[TheForge] The hard cider is good... OT:

[Andrew Vida]

Are you talking about the old hand cranked peeler contraptions?

I guess we have about 300 pints of apple sauce and  2 cases of butter. 
The butter is a PITA to make - too much time... unless I'm doing it 
wrong.  Bruce did mention doing it in the oven.  Have yet to try that.

Our apple sauce is serious kick ass stuff, if I do say so myself.  Not 
more than about 1/2 oz. sugar/pint - just enough to cut whatever tart 
might be in the apples, which isn't much.  The only other additives are 
some cinnamon and freshly ground nutmeg.  I suck on a  1/4 nutmeg all 
day and my tongue goes noticeably numb.  Great stuff.

Seems to me the fresh cider thing is of limited value in terms of 
efficient use of the apples.  Sauce, butter, dried chips and whole fresh 
apples seem to be better uses of the resource, on the whole.

wmullett at bright.net wrote:
> As a side note...
> 
> We made apple butter weekend before last.  We had two apple peelers going, then my brother took the handle off one and mounted his portable drill.  
> 
> No need for two peelers - you couldn't keep up with one.  The peeling was arcing about 3' into the air.
> 
> This was the first year we were done canning before it got dark.  95 pint
> 
> Walt
> 
> ---- Original message ----
>> Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2010 08:34:28 -0400
>> From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net (on behalf of Andrew Vida <osan at netlabs.net>)
>> Subject: Re: [TheForge] The hard cider is good... OT:  
>> To: Blacksmithing List Sponsored by ABANA <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
>>
>> The normal commercial juicer doesn't have anywhere near the oomph to 
>> juce a large loade of apples.  And it take a LONG time.  We did that 
>> three years ago and it was impossible.  Some friends gave us a juicer 
>> they didn't want any longer so we tried it.  Not good.  At all.
>>
>> AFAICS, a  good old-fashioned cider press, whether hard-mechanical or 
>> hydraulic is the best way to go.  We have one in the barn, borrowed from 
>> a neighbor.  I'd like to build one, but with a QR screw so we would not 
>> have to unscrew the ram all that way, but rather could simply release 
>> and raise it quickly.  When you're pressing 500# or more of apples, it 
>> is helpful.  A hydraulic press would be nice, too.
>>
>> Bruce Freeman wrote:
>>> Ever see one of the "modern" fruit & veggie juicers?  A perforated
>>> bowl with teeth, spinning at high speed.  Grinds the fruit or veggie,
>>> centrifuging the juice through the "sieve" and kicking the pulp up
>>> over the bowl.  In principal, they could do any amount, but the
>>> recepticals fill up and, besides, they won't take anything larger than
>>> a carrot.  Apples would have to be cut up.
>>>
>>>
>>> So..... SCALE IT UP!  That would be a project of sufficient
>>> complication to interest a blacksmith!
>>>
>>> Of course, that's probably how the commercial juicers work anyway.
>>>
>>> On Sun, Oct 24, 2010 at 8:49 PM, Jerry Frost <akfrosty at mtaonline.net> wrote:
>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>> From: "CGRAF" <adveniam at att.net>
>>>> To: "Blacksmithing List Sponsored by ABANA" <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
>>>> Sent: Monday, October 25, 2010 1:31 AM
>>>> Subject: Re: [TheForge] The hard cider is good... OT:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> On 10/24/2010 4:50 PM, Jerry Frost wrote:
>>>>>> Geez you guys are getting complicated! Can't I just use the juicer
>>>>>> attachment on my Kitchen Aid mixer?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Jer
>>>>> Gee Jerry, consider who you are talking with..
>>>>> A simple solution? Come on man get real.
>>>>>
>>>>> Mike Graf
>>>>>
>>>> Good point Mike, thanks for the "reality(?)" check. Now you have me thinking
>>>> about a blacksmith's version of "Sledgeomatic". Maybe lay the apples out in
>>>> a long line and drop a tree on them?
>>>>
>>>> Jer
>>>>
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