Over a decade ago I thought it was a great idea to get a cider press. We had moved from the city of San Francisco to a bucolic piece of land just outside Philadelphia (literally less than a mile from the border) and in addition to some beautiful (and sometimes dangerous) black walnut trees, we inherited an apple tree. I thought pressing cider would be a great thing to do with kids, so, after some internet research, I found this company and ordered a kit online. Now that I look back, I can’t imagine when I found the time to varnish and assemble it with two little kids running around, but I think I must have snuck out to the garage during nap times with the baby monitor. This is what it looks like set up.
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The first step in the process after setting up is to wash and dry your apples. Apples go into the hopper where there are large metal teeth that grind the apples as you turn the large red wheel. Apples fall into the pressing basket into a mesh bag that allows the juices to flow through the holes keeping the larger pieces (the mash) in.
In addition to doing this at home with my own children for many years (and now we live within the city proper, with no apple tree and a postage stamp yard:) I think I have taken this to every school that my children have ever attended, and wherever I have taught. Last year the kindergarten classes I worked with did an entire tree unit, so this fit in nicely. This year (at the request of the PreK and Kindergarten teachers) I incorporated it into the art classes I am teaching. How? We talked about ARTISANAL food making – food making as an art by using a lot of care and good ingredients in the process. We made small batch artisanal apple cider. They loved it:)
I’m looking sort of serious here. No matter how many times you talk about the sharp teeth inside the hopper, and you demonstrate how to drop the apple from high above, littler kids tend to get their hands way too close to the hopper. I am being vigilant that little hands are far away before I turn the grinder! This is what the apples look like after they’ve been through the grinder.
Next, we fold over the mesh bag and place the pressing disk on top of the bag. I am letting the kids feel the weight of the pressing disk. You can see in the last picture above that the juices have already started to come out, even though we haven’t started pressing the mash yet. The next step is my favorite. Once you do start the actual pressing process, the juice comes out surprisingly fast. It’s always a big crowd pleaser and sure to illicit at least a few ooh’s and ahh’s.
Next, and perhaps most importantly, comes the tasting!
Notice one of my students doing his happy dance after tasting the cider. Woo Hoo!
At home we press as much as we can and freeze it to use all winter long. We do also give SOME out as gifts, but I confess, we are pretty stingy with it! Mostly, we enjoy looking for new ways to use it. I make a great apple cider cranberry sauce you can find here, and there are lots and lots of cider recipes on the web. I really want to try the brisket and oatmeal recipes I found here.
Have you ever cooked with apple cider?
the professional dabbler 
What a great idea. I assume that all the kids were so happy with doing it.
I am really excited with all the procedures.
Oh, that’s beautiful. Of course, cooking is an art!
I have never cooked with apple cider, I didn’t know you could do that. I love that machine that you have! I might do that myself since anything home made is really cool because you are learning about something new and it’s made by your hands, so there is enjoyment in that at lease for me.
I wish to try the apple cider. I just want to do it myself. It makes you more exited.
great post!