Slick Way To Make Apple Cider

Slick Way To Make Apple Cider FARM HOME Food Truman Miller has one of the slickest ways to make apple cider that we’ve ever seen His ‘built-it-myself system’ uses an 8 1/2 hp Troy Bilt brush shredder and a 50-ton hydraulic press equipment that he already had in his shop Miller first cleans the shredder by running hot water through it while it’s operating at full speed “When there’s clean water coming out the spout we’re ready to shred apples ” he says with a laugh     When Miller grinds apples he idles the shredder at a very low speed and runs the discharge chute into a clean 5-gal pail “The shredded apple pulp and juice fill the pail quickly so this is definitely a two-person operation ” Miller says Eight buckets of whole apples will make five buckets of pulp in just 10 min     His apple press tower is simply built The base is a 24-in square box that Miller made from 1 by 4-in oak The box is lined with a stainless steel insert that has a spout on one side to drain juice into a stainless steel pail     Miller’s press racks are slightly smaller than the box made from oak or ash wooden laths To prepare for pressing a 3-in layer of ground pulp is wrapped in fabric and placed on top of each rack He stacks five racks on top of each other in the box with a solid cover on top     The box and racks fit nicely inside the frame of his 50-ton press He places a 6 by 6 and a 2 by 4 under the press head and on top of the solid top rack so pressure is applied evenly across the racks     “This setup works great and the best part is it didn’t cost hardly anything ” Miller says “Two of us can make 50 gals of cider in four hours including cleanup ”     Miller filters the juice through straining cloth into a 50-gal barrel He says that using a third each of Jonathans Yellow Delicious and Red Delicious apples produces the best juice After straining he bottles the cider in plastic jugs which will keep in a refrigerator for about two weeks He also keeps cider in a wooden barrel until it ferments to produce apple vinegar Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Truman Miller RR 1 Box 1419D Wheatland Mo 65779 ph 417 309-1305; Trumanmiller77@gmail com

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