This blog is probably going to be more pictures than explanation. My husband and I made apple cider this last month, and I think I drove him a bit crazy with my requests for pictures. But it was worth it.
My husband grew up on a farm. I grew up in the city. There have been a lot of things I’ve learned over the course of our marriage. Canning and making cider are just a smidgen of his farming knowledge.
We’ve had some trouble with our apples in the past and this year, finally, the tree was laden and the apples were good. So we dug out the cider press. First time in a few years. FYI – my husband built this press. He had the original from the farm, but it got stolen, so he rebuilt it from memory. 🙂
Neither of us know what kind of apple we have, but here’s a close up.
And here I am pouring apples in to be chopped up.
The apple mush ends up in the barrel. When full, we move the barrel forward to where we can press it.
And voila! We have cider. We don’t pasteurize. We just pour it into jugs and freeze it to enjoy all winter. And it is sooooo good. I hope you all get a chance in your life to taste fresh squeezed cider. There’s nothing like it.
Oh, and of course, Dude had to keep an eye on everything. 🙂
Have a wonderful Autumn, everyone!
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Over The Backyard Fence 
Dude’s got it right, watch the workers from a sunny sleepy spot. We have pressed cider. And, you’re right nothing tastes better.
Dude does love his supervising. Lol. And you know, then, what fresh cider tastes like. Yummy!
Love all the photos. And Girl! I love fresh pressed cider. That’s the thing I miss most about the time I lived in Virginia. Fall in the blue ridge mountains getting fresh cider. Nothing like it. Jillian
ANd Dude looks adorable as usual.
It’s pretty darn good! And yep, Dude, who goes into hibernation mode when the sun disappears, was in his glory. 🙂
Hope he gets more days of sunshine.
You’ve made my mouth water. Here in the UK, “cider” is alcoholic, fermented apple juice and would never be frozen. We call your cider “apple juice”. Funny, isn’t it, how we call things by different names. Love that you are able to make it though, all those lovely apples. I’ve no idea what variety they are either but they look delicious. And sooo good for you. Enjoy every drop. 🙂
We call the alcoholic stuff hard cider. I’m not sure what the official difference is between cider and juice, but it’s labeled both ways here. We are enjoying! You’re welcome to some if you want to come get it. 🙂
My, that Dude is good at his job 🙂 Making cider looks like a load of fun and reading your blog actually made my mouth water. I love apples, and yours look delicious! Enjoy!
Dude is too good at his supervising job. Lol. There’s actually quite a bit of work to it, but thankfully, my husband put a small engine on the grinder so we’re not having to turn that. I would have sore arms if we had to do that!
This sounds a perfect way to spend time, cider press then fresh cider on a sunny day. As Kit said our alcoholic cider needs moderation, especially scrumpy which is brewed in the West Country. Mmm I fancy some of your cider now!
Scrumpy? I just learned a new word (for me). I went and looked it up. Sounds like a pretty strong cider. Ours is non-alcoholic. Mark tried to make hard cider one year, but it didn’t work out. And honestly, it’s just too good in it’s raw form to “donate” some to that cause again. Lol.