Trying New Things
This year we set some new goals for ourselves. One of those goals was to try preserving more food for our family. We live in the city so our ability to grow everything that we would like to preserve was definitely limited. So, we set out on a new adventure. We purchased an RV and have been traveling around our state patronizing our farms, markets, orchards, and vineyards. This is where we can purchase what we cannot grow. We have picked grapes, apples, and purchased pumpkins among other small items. This allowed us to preserve grape juice, apple cider, and pumpkin puree that we would otherwise not have living in the city.
Picking Apples for Apple Cider
We took a trip to central Ohio and picked some apples at an orchard there and foraged for pears. There was an old pear tree by our campsite, so we picked our fill. Knowing that we wanted to press these apples into cider we purchased an apple press and a fruit grinder. Pressing apples is a lot of work but wow the flavor was amazing. We used several different varieties of apples which gave the cider a depth of flavor that truly was delightful.
Using a fruit grinder is a must when making apple cider. This really does make pressing so much easier. Otherwise, you would need to chop the apples up into smaller pieces to get as much juice out of the apples as possible. There is no need to peel or core them, simply grind the entire apple up and add it to the press. This grinder is very sturdy and did an amazing job of chopping up the apples into very small pieces. I purchased this on Amazon and would highly recommend making this purchase if you are thinking about trying to make your own cider.
The fruit press is called a “squeeze master” and I also purchased this on Amazon. This is a 4.75-gallon press that came with a mesh bag, wooden blocks and pole for pressing. We did make additional blocks just to press as much out as possible. And we also purchased different mesh bags. The holes in the mesh bag that came with the press were too big and I felt the apple pieces would fall through. After grinding the apples, we then added them to the press. We stacked the blocks, like Jenga the game, and attached the metal pole. Turning the crank, we immediately started getting cider.
We had the press elevated on a table with a stainless-steel pot underneath to catch the cider in. This worked out well and we ended up pressing about 3 1/2 gallons of apple cider.
After pressing the apples, I used 1/2-gallon ball mason jars and canned this up to add to our pantry shelves. We simply strained this one time through a mesh sieve covered with a tea towel. Then we heated the cider to a boil. Once it came to a boil, we removed it from the heat. We then ladled this up into the large jars and water-bath canned them using my large pressure canner. The jars were too large to fit in my typical water-bath canner. I had 6 1/2-gallon jars and a little extra for us to drink.
This is a welcomed addition to the pantry as it adds a little variety to our drink options. We have grape juice canned and pineapple juice frozen as well as a little pear cider in the freezer to try. Excited to be trying new things and adding to the pantry. I hope this motivates you to try something new. If you’d like to watch us making this beautiful apple cider you can watch that by clicking here Apple Cider Video. Here are some pictures of the pears we canned as well as the cider and apple butter. You can also get the apple butter recipe here. Happy Canning!
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