Our Juicing Service


Just what do you do with all of those excess apples that your tree produces? There only so many pies to make, and so little freezer room. Why not have them turned into your very own juice? We also do pears, please ask us for more details.


As a rough guide, we would need at least 4 supermarket-sized boxes of fruit to have enough to press. This is a guide only to the minimum; you can bring more if you have it! We ask for a minimum as we have a big press and tanks etc. Any less and the machinery can't operate properly.


Please bring your apples in a strong container or box, as your juice bottles will be returned to you in the same box and will be very heavy! We use 750ml glass bottles (wine bottle size).


We do not add all of our customers apples to one tank and give you back a percentage of the juice; we guarantee that you will receive your own apples back as your own unique juice, with no added sugar or water.


A mixture of eating and cooking apples are perfectly fine to juice together and will often produce a lovely blend. All apples should be clean, sound with no rot or bruising. The odd lump, bump or discolouration is fine, as is scab or scarfing on the skin. Mis-shaped or small apples are perfect to juice too, they don't have to look good to press, but must be whole with no rot on them.


Any sound windfalls could be accepted, providing that they are washed and kept in a separate container. These must not be raked up from the floor and should not be bruised.

 

We can’t work magic with substandard fruit- if you can’t eat it, we can’t juice it!



Please note that this service is seasonal and only available from mid August until the end of November. 


All apples must be booked in prior to drop off.


So what actually happens to make juice?

Firstly, all of the apples have a nice relaxing bath! Seriously, the apples are washed and inspected for quality. Each apple is checked for any signs of damage and anything which does not make the grade is discarded. 

We are particularly careful not to add any rotten or mouldy apples into the mix as this can cause the mycotoxin patulin to be introduced to the juice. We hand check each batch prior to and during washing to ensure that we produce the best juice that we can. 
Now what?

Imagine trying to squeeze an apple in the palms of your hands- unless you are very strong, you probably wont get very far!

In order to yield any juice from the apples, they must first be broken down into small pieces, this allows the juice to flow out though the cell walls. In olden times, apples were beaten with large sticks or logs to break them down. Thankfully nowadays we have a more reliable and sophisticated method! 

Our apples are crushed in a mill, a bit like a giant food processor. The incredibly sharp blades wiz the apples into tiny pulped pieces which are now ready for pressing.

What happens to the pulped apples?

The pulp is spread onto strong cloths and built up into layers which are sandwiched between slatted wooden boards. This is known as a cheese. 

The slats allow the juice to run freely into the drainage tray, from where it is collected into a tank where a tiny bit of ascorbic acid- vitamin C- is added. This helps to prevent the discolouration of the juice and does not affect its flavour at all. 
What's next?

The juice now goes into large tanks where it sits overnight to allow the yeasts to settle to the bottom of the tank. The following day it is carefully pumped into a holding tank, avoiding any yeasty dregs from the bottom of the tank. 

Then the juice is bottled and pasteurised to keep it clear of any microbial bacteria which could cause the juice to spoil. The juice is pasteurised at a temperature of 72 degrees Celsius, which is far hotter than the bath that the apples had at the beginning of the process! 

The juice is allowed to cool naturally, then it is ready to drink.

As a rough guide, there are approximately 15 dessert apples in every 750ml bottle of juice.

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