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

Mon Oct 25 13:52:06 EDT 2010

We had "new" old fashioned peelers.  The difference between new and old is that the new cored the apples and sliced them at the same time.

Yes - Our apple butter does take some time.  3 bu apples and 16 gallons of cider.  We boil the cider to 1/4 before we even start and we start the fire at 6:00 am thinking we will be done just after dark but this year we were done early and we think this is the best butter ever.

---- Original message ----
>Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2010 12:06:40 -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>
>
>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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