Speidel grinder/mill

[Shaun Pett]

Hi all.

Starting up a small cidery business that is based around wild apples. We're looking at getting the Speidel mill. Just wondering if it can handle small apples? Andy Brennan in his book talks about some mills having blades with too much space and the tiny wild apples don't get milled. 

Cheers.

[Claude Jolicoeur]

I don't think you'll have problems. Wild apples are not "that" tiny! And in any case you wouldn't harvest pea-size apples - it would take forever to obtain a sizeable amount.

I don't remember reading that in Andy's book - on which page is it?

[Shaun Pett]

Thanks for the input, Claude. 

Yes, tiny apples wouldn’t be so efficient—but we have been known to be a bit mad if they taste good.

I only have a digital copy of Andy’s book. He talks about the grinder in the Cider Section. Here’s a screenshot:

--
--
Visit our website: http://www.ciderworkshop.com
 
You received this message because you are subscribed to the "Cider Workshop" Google Group.
By joining the Cider Workshop, you agree to abide by our principles. Please see http://www.ciderworkshop.com/resources_principles.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the Google Groups "Cider Workshop" group.
To unsubscribe from this topic, visit https://groups.google.com/d/topic/cider-workshop/RNn80l-_1qo/unsubscribe.
To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to cider-worksho...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cider-workshop/42dec4ca-66f0-4881-9801-795a60e56b45n%40googlegroups.com.

[Claude Jolicoeur]

Note he says smaller apples fall in the craks of the conveyer belt, not the same thing at all - and a problem that has nothing to do with the mill itself.

Note also the OESCO mill Andy mentions is of the grinder type while the Spiedel is centrifugal type. But I don't think this would make a huge difference.

[Cider]

Here are some pictures of the internals of various apple mills (including Speidel) which I posted many years ago http://www.cider.org.uk/mills.html

The Speidel mill comprises an initial top blade followed by a very efficient main knife / fixed hammer blade, rotating at high speed.  There is a percussive effect as well as a cutting effect. UK cider apples are often pretty small and I never heard anyone here complain that the Speidel couldn’t do the job. 

It’s become the most recommended mill for amateur cidermakers in this country over the last decade or so.  If your apples were as tiny as currants you might have a few fruits left undamaged, but honestly I don’t think you will have a problem..

Andrew

Wittenham Hill Cider Page

www.cider.org.uk

On 15 Jun 2022, at 08:01, Shaun Pett <shaun...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi all.

Starting up a small cidery business that is based around wild apples. We're looking at getting the Speidel mill. Just wondering if it can handle small apples? Andy Brennan in his book talks about some mills having blades with too much space and the tiny wild apples don't get milled. 

Cheers.

--

--
Visit our website: http://www.ciderworkshop.com
 
You received this message because you are subscribed to the "Cider Workshop" Google Group.
By joining the Cider Workshop, you agree to abide by our principles. Please see http://www.ciderworkshop.com/resources_principles.html
---

You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Cider Workshop" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cider-worksho...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cider-workshop/53eb79a5-1218-42ac-9c47-2c29b60abfb3n%40googlegroups.com.

[Miguel Pereda]

Somewhere and some time ago I read that centrifugal mills tend to oxidize the pulp more and consequently the must has that character. My favorite is the wooden grater mill. A system similar to the one you see in Andrew's photos but nobody manufactures it industrially, you have to build it yourself.

Miguel A. Pereda