DIY Apple Cider Press | How to make your own Apple Cider

A fun project to turn a bunch of apples into some delicious cider for a relatively low cost assuming you already have a hydraulic jack for your vehicle.
Materials Needed:
2X6 Boards (Four 3' boards and Four 2' boards)
• Hydraulic CAR JACK
• 5-GALLON BUCKET (ideally food grade safe)
• CIRCULAR SHAPED WOOD DISK. SAME CIRCUMFERENCE AS BUCKET BASE (USED AS THE PRESS)
• DRILL with some various bits
• 4 LONG BOLTS. 4X NUTS. 8X WASHERS
• CHEESE CLOTH
• JIG SAW OR BAND SAW
• WRENCHES
• OLD METAL BAKING tray
Let me know in the comments if you have any questions or advice for improving this design.

[@jasonparrish8201]

Wider washers and more clamping force will carry more load before breaking

[@drewmurray7102]

Brilliant, we grow boysenberries and juicing the seconds is time consuming and tedious. You have just solved the process ☺️

[@ZeeJay933]

This is really cool!

[@Raykenn1]

Great video, thanks for posting 👍

[@yesihavereadit]

Nice simple press

[@mistyaalto6886]

Thanks for sharing your instructions!

[@JacksonBaumgartOutdoors]

Glad it was helpful!

[@alanlvr36]

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!! This is fantastic! I can't wait to do this!!

[@JacksonBaumgartOutdoors]

Let me know how it goes!

[@carlmorrissey7196]

Thanks for making this video !

[@JacksonBaumgartOutdoors]

You’re welcome hope it helps if you try to build one

[@timstricker7850]

Good video thanks for sharing

[@yernie1]

I always have a bunch of extra apples. I'll be trying this out to make cider and wine. Thanks!

[@JacksonBaumgartOutdoors]

You bet hope it works for you!

[@user-zu9zk2zt4t]

I think your pine would work. Try cutting your uprights about six inches longer and add two bolts on each upright over the top of your top cross piece. Then you would have the grain of the wood working for you rather then against you.

[@JacksonBaumgartOutdoors]

Good point.

[@corybuckles8492]

Gluing those face joints would also distribute the force and eliminate the splitting. As long as you aren't concentrating all that force between grain lines, that lumber should hold.

[@withoutprejudice8301]

The jack is a mechanical screw jack, not a hydraulic. Really want to shred apples use a garbage disposal. 90% shade cloth works good as a straining material.

[@conor1000murphy]

Do you need a pick-up truck to mount the press on? Coz i don't have one and they're really expensive. Was thinking of using a table, do you think that will work?

[@JacksonBaumgartOutdoors]

Lol yes you can elevate it on anything.

[@sarasweetly]

Absoultely not. It's a big investment, but cider just doesn't taste right unless you make it on the back of a pickup truck. If it's a diesel truck, that's even better.

[@kahwigulum]

if want even more juice from the same volume of fruit, go to the brewery store or sometimes health food stores, and buy pectin enzyme. it's not the same as canning pectin. You want pectin enzyme. use the drill to bust up the fruit, mix in the enzyme, and leave in your fridge over night. this is called cold maceration and is a common trick winemakers use to get the most out of their fruit. most of the juice is stored in the skin and the pectin enzyme will break down the celluloid walls of the cells and release that fluid. then when you press the fruit, you can get double-digit percentage increases in juice. some say it increases the flavor as well but apples are already delicious.

[@JacksonBaumgartOutdoors]

Good to know! Thanks.

[@manasmehra2148]

Great sir g What is then 😮

[@teropiispala2576]

Nice. I was designing my own and I was going to make it from 2mm thick stainless pipe and was wondering if it's strong enough. Most likely is because the bucket was holding so well. Seems that major part of the force is directed to the bottom. I was thinking if I could avoid grinding and just use stronger jack but maybe that's not good idea.

[@JacksonBaumgartOutdoors]

If you don’t grind them what works really well is freezing them first cause they are softer when you thaw them

[@teropiispala2576]

@@JacksonBaumgartOutdoors I try to avoid that. I don’t have enough room to freeze them and I try to make process as simple as possible. I made sturdy press from steel because I have other use for it. I made a test press with apples I bought from store. I pressed them as whole and got a bit over 1l of juice from 1.5kg of apples. I could have got propably even more but apples started to squeeze between the pipe and my oak pressing plate. I tried with and without filtering sack, but both failed about the same time. The problem is that stainless pipes are not exactly round and with higher pressing pressures, apples seem to go through less than 1mm gap. I’ll make couple of more tests an try to solve the problem. I may try a plastic bucket with a concrete and rebars to get tighter fit, or more traditional wood and rims. The taste of the juice didn’t change much towards the end, which is a good sign. Brute force seems to work well in this. I used 12t jack and used maybe half of the power before leaks appeared.

