Making Homemade Apple Cider
Making cider is a great way to celebrate fall—and that pure, fresh apple cider taste is like nothing you’ve ever tasted from a grocery store. If you have the right tools, it’s simple to do and lots of fun! Check out our DIY tutorial on how to make apple cider by hand.
In colonial days, many farmers and families owned a barreled cider press (and in those days, the cider was often left to ferment and become an alcoholic “hard” cider). Today, the “old-fashioned” cider press is becoming more popular again, perhaps because more people are planting fruit trees and becoming more interested in homesteading.
The difference between the taste of homemade, unfiltered apple cider and that of pasteurized, filtered grocery store cider is indescribable. They barely resemble each other.
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The taste of homemade cider pops in your mouth—pure, fresh, and flavor-packed! Plus, you can use all those less-than-perfect apple drops from the ground, so it’s also a big saving from the price of store cider.
To make your own apple cider, you’ll need a few key tools. First, you’ll need a cider press. You can purchase one online or at a local farm supply store. You’ll also need a large container to catch the juice, such as a food-grade plastic bucket or a stainless steel pot. Additionally, you’ll need a strainer or cheesecloth to remove any pulp or solids from the juice.
Once you have your tools, it’s time to start making cider. You can use any type of apple, but some varieties are better suited for cider-making than others. Look for sweet, tart, and juicy apples, such as Honeycrisp, Granny Smith, or Jonathan.
Whether you drink it fresh or let it ferment, homemade apple cider is a delicious and satisfying way to celebrate the fall season. So grab your cider press, and let’s get started!
The Apple Press
An apple press makes the whole process fun and simple. The press essentially grinds the apples into a pulp and then presses the juices out. Once you get going, the liquid gold keeps flowing. You go from press to glass in 30 seconds!
There are many kinds of presses, from a very simple hand press to the traditional cider press with a grinder. You can often even rent an apple press. Then, you only need the apples and a few supplies (cutting boards, knives, and empty pitchers). Take turns with the press—and you’re in cider heaven!
How to Press Apple Cider
- Start with a wheelbarrow of apple drops (fallen apples). You need a good amount of apples to make cider. Approximately 30 to 40 apples will yield one gallon of cider.
- The apples need to be as ripe as possible. It’s OK to use less-than-perfect apples on the ground at any orchard or old apple farm. Discard any rotten ones, though. Spoiled or rotten apples cause the juice to ferment too rapidly. (You know they say… one bad apple ruins the bunch!)
- Blast the apples with a hose to wash them off.
- Now you need to grind up the apples. Some presses come up a grinder. Feed the apples into the hopper.
- Turn a cast iron wheel to grind the apples. The wheel is attached to the grinding shaft, which quickly and easily chops up the apples.
- The apples fall into the tub below. A big press screw is flowered onto a wooden pressing plate.
- Turn the pressing plate down on the pulp to free up the apple juices, which flow into a container below the press.
- Once all the juices are pressed out, empty the leftover pulp into a bin. Then, grind up more apples and press again!
- The juice quickly oxidizes into a rich amber color. Some apple “froth” forms on the top, which can be skimmed off.
- Finally, pour the cider into jugs and drink! Amazing sweet, fresh as a whistle, and crazy delicious! (Watch out for any drunken bees who ended up in the jug!)
* If you are concerned about pasteurization before drinking, just heat the cider to 160 degrees Fahrenheit for about 6 to 8 seconds. After pasteurization, cider can be frozen for longer storage.
Add some cider donuts, and you’re in heaven… or, for a special treat, make some mulled apple cider.
Cider pressing is a great occasion for friends and family to get together on a fall day. The kids—of all ages—will have a blast cranking the press. If you have the inclination, find (or make) a cider press and throw your own autumn harvest party next year!
Are you looking for more great ways to utilize your apple harvest? Be sure to check out our favorite apple recipes.
Anyone else a cider fan? Or, own a cider press? Have any questions or comments? Just post below.
Catherine Boeckmann
Hi, Jessica. Apple juice undergoes filtration to remove pulp, so what you have coming of your press is considered cider. So glad you enjoyed the information! Thanks for letting us know.
