THE CIDER MILL
Old cider mill - Our old cider mill
The new mill (2009), (on the front of my shop, can't quit the day job)
We opened our cider mill in 2009. As you can see, the addition is not a large structure, but one suited to the size of our orchard (5 acres). Since we are a small operation we do not need a lot of space for specialized equipment; just some basins and sinks, our grinder, water powered press, bushels of apples, and a couple of refrigerators. Juice production on a human scale. And it is all solar powered.
We operate our mill as a retail level mill, no wholesaling. This means that we can sell REAL APPLE CIDER, unpasteurized, no preservatives, no additives, no ultra-violet processing (raw). Just wonderful pure fresh squeezed juice using only tree picked fruit.
The food police have convinced many that consuming raw (milk, cider, etc) foods can and will cause serious illness. According to the government the only foods that are good for you are the ones that have been processed and sterilized in some way. There is more and more evidence that the tampering that we do to our food not only can reduce the nutritional value, but also that some of the processes and additives used are actually harmful to our health. Raw foods must be handled with care, though, and the fewer steps between producer and consumer, the better in terms of food safety for such foods.
Of course if we don't "treat" it with something it means we have to put the "you are doomed if you consume this" label on our bottles. That shouldn't stop people from enjoying what apple cider should really taste like, in all of its pro-biotic glory.
We press cider at least every weekend during the apple season. Since we will not need to process a whole lot of cider at this point, the press may or may not be running during business hours on a given weekend; but you are still welcome to check out our operation.
We offer our organic, fresh sweet cider in half gallons. Prices are at the bottom of our home page.
Cheers
The grinder.
Turns the apples into a nice chunky apple sauce. Made in the USA by OESCO in Conway MA.
The press
The press is a “water” press, made by Lancman and imported from Europe by OESCO in Conway Ma.
It uses regular household water pressure to fill a rubber water bladder in the center of the stainless cylinder that presses the crushed apples (pomace) against the outside of the cylinder. And then the cider runs out, turning it into a big fountain.