Apple storage (Prior to pressing)

[BriWild]

Here's a question for the wise cider folk within this group. Im looking to make 3000 liters of cider this year, and this is substantially more than I am used to making. And for me I am curious to how others store the apples prior to press day. I am sure that there are more effective ways. 

Typically I use hessian potato sacks, fill them to about 90% capacity, and tie a knot at the top. I pile them on top of each other about 3 sacks in height and then as many rows as I can. Some of the sacks are kept in a barn fully sheltered and another load is kept using the same technique in a semi-covered (roof and x3 sides) shelter once used for storing horse hay.

I actually leave them for some time (6 to 8 weeks) prior to pressing and as a result I lose a few from rotting.

So my question is this:

Is there a better technique I should be using? - I would love to know what you guys are doing.

Thanks for the help.

Brian

 

[Mike Lachelt]

Thanks Brian, 

Good luck with it.  I'm also interested in this question...and also how to go about efficiently washing all those apples!

Mike

[Nick Smyth]

I'd like to "third" this request for advice.


Nick

[Chris Worledge]

Hi all, we built a simple 'clamp'. It is a wood frame with wire mesh walls. The main thing is to make sure there is good air circulation around the apples to minimise rotting. I would have thought a low stack of hessian sacks would be ideal. Another good place to store apples is on the orchard floor! As long as the grass is well maintained and the ground is not too wet, we leave our apples as long as possible to 'mature' in the orchards. The clamp is then just a short term holding area before pressing.
The other variable to consider is the variety of apple. The Morgans that we are harvesting at the moment, rot very quickly whereas the late season varieties keep for weeks. So, in summary, storage depends on the conditions,
Cheers
Chris

[Chris Worledge]

Can I just add another point. The Cider Workshop is a fantastic resource for any cider maker from the first Demi-John to 7,000 litres and beyond. Here are my top tips for getting the most out if it:-

1. Search, search and search again! A search in the forum for 'Apple storage' got over 250 hits and within two pages I had 10 + people's opinions and method of apple storage.
2. Browse through the posts. This is where you catch the unknown unknowns. Just scrolling through you get an idea what other cider makers are thinking about at a stage in the process or point in the year.
3. Search on a specific person. By doing this you can plot another's journey into cider making and again pick up on the challenges at stages of development. You can also 'follow' someone who is in your location to get an idea of when they are doing what.
4. Use the rest of the Cider Workshop website. There is loads of excellent information and links to other 'quality' resources.
5. Read, cover to cover, Andrew's and Claude's books. Then read them again. If nothing else you will understand some of the discussions here and hopefully get the most out of their generous contributions on this forum.
6. Just post a question. You may get a direct response if you haven't done any of the above. However, there is an overall culture of support and help here that took us from an innocent "we want to make cider" to 7,000 litres and winning a couple of competitions.

Hope this helps

Chris

[Ray Blockley]

Chris - Thanks for that post & pointing the way for new folks.

We are all busy doing one thing or another (especially this time of year!) so posts can take a while for others to get round to them.

Your first point about trying the Search functions first is very valid - as you say, many queries have already been answered, sometimes repeatedly :-)

Cheers, Ray

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[Andrew Lea]

Just to pick up on point 5. I'm afraid my book is out of print just now and so is only currently available at silly prices. And the new edition won't be ready until 2015. In the meantime you will actually find nearly all the key information for free on my website www.cider.org.uk in the six 'Science of Cidermaking' articles.

Andrew

Sent from my iPhone

[Rick Carless]

Hi Ray,

I saw a link on the website to your plans for a cider press on the ukcider website but can't find it there. 

Can you direct me to it? See you at the beer fest?

Rick Carless

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Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2014 10:05:33 +0100
Subject: Re: [Cider Workshop] Re: Apple storage (Prior to pressing)
From: raymond...@gmail.com
To: cider-w...@googlegroups.com

[Ray Blockley]

Hi Rick,

I'm afraid after being censored and banned from the UKCider group &
Wiki (which I spent many, many hours working on) for daring to mention
"CAMRA", I along with many others (Mark Shirley, Andrew Lea, etc) left
that group - and we got our heads together under Jez's lead to form
the Cider Workshop. I then found out that the chap running the UKCider
site was using my stuff without my permission - so before he could
block me from the UKCider Wiki, I went back in and deleted all of my
stuff... Sad but I felt a bit used.

