Apple pressing

I've been away from my blog much longer than intended. I've been busy writing my journal and that is finished now, so hopefully, I can be back here on a more regular basis. One thing we did recently which I wanted to write about was this apple pressing day at The Kings Arms, Polebrook, a local pub. We had so many eating apples from our tree, and they taste amazing but they don't keep. We really didn't want to waste them this year as it just seems so wrong. So, we took them along to this community apple pressing day. It was one of the last really warm days.

Lots of people arrived with apples. We pooled them and set to the task of juicing them. First, they had to be washed. 

Then the apples need to be roughly chopped and put into a 'mincer' to break them down before they're pressed. They come out broken down and mushed up.

You have to chop fast to keep up!

Into the mushing machine. Husband enjoyed this part!

These two were operating the apple press. It's an old one, but it did the job perfectly. The juice trickles out in a steady stream.

Ready to be decanted into the bottles we'd brought with us. It's not an appetising colour, but the taste is simply amazing. Sharp and tangy. We had about 10 litres to bring back. We drank some, gave some away, and popped a couple of bottles in the freezer to be mulled in the winter. Some people were planning to make cider with theirs. 

After all that hard work, we settled down to some butchers sausages, chips and apple sauerkraut  at the pub. Just rewards...