Bladder press questions

[John Nichols]

I currently use a DIY rack and cloth press, but it is very slow going making the (small) cheeses and having to do several rounds of pressing.

I was thinking of getting a 40L bladder press. Can anyone speak to the minimum and maximum amounts (apples by weight) that can be pressed at a time in this size of press?

I'm usually only doing about 60-100 lbs of apples a year - but hopefully more in the future when some younger trees come into bearing. 

Thanks,

John

[will g.]

Hi John,

Perhaps you could build a larger rack and cloth press. Mine fits 4-5 bushels at a time and can complete a pressing in an hour.

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[Stephen Laverack]

A 20 litre bladder press would be sufficient for your needs. I have been making up to one thousand litres of cider with a 20 litre bladder press, every year, on my own. I admit it gets a little tedious and have just upgraded my equipment for this season.

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[Ray Magness]

Hi John,

Where are you based?

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[John Nichols]

I am in central New York, well my apple trees are. I am out of the state most of the time and have to collect/grind/press on relatively short visits with my family - So I'm looking to reduce the amount time/effort involved. 

Stephen, do you have any idea how many liters of juice you get out of one pressing? Or how many kg of apples you fit in one pressing? 

Will, definitely something to consider. Is that a diy setup? got any pictures of it?

[will g.]

I built my press with the help of the design equations presented in Claude’s book which was very helpful. If I recall correctly, it is sized between the “medium” and the “large” press. I’m a woodworker so I used some local hardwood available to me, but have no doubt that simpler and cheaper materials would do the trick. I’ve also seen some interesting designs with sheet metal and steel rectangular pipe.

Photo of mine attached.

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[Claude Jolicoeur]

Wow! very nice! I like the red and blue feet...

[Duncan Hewitt]

I've got a 40 litre bladder press and easily get around 20 litres in one press. Working backwards, that's around 40 kg of apples per pressing. I wouldn't press less than 10 kg personally - it sounds like the 20 litre press might meet your current needs, but it depends on how far you want to go in the future. I fill 60 litre Speidel fermenting bins, so three pressings fill one. I can easily fill two in a day including washing the kit down, so six or seven pressings. It sounds like you'd do anything in your current range within one press using a 40 litre.

Cheers,

Duncan

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[CGJ]

John,

Just to throw some more numbers into the collective pot, I built a rack
and cloth press per Claude's book, a bit larger than his smaller size. I
load it with about 45 lbs of pomace (produced using a purpose-bought
sink garbage disposal) and can easily get yields above 75 % (w/w) and
have records indicating as much as 84% if allowed to sit overnight under
pressure. Even if I purchase fruit, I'm still only doing a few presses
each season, so I can easily trade hrs of press time for better efficiency.

Carl Johnson
West Barnstable,
Massachusetts

[Charles Claus]

My wife and I have an 80 L  Bladder press. We like it a lot. Works great - easy to clean. 

We bought both our grinder and Press through Oesco in Mass. USA.

Charles Claus 

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[John Nichols]

Thanks everyone, this has been very helpful. I hadn't looked at Claude's book in a while and was impressed with all the detail in the press designs (which I clearly glossed over when quickly putting together my current press that is just too small). For now I will rework the rack and cloth so it is larger, and probably go with the bladder press when I have more fruit to process.

[Courtney Meier]

Hi John - For what it's worth, and as someone who also likes to work with wood, I built a press 6 years ago that was modeled off the design Claude published:

https://groups.google.com/g/cider-workshop/c/S4YJSwWnDTU/m/WddNKiBpAwAJ

I believe it will press about 3 bushels at a time, and I've been happy with it even though it is likely not quite as efficient as a bladder press. I've been routinely getting 60% to 75% efficiency, depending on the apple.

Hope that helps!

Cheers,

Courtney

[hammerstone]

Hi John, i'm a little late to the party, but have been using a 40 liter bladder press for about 8 years.  In the past, i've used a Happy Valley Ranch single tub with manual crusher, a HV double tub with motor driven crusher, a GoodNature juice press (hydraulic press and motorized crusher), and now use a Spiedel 220V single phase crusher and a 40L bladder press (not sure who made the bladder press as i purchased it used).  

We typically do about 2-300 gallons per year over 2-3 weekends, depending on how many interested participants and how many apples.  Our typical input/output is this:

~5 cf of rinsed apples; I use those plastic rectangular milk crates (12" x 18" wide x 10" deep on the interior = 1.25 cf = 1 bushel)

Rinse the apples in the crates, then drain for a minute or two and then put into the Spiedel crusher which empties into 5 gallon buckets

The 5 gallon buckets go into the 40L bladder press.  It takes about 5 buckets of crush to fill the bladder press.

One press gives 10-12 gallons, so we get about 2-2.5 gallons per bushel.

Operationally, we have 1-2 people pulling apples from the truck bed and washing, then one person loading the crusher, 2 people manning the press, and 1-2 "runners" filling carboys, emptying pressed cake, cleaning, etc.  With 6 people we can turn the press on average 4 times per hour (have gotten 5/hr see below).  It generally takes an hour to get everything set up, and we press for

We do have good water pressure, sufficient to activate the ~45 psi relief valve on the press.  We typically run until the relief valve blows, turn off the water supply and wait 2-3 minutes, then reapply pressure.  This doesn't significantly increase yield so sometimes we just skip that 2nd step.

We sometimes take the pressings from the bladder press and put it in the tub screw press or the GoodNature hydraulic press and get another 1/2 gallon or so of juice, but again not clear it is worth the effort.

Last year we added rice hulls and did not see a significant improvement.

Typically you need 2 people operating the bladder press; 

    One person pours, one person "guides" when using 5 gallon buckets

    we typically use a strainer over the juice bucket as pouring invariably gets some of the must into the juice tray surrounding the screen

    at least once per hour someone forgets to put a juice bucket under the press after it is emptied and ready for the next pressing

    someone needs to be ready to turn off the water supply when the bladder reaches 45 psi

    we typically try to drain all the water out of the bladder before refilling, and open the bleed screw to facilitate this; allows for the maximum amount of must to be loaded.  I've never tried to see if the yield can increase by starting with a partially full bladder.

    someone has to close the bleed screw as soon as water starts coming out.

    we don't recycle water, as we drain it onto a treed area and the trees typically need some "fall watering" anyway.

    

I am luck to have a 3/4 acre lot that facilitates this operation; must can be dumped in the back yard, water drains to an ash and pine trees, etc.

The hardest part about the bladder press in my opinion is removing the bag/pressed must/screen and emptying it.  This takes 2 people, and it has to be lifted all the way above the bladder.  We then tip it carefully into a wheelbarrow, and then knock the must/bag loose from the screen.  if the must/bag separates from the screen during the lifting process it makes a big mess.

I find that we get lots of wasps if we don't keep things clean around the operation, so this takes a bit of effort.

I've attached a picture of our setup if you're interested.  

[hammerstone]

whoops, i think i've got a mistake in my description above, mine is probably an 80L bladder press.  Unfortunately it is stored 50 miles away or i'd go get some measurements and confirm, but my basket is definitely larger than the 13" diameter dimension i see online for several 40l presses.  sorry about that!

[John Nichols]

Thanks, appreciate all the details. I'll  be well informed when the time comes to make an upgrade. 

[Charles Claus]

Hi there,

Presses frequently get more attention than grinders yet getting pulp that works well and releases juice is key. In my opinion grinders are frequently not given the attention they deserve. 

Charles Claus, Terrace BC

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