I have some photos of my old press I can send over? Afraid all the
drawings and stuff has long gone.

Yes I'll be at Nottingham (currently finalising the cider & perry
orders) and you'll find me at the top marquee cider bar everyday
except Saturday (doing an Apple Day demo-thing that day).

Cheers, Ray.

[TimB]

While not all of it is here, there is at least some of the original information on the press still archived and available. -

https://web.archive.org/web/20090815025109/http://www.ukcider.co.uk/wiki/index.php/Homemade_Cider_Press

TimB

[Ray Blockley]

That isn't the original information. It was re-written "from memory" -
hence the vagueness - by someone after my detailed stuff had been
deleted.
The most accurate bit is the list of parts which I left.

However, someone was (still is!) selling the plans and instructions
for "my" press on ebay after copying them word-for-word before the
content was removed. They also used a photograph of Andrew's press
from his website (which looked nothing like mine) to illustrate the
"plans". I complained to ebay about the use of a copyright photo and
emailed the seller to tell him what I thought of him...

Here's the ebay link - the image is now gone but the wording is
identical. For the record, I live in Nottinghamshire, not Somerset...
:-)
I'm sure he's made a few quid out of a freely given resource...

http://tinyurl.com/mzd32xx

Ray.

[Rick Carless]

My god Ray, 

The harmful effects of alcohol abuse....Well any pictures would be great. Ive got some old railway sleepers and thinking about constructing a permanent 'square' as a framework that will be left in situ on our orchard at Whitemoor Allotments (though I might not!). Incidentally we're having an Apple Day on 4th Oct. Ive been keeping an eye on your blogs and it seems things are earlier this year so I brought it forward. It's been suggested that we do apple identification  and I wondered if you know anyone Ray ? I'm sure you need all the apples you can get but if you know anyone with any spare I'd be most grateful.

Many Thanks,

Rick

> Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2014 13:10:11 +0100
> Subject: Re: [Cider Workshop] Cider Press Plans
> From: raymond_...@sky.com
> To: cider-w...@googlegroups.com

[skidbro...@tiscali.co.uk]

Hello Rick

For apple identification I don't think you will do better than the East of England Orchards Association. They have a huge collection and encyclopaedic knowledge of varieties.

Good luck

Guy

[Ian Shields]

I have been using green nets with draw strings for collecting and storing apples but would like to get away from using plastic. How many peole use hessian sacks and does this work well for you? I am very happy with the system of collecting in sacks not sure i would want to create a clamp. Any experience welcome. 

Ian

[luis.ga...@gmail.com]

I am personnaly looking to build wooden crates to store my apples. While it has the disadvantage of taking a lot of storage place when not used, they last and they are great looking.

Right noy, I use mesh bags and it also work well.

[Stephen Buffington]

Ian, I use coffee sacks that I buy used from the local coffee roaster. They are affordable and strong, never have had one break. There are some limitations though. You should keep them off of the ground (pallet is ideal, boards better than nothing) and keep them dry. Also rats love them but I think they will find their way into any stored apples. There is a fair amount of work getting them out and if I was to scale up I would make a dump trough up high. Seems like you can get 2 years out of them before they get too gross and are downgraded to storage bags for nets, grow tubes, stakes, etc. I have only gone 2 high. Good luck, 

Stephen Buffington

Shawnee Hill Farm

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[CGJ]

For those of you using these various bulk methods (bins, boxes, bags),
how are you harvesting? Are these picked, or shaken or just drops? If
picked or shaken loose, how close to full ripeness are you?

Carl
West Barnstable, Massachusetts

[Mike Beck]

Carl

We pick apples into 18 Bu. wooden bins for both juice and cider at mostly full ripeness.  We do not get fancy using refractometers and other methods.   We look for a good dark brown seed and sample(taste) many apples in the block.  If they don’t taste to “starchy” we pick them and get into a cold storage.

Drops mostly get sold as deer feed, if drops are nice enough we might use them for distillation.

Apples in the cold storage may get used right away or tucked away until January.

 

Mike in the middle of the mitten

St. John’s, Michigan

 

Sent from Mail for Windows

 

From: CGJ
Sent: Wednesday, September 8, 2021 2:06 PM
To: cider-w...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [Cider Workshop] Re: Apple storage (Prior to pressing)

 

For those of you using these various bulk methods (bins, boxes, bags),

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