice uses a heat and oxidation method. This pasturization process leads to significant nutrient degradation. This means you're missing out on important vitamins and minerals.

How long does pressed apple cider last? ›

~It will keep for about 14 days in the fridge (But most people drink it long before that!)

How long does homemade fresh pressed juice last? ›

How long does fresh juice last? If want to preserve your freshly squeezed juice without freezing it, you can keep it in the refrigerator for three days. If you're freezing your juice it can last between 12 to 16 months.

How long do you leave apple juice to make it to cider? ›

Fermenting juice into hard cider typically takes 4–6 weeks. The fermentation process can take longer if the cider has higher sugar content or if the yeast strain used is slow-acting.

What bacteria is in apple cider? ›

If food safety precautions are not taken, fresh or unpasteurized apple juice or cider can cause foodborne illness with the E. coli O157:H7 bacteria. Apples used for cider can be a potential risk because they do not have to be perfectly shaped and without blemishes like those picked or sold for eating.

How much juice do you get from pressing apples? ›

How much juice will I get? 16 lbs of apples is about 1 gallon of juice (or 4 lbs apples/liter of juice). Some apples are juicier and some drier, so this is just an average.

Can you drink fresh pressed apple juice? ›

coli 0157:H7 in unpasteurized apple juice has many worried. However, it shouldn't scare you away from apple juice or cider. If properly processed, it is completely safe. The biggest cause for concern is juice made from “windfall” apples, or apples that have fallen to the ground.

Is pressed better than regular apple juice? ›

Higher Nutrient Retention: Since cold-pressed juice avoids heat and oxidation, it retains more vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants than its regular counterpart. This means you get a more potent dose of essential nutrients with every sip.

How do you make clear apple juice pressed? ›

Clarification and filtration are the processes to make clear apple juice. The extracted juice was clarified with enzyme preparation method first, then filtrated with drink filtrator. The clarified apple juice should be clear and transparent, or it need to be filtrated once again.

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Article information

Author: Edwin Metz

Last Updated:

Views: 6039

Rating: 4.8 / 5 (78 voted)

Reviews: 85% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Edwin Metz

Birthday: 1997-04-16

Address: 51593 Leanne Light, Kuphalmouth, DE 50012-5183

Phone: +639107620957

Job: Corporate Banking Technician

Hobby: Reading, scrapbook, role-playing games, Fishing, Fishing, Scuba diving, Beekeeping

Introduction: My name is Edwin Metz, I am a fair, energetic, helpful, brave, outstanding, nice, helpful person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.