With some extra apples around, I decided to make some cider. I love cider, and have plenty of apples this year, so why not make some? However, I don't have a cider press.
We had an old Jack Leland Juicer in the pantry so I tried that. Instead of pressing the apples, the juicer uses teeth to shred them into pulp, and a filtered centrifuge to separate the bulk of the pulp from the juice, although there is still some pulp and some foam.
For the most part, I used bruised or imperfect apples. I did not use any parts that had holes or rotting areas, just the good parts.
I used mixed varieties of apples. It turns out that red skin apples make redder juice, because some of the pigment makes it into the juice. That also adds some nice flavors, sort of floral or berry.
Those small apples are Jonathans. They give the cider a really nice flavor. The largest are Beni Shogun Fuji. They give a nice sweetness and more juice.
I made a couple of large jars to keep in the fridge. The foam has a delicious flavor, sort of like a sorbet. The finer pulp settles to the bottom. I could filter it out, but I think it's healthy to drink it. After a couple of days in the fridge, the cold cider has a more mellow flavor, and is much more like what I grew up with when my parents took us to the orchard for fresh local cider.
