Making cider at home

By Mélina Salaün

When I was little, I watched my father making cider - it was a family tradition. So, last year we got started ourselves, and after a little hesitation, making our own home made cider seemed much easier that writing this ""step by step"" guide.
If you are tempted, don´t hesitate!
It all starts with apple juice. Each family has its own secret recipe, but to make balanced cider you will need sweet apples, tart apples and cooking apples, the ones that take the water out of your mouth when you bite into them. We usually use table apples instead of sweet apples, using the ""Fil jaunes"" variety.
Once you have gathered your apples and brought them home, separate apples that are damaged and put the rest in a pile somewhere sheltered to perfect the ripening. After three, four, five or six weeks, you will notice the sweet smell of ripe apples and you will know that the time has come. Choose a fine day (no rain) to get to work and take out your vats, the press and your grater or grinder.

1st step: washing and grinding the apples
Whether you use a grinder or, like me, a grater for your apples, the first thing to do is to wash them and to sort them to remove any that are rotten. Grinding is essential to optimise that quality of the juice gathered during pressing, but your ground apples should not become oxidised or the juice will be bitter.(We put them in sealed basins).

2nd step: pressing
Place the ground apples in layers that are 6 - 8 cm, cover them with a mat and continue in alternate layers to the top of the press. Once full, add the lid and the wedges before pressing. You presss twice: remove the marc from the press, then press again for more juice. You can filter it if you like, depending on your habits and the amount, and put the fresh apple juice into a fermenting vat. In this photo, the lid is closed because we are outdoors…

3rd step: fermentation
Wait for between 4 to 10 days depending on the temperature, for the brown layer to form. Mine did not form, but my father says that it is not always necessary. Don´t panic. You will see that there are small, slightly viscous bubbles that form.
When there is no longer any sign of activity, you can siphon.

4th stage: the siphoning
When you siphon (between the top layer, if it has formed, and the bottom where the impurities have fallen), you remove the clear juice that you will pass through a barrel. There should not be any air between the cover of the barrel and the juice. Put the bubbler in place by putting water into it to manage the exchange of gases and avoid contamination. If you don´t have enough cider, add some water. Now keep watch: every day or two days - three for the least curious, taste and watch…
You can siphon off a second time after an interval of several weeks if necessary or siphon a second time to slow down the fermentation and get sweet cider.

Last stage: bottling
After 9 to 12 weeks, when the cider has calmed down, you can finally bottle it. Simply pour the liquid along the inside wall of the bottle. In a few weeks, it will have finished fermenting and you will have cider that is worthy of the name! Leave 2 to 3 cm between the cork and the liquid. Do not fill bottles to the top as the pressure will make the corks pop out.

Now, we made 37 bottles that are each 0.75 litres. It seems little when compared to the two barrels from my childhood, but it is quite enough for a first batch.
For me, the fermenting vats were a first and they threw me off a little. This year, I will keep better track of the cider. It should be more raw and less sweet than my father´s, but according to my neighbour, very close to the drink formerly made by my ancestors in the village.

Happy cider making!

Mélina Salaün is a real ""home-made"" specialist. She demonstrates that eating healthily and getting back to appreciating the real taste of food while enjoying your food is a blend of sight, smell and taste and a marvellous way to improve the everyday.