We just started pressing apples from our 6 trees. We started in early October. Last weekend November 2 we tried to press some more but got 1/4th the yield. Do apples dry out late in the season? What is the preferred pressing season?
Also we have goats and I am wondering if we can feed them the residual pressed apples or will the seeds hurt them.
Thank you for the help.
Hey there, we have been pressing our orchard apples and there have been swarms of bees. It’s impossible to figure out where on our land they are coming from. Any recos or strategies for keeping them at bay?
Of course, the bees are important for pollination. However, once the flowers are gone (containing nectar and pollen for food), bees will look for any sugars or sweet substances such as the apple cider!
If it’s truly a swarm, you have a hive nearby. The hive might be overcrowded which produces swarming. Or, the bee hive is sub-dividing and you’ll see a lot of bees for a day or two while they look for a new home. They’re not generally aggressive.
To reduce swarms in orchards, it’s important to pick up damaged, dropped, or overripe fruit.This fruit should be collected regularly and discarded.
Finally, when you press cider, there’s always going to be some bees! Just watch out for them in the collected cider and don’t swallow any!
My husband and I have pressed cider as a social thing in Vermont for over 10 years. We've moved south now and Have continued the tradition; however, the mix of apples we used were all too sweet--hence the cider is too sweet for our taste. Do you know how we can dilute this (other than water) to make it more tart? Everything I see on the internet speaks of fermentation when making hard cider. We just wan regular cider to drink. Thank you
I'd suggest going by a brewing store and picking up something to perk up the acidity of your apple cider. I'd start with malic acid since that's the acid most prevalent in apples as far as I know, but you could experiment with tartaric and citric acids to get just the right taste. These three acids should be available at any store for winemaking or you could order from a brew site like morewine or amazon. Just plain "acid blend" would be better than nothing, I don't use it in my wines and meads very often but I have used it to perk up the odd jam or jelly that just tasted too sweet (since the sugar is important for the set, you can't just add less, you pretty much HAVE to balance it with acid). Or toss a handful of Granny Smith, craapples or some other kind of tart apple into the mix, maybe some that aren't at peak ripeness yet? Or even toss a lemon in (experiment, you might find you like the bitterness from the pith or you might find just some lemon juice is enough).
We just used one type of apple out of convenience and it turned out beautifully. However, a great cider often has a mix of apples that are both tart and sweet varieties. You do NOT want to just add water as that will make the cider less sweet, but also thinner or more watery tasting. We’d suggest you top of the cider with pure apple juice. Just take a sample first and test it out to see if you like the taste. Also, if you happened to heat your cider to kill bacteria or put yeast in it, that also adds to the sweetness so you’d definitely need some tarter apples in the future. Just avoid too much tartness or it will be quite acidic.
I grew up less than a mile from Elbridge Gerry's Cider Mill in Lynnfield, Mass. We used to go there and fill our glass from the wooden sluice from the press. I believe the stems and the occasional wasp gave it a character not to be found in commercial Cider today.
I was blessed with knowing a gentleman of big and kind heart who loved to talk and visit. We shared gardening ideas and how to care for fruit trees and garden tom's. Before he passed, he knew I made jams and jellies and made lots of apple juice in the kitchen. He said, "I have something I want you to have, cause I know you will take care of it and use it; I don't want it to go on the auction block and be sold to someone that will not take care of it, and my children won't ever use it." His kids are adults. :) He pulled out this big thing wrapped in plastic, and it was his apple press; so honored was I. I have used it and in my research to make cider, I used the internet and found that most of the East Coast apple growers, say NOT to use the apples on the ground if you wish to make cider, cause the enzymes in a wasp that is transferred in to the apple will react on the cider and turn it into vinegar....? So I use right off the tree apples and have had great success.
What an honor, indeed. Thanks for sharing this memory—and so eloquently.
According to experts, it is fine to harvest apples off the ground. This is the practice with many farms.
Apples on a tree are just as vulnerable to wasps as apples on the ground and there are many more vectors of acetobacter than wasps.
