Make Your Own Homemade Cider
Why not have some fun making your own homemade cider with our quick and easy step-by-step guide. It’s the perfect way to make the most of your bumper apple and pear harvests.
Making your own is as easy as apple pie (excuse the pun!). We had lots of fun making cider with our founder, John M. After a huge harvest of apples they were all crushed, pressed and made into some fabulous cider. Our Gardening Angels were queuing up for refills!
Step 1: Harvesting |
Step 2: Preparing Your Fruit
There’s no need to worry about bruises which put you off eating them fresh, but it is a good idea to remove any discard fruit from your harvest.
Give your apples and pears a good wash to remove any soil, dirt or slime – you don’t want any of this going in your delicious cider!
Next slice your fruit into quarters.
Step 3: Crush & Pulp |
Step 4: Pressing Your Fruit
If you own a juicer you can skip this step and make light work of juicing apples and pears. Simply wiz your fruit through the juicer and collect.
Building your own fruit press is an option with several extensive guides available online. However, if you’d rather skip the DIY task we have a great selection of fruit presses we think you’ll love.
A Worktop Fruit Press is ideal for pressing smaller amounts of crushed fruit, producing up to three pints of juice. They’re even small and light enough to be used on a table or worktop.
Add a Straining Bag, drop your fruit into your press and turn the handle. The juice will go straight into a tray which includes an outlet tube so you can easily transfer the juice into a container.
If you’re pressing larger amounts of fruit then try a 9 Litre Fruit Press or 12 Litre Fruit Press - these bigger presses make light work of large amounts of fruit.
Turn the press down onto the fruit until you feel real tension, and leave in this position for a few minutes. You will see the juice start to run. When the juice stops, go ahead and repeat the process.
In order to keep things healthy you should add a campden tablet for every 4.5 litres of fruit pressed. Campden tablets are a sulfur-based product that is used primarily in wine, cider and beer making to kill bacteria and to inhibit the growth of most wild yeast. Place one at the bottom of the container you are collecting your juice in. You can use a bucket, but make sure it is sterilised.
Step 5: Adjust The Taste |
Step 6: Fermentation
Once you have collected all your juice it’s time to move it into a container for the fermentation process. We recommend using a demijohn (a large glass bottle with a narrow neck used for brewing). Leave it with the lid loosely off for about 10 – 14 days to ferment. The ideal temperature for this is about between 20-27°C. The natural yeast in the air means you will have a frothing mixture, which will eventually slow down, meaning your cider is ready.
Top Tips |
Need further help?
Our Gardening Angels are here to help you grow strong, healthy plants with bumper harvests. Please do not hesitate to get in touch with any questions on 0845 602 3774 or drop us an email at info@greenhousesensation.co.uk. We’re always here to help!