Apple & Cider Presses

Increased awareness of food miles, environmental impact etc have lead to many folk looking at old fruit trees in their gardens to think; “What can I do with all the extra apples (or pears) from these trees?” Pressing them to produce a load of lovely fresh apple juice is actually not difficult, and it’s a great activity for the family or community*. Bulk storage (in your freezer) means you could have your own home-made apple juice for months to come – and you will have done it all yourself!

Before deciding which press is the most suitable, the following factors are worthy of some consideration:-

 a.   Each mature standard apple tree is capable of yielding approx 250 Kg of apples (depending on variety), which equates to just under 300 litres of crushed apple pulp (pomace). And a smaller cordon or bush tree can yield up to 50 kg of fruit.

 b.   Depending on how the fruit is pulped, and the pressing time; a minimum of 50% juice yield should be expected, so a small tree could give you approx 20 litres of apple juice, and a productive mature standard tree, around 100 litres!

 c.   If the fruit is well pulped, each pressing should take approx 20 minutes.