Apple Juicing

Could there be a more autumnal activity than pressing apples?

Here's a quick breakdown on what we did: 

1. Lay all the apples out on newspapers and check for big bruises 

2. Start up the big stainless steel funnel-like machine and throw the apples in to macerate (chop) them

3. Collect all the chopped apples and put them in to the press

4. Place the lid on the top of the thread and start to screw down 

5. Catch all the juice in a bucket lined with a filter bag to catch any stray pieces of pulp, skin, pips etc

6. Decant the juice from the bucket into some very clean plastic milk cartons and freeze until needed. Freezing them kills the majority of bacteria that lives on the skin. 

 We made nearly 100 litres of juice from approx 4 wheelbarrows of apples and it was incredibly satisfying!

Here are some more pictures I took: