Fall is the time to collect apples and roll out the cider press in anticipation of the first golden drops of autumnal tonic. It's been said that there's nothing like a gallon or so of fresh cider to clear the constitution. Making your own apple cider is an activity the whole family can enjoy. A cider press is a kid magnet. Youngsters are fascinated with the grinding and pressing process.

Though time consuming, the process is surprisingly simple.

Just what is involved in the production of real, unpasteurized cider?

The first step is to gather the apples, whether you collect wild apples from trees or purchase apples from the backyard or farmers' produce. Apples should be fully ripe. Unripe apples give the juice a starchy flavor and white clay-like sediment. Heavily bruised or damaged apples can give a definite moldy taste.

Keep the apples in a cool place for one to two weeks to soften the skins. It is recommended to use Red Delicious Apples.

Most apples benefit from "sweating" before pressing. To sweat apples, store them on a tarp or wood platform for a week or two. When the apples mellow, a firm squeeze will leave a slight indentation. Many apple pressers first freeze the apples, and then allow them to thaw out the next day, producing a wonderful taste. This concentrates the sugars in the apples, allowing some water content to evaporate. A final washing is in order before grinding. If you prefer to slice or chop the apples rather than grind them, the end result is the same.

Once the apples are ready to go to liquid, place them in a small cider press that you can either build or buy used for about $30. You will also need a food chopper, and a box or two of apples.

The fresh juice that flows from the fruit is ready to sample immediately. A 30 to 35-pound box of apples will make about two gallons of cider.

Cider making lends itself to assembly line techniques. Here is a step-by-step method on pressing cider.

First wash the apples in a tub or pail of water to remove any spray residue and dirt. Then cut the apples into quarters and remove any bruised or bad spots, and if you are using sprayed fruit, cut away the stem and blossom ends. Do not peel or core. Place the cut apples in large crocks, bowls, or kettles (avoid containers made of iron or toxic materials such as zinc or galvanized sheet metal).

Next grind the apples with a food chopper. This step in itself supplies a good deal of juice. Heap four layers of damp cheesecloth loosely across the top of a large container and hold in place with clothespins or string. Place this container directly under the food chopper to filter and catch the juice that will flow from the back of the chopper. Using the medium blade, grind the apple quarters, catching the pulp in another container.

For the pressing, you may use the same cheesecloth-topped container if all the grinding is complete, or prepare another container with cheesecloth to catch juice under the groove spout of the press. Fill the press basket about half full of ground apples. Cover with the press plate and turn the drive handle slowly to force the juice from the pulp, compressing it to about half its original volume. The remaining pulp or "pomace" can be used for compost or fed to rabbits, cows, deer, or other wildlife.

Several types of presses can be used. The "rack and cloth" press is the most common. Apples are first washed, then fed into a grinding mill that mashes them into a texture resembling that of applesauce but with seeds and skin included; the taste and aroma in cider come from the skins as well as flesh.

Next, the pulp is pumped or scooped into strong woven cheesecloth placed in a square frame above a wooden rack such as an open checkerboard of thin oak slats crosswise to each other. After each cloth is filled with about five gallons of pulp, it is folded over snugly and another rack and cloth are placed on top. When a dozen or so racks and cloths are filled and stacked in a pile about three feet high, the "cheese" is finished and can be rolled into a press that applies pressure to the whole stack. The cider seeps and gushes out through the cloth and runs into a large tub beneath the press, leaving pulp behind. The pulp is then crushed in a press to extract the juice.

Another example of a press is an 18" x 18" piece of pine with four threaded rods attached, one in each corner for the base. The top plate is a similar sized piece of pine but with slots cut for the metal rods. It is set up in a very similar way to a traditional cider press; an old tea towel was placed on the baseboard and a couple of jugs full of crushed apples are placed on top. The edges of the tea towel are then folded over and the entire mass patted down to give a square look. A piece of plywood, 15" x 15" is placed on top followed by another tea towel and more apple pulp. This is repeated for about four layers. The top plate is then put in place and a nut placed on each of the threaded corner posts. Each layer of apple can be peeled from the tea towel in one piece.

Most cider presses are made from oak or maple wood and have a masher that shreds apples into small pieces in a cylindrical tub. A screw press and plate compresses the mash to squeeze out the cider.

If a press is not available, you can use a large blender or food processor to mash or "pulp" the apples. Or slice apples finely into a large stainless steel soup pot and crush them with a potato masher. Use only stainless steel or wood for pressing or storing cider because the juice reacts with iron or aluminum containers.

Whichever method you use for mashing, once pulped, you will need to squeeze the cider out. To do this, wrap the mash in several layers of clean cheesecloth. Twist the cheesecloth as tightly as you can over a large bowl to extract and collect the juice. Compost the remaining pomace, or pulp.

Safe cider

Wash apples with running water and scrub each thoroughly with a clean vegetable brush. After making the cider, heat it to kill any microorganisms that might be present. If you have a candy thermometer, heat and stir the cider until it reaches 170ºF. Keep it at this temperature for half a minute, and then cool the cider quickly to preserve the taste. Place the metal cooking pot in a sink filled with ice and water. Stir the cider until cool. Pour the cider into clean containers and cap. You can store it in the refrigerator for as long as three weeks or freeze it for longer storage. If the cider is sealed and remains cold, it will last seven days. Once opened, it will last about five days.

The last step in cider production is the pressing or wringing as it was called in the old days. Presses dump the pulp in "cheeses," which are nylon bags that are folded over the pomace and stacked on the press plate. The pressing takes about half an hour. The juice, which is called "must," is stored in stainless steel vats. Never use copper, galvanized, iron or aluminum containers to hold fresh cider juice. These metals react with the juices, producing an off-taste and gut-wrenching compounds that make the imbiber wish for a quick death.

Washed apples are fed whole into the grinder, which grinds them into a pulp that falls into a mesh-lined pressing bucket. It is then slid over to the screw, where a plate is inserted and the screw cranked down, exerting tremendous pressure and squeezing the clear juice from the pulp. Within seconds, the clear liquid oxidizes to a deep gold amber color that's associated with real apple cider. Homemade cider is opaque and dark brown (not clear and light amber as in most preserved cider you buy), with a flavor well worth your time and effort. On standing, the cider becomes tangy and clearer as the suspended solids settle to the bottom of the container.

Some cider is sweet, some is tart, depending on the level desired. Some has an aromatic edge and some is quite fairly called astringent. Very strong hard cider may approach 10% alcohol, but most home cider is in the 6% range. Cider is good fresh, but even better in about a week when it has developed some sparkle and tang.

There are several cider recipes that can be used once the juice has been pressed. A favorite is sage jelly.

Sage Jelly