Monday, May 10, 2010

Apple Grinder

Somewhere in the back of my head, a little alarm went off saying that while I have access to apples this fall to try and make apple cider from, I have no way of crushing and pressing the apples. That’s the equipment I really need to be attempting to get before this fall.

My local home brew supply store does rent crushers and presses. However, they don’t have very many, so you have to sign up months in advance to rent them and hope that your timing is right. Since my folk’s apple trees ripen at different times, I think it would be better if I spent about $400 for an initial crush and press that I would have for years to come until I upgrade.

I’ve been on the Cider Workshop for awhile now, and when it comes to apple grinders, they keep recommending garbage disposals, which costs less than $100. From there, you would need some lumber to make a frame to set it in.



This method seems pretty good to me – it is cheaper than an industrial apple grinder, and it is electric. For $150-250, I could buy a manual apple grinder, but that just seems silly compared to this.

I would need some food grade buckets to catch the crushed apples and juice with, so I went to my local grocery store bakery and I got about six free 3 gallon buckets that they had frosting in, so they are food grade. Downside is that the store didn’t keep the lids.

A few notes of caution that I have heard about using garbage disposals. First, they can overheat, especially the cheaper ones, so they need to shut down every 15 minutes or so, and having a fan run on them does help. Secondly, all the parts need to be plastic, rubber, or stainless steel, as the acid in the juice can leech other metals, which is not good.

So, I have a plan for the crusher.

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