[@JacksonBaumgartOutdoors]

@@teropiispala2576 yea give it a try.

[@teropiispala2576]

@@JacksonBaumgartOutdoors seems to be that apples like to come out as a mist from smallest of holes just about same pressure where juice leave from chunks. I'm not giving up yet, since I have a next idea. I make a top and bottom lid on my steel tube and seal them with o-rings. Then I make a piston from another stainless pipe, which is slightly smaller than the bigger tube, like 270mm and 230mm. I weld a bottom on the piston and fill it with concrete to make it solid. Then I can straighten with my lathe. It'll seal on the top lid with o-ring. I put fine stainless mesh on the outer tube walls. This has several benefits in addition of superior tightness. It don't pack apple mush under the piston but keeps it on move as it squeeze on the sides. This hopefully keeps channels open for a juice to flow. Also, surface area where juice flows out keeps constant and relatively larger and thickness of juice layer smaller. If that won't work, I give up and grind my apples.

[@TheJLMomma]

This is so great! Not sure I’ll get a reply as I’m super late to the party! But what did you attach to your drill to chop the apples? Thank you!

[@JacksonBaumgartOutdoors]

It was like a couple pieces of metal framing. Freezing the apples first helped a lot

[@TheJLMomma]

@@JacksonBaumgartOutdoors thank you so much!

[@rpmwa]

That is not a hydraulic jack but a screw jack so there is no worry about hydraulic oil. Could be some lube oil but not much. If you use a hydraulic jack you should watch for leaks.

[@yesihavereadit]

Just an idea don't drill holes in cross piece, just put it under the two bolts

[@JacksonBaumgartOutdoors]

True that would maybe make it stronger you think?

[@bamch7751]

Interesting video! Is your apple cider any different than pure apple juice?

[@JacksonBaumgartOutdoors]

Tastes just like the cider I’ve got at the store.

[@HNRY2370]

In America cider is apple juice

[@JoLee-eq5bt]

Entweder hast DU keinen Geschmacksinn oder ICH liege falsch....Saft aus dem laden ist immer null acht Fünfzehn....mix dir deinen Smoothie nach deinem Geschmack! mit den Früchten die DU magst...auch bei apfelwein kannst du noch andere geschmäcker einfügen....Birne, Qitte,Kirsche,banane? alles ausprobieren..

[@gladtidings4all]

Why instead of a small container to collect the juice on the ground why not put another clean bucket to collect the juice.

[@JacksonBaumgartOutdoors]

You could definitely put any container you want to capture it. A bucket would work

[@dmitrybucklin3149]

How did you make your apple shredder?

[@JacksonBaumgartOutdoors]

Used some metal on a bolt for my drill attachment. I found it wasn't really powerful enough unless I froze the apples first.

[@joshuabouma3114]

About how many lbs of apples per gallon were you getting.

[@JacksonBaumgartOutdoors]

I honestly wouldn’t know. Didn’t weight or pay attention to those details sorry.

[@tracythorsell2959]

Are food grade buckets necessary?

[@JacksonBaumgartOutdoors]

Probably not honestly. I just figured it’s worth the extra 5 bucks for the peace of mind

[@kahwigulum]

@@JacksonBaumgartOutdoors probably yea though because you're mixing in the bucket with sharpened metal. regular buckets you get from the home depot or wherever use cheaper plastic and the metal attachement youve fashioned is very likely scraping the sides and cutting away plastic which gets into the juice. food grade is a lot more durable and less likely to introduce plastic waste into your final product (though it still will if you let the metal hit the walls, no plastic bucket is perfect).

[@ralphhardie7492]

Poison from the hydraulic fluid... Be careful 😉

[@TheTubejunky]

Not to mention his all thread metal alloy that is clearly not FOOD GRADE SAFE.

[@rezasadein28]

[@user-gn8el6gu2r]

Забавно, ссверху, где максимальное давление одна доска, а с низу три-всё наоборот =)) хотя-бы две с верху, по одной вертикально

[@JacksonBaumgartOutdoors]

True probably could have more boards on top

[@TheTrtrapper]

Wrap your apple pumis in cheese cloth

[@JacksonBaumgartOutdoors]

I used a similar type of bag, but cheesecloth is a good idea in the future.

[@Nezello]

Who is Rachel your sister?

[@JacksonBaumgartOutdoors]

Wife 💍

[@az55544]

Why is that any of your business, creep?

[@snowbind]

Cider is fermented apple juice. This is just juice.

[@MrMadmalable]

That’s apple juice, I,m sure it has to be fermented to make cider, or I may be wrong.

[@KrisDouglas]

Americans call apple juice cider for some insane reason

[@dougaustin1328]

That is a screw jack,not hydrolic,is still ok,no leaky seals to deal with