![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/ClaireWolfe\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ApplePressing-01_Gina_102912-450x337.jpg\" "\\"ApplePressing-01_Gina_102912\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nFirst the apples were washed, either in a dilute bleach bath or a vinegar bath (for those who didn’t like the idea of bleach on their apples). Then into the grinder and the press.<\/p>\n
The juice went into buckets. The pulp was caught in cheesecloth and taken to the host family’s animals.<\/p>\n The juice …<\/p>\n … is incredible. And I’m not just saying that because it has my very own backyard apples in it.<\/p>\n My apples are tart, so furrydoc found another attendee who brought super-sweet golden delicious and they mixed them. The juice is slightly more tart than I’ve ever had — which to my mind is just right. And oh heavens, the burst of pure apple flavor! It’s like no juice I’ve had before.<\/p>\n Furrydoc brought home about three gallons (not all from these apples, but people brought so many apples that many didn’t want to take home all the juice). I had asked only for a quart, partly because I’m not normally a fan of juice and partly because furrydoc has voracious teenage apple-devouring machines at home who need more of everything than I do. She ended up offering me a full gallon. I took two quarts. But now I’m looking at the 50 or so pounds of apples I’ve stashed in the basement and wondering whether there’s apple pressing in their future.<\/p>\n —–<\/p>\n So far from this tree …<\/b><\/p>\n * Furrydoc and I have both dehydrated batches of apples<\/p>\n * I made Ellendra’s Fan-d@mntastic Apple Crumble<\/a> (mmmmmmm)<\/p>\n * I made and froze apple-apricot chutney<\/p>\n * I canned seven pints of tomato-apple chutney (recipe courtesy of furrydoc and her husband)<\/p>\n * As soon as my magical Norpro Apple Mate 3<\/a> arrives from Amazon, I’ll make curried apple chutney, too. (Yes, when the zombie apocalypse arrives, I’ll be well supplied with chutney.) I borrowed that model of peeler-corer-slicer from — who else? — furrydoc and quickly discovered it’s essential equipment for processing a lot of apples.<\/p>\n * Today, using a bit of that fresh juice, I’m going to mix up some of Pat’s Apple Barbecue Sauce<\/a>. I’ll substitute Mae Ploy Thai sweet chili sauce (known around the Desert Hermitage as “crack sauce” for its addictive properties) for the regular chili sauce and see how that goes.<\/p>\n There’ll be at least one more baking of that scrumptious apple crumble. Probably at Thanksgiving. And well … after that there are still three boxes of washed, wrapped, carefully stashed apples down in the basement. I’ve put this Victorio Food Strainer and Sauce Maker<\/a> on my Amazon wish list & we’ll see how the winter goes. <\/p>\n So far, so very, very good. And there are still more apples falling from the top of the tree. All I have to do is get them before Nadja does. Unfortunately, she’s fast.<\/p>\n Thanks once again, guys, for all your sage advice about apples and apple trees. This is delicious fun.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Community cider pressing pot-luck last weekend! I wasn’t there, but furrydoc took along a box of apples from my tree and took these pictures: First the apples were washed, either in a dilute bleach bath or a vinegar bath (for those who didn’t like the idea of bleach on their apples). Then into the grinder and the press. The juice went into buckets. The pulp was caught in cheesecloth and taken to the host family’s animals. The juice … … is incredible. And I’m not just saying that because it has my very own backyard apples in it. My apples…<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/ClaireWolfe\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ApplePressing-05_Gina_1029121-450x600.jpg\" "\\"ApplePressing-05_Gina_102912\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/ClaireWolfe\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ApplePressing-04_Gina_102912-450x337.jpg\" "\\"ApplePressing-04_Gina_102912\\"")
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