Lets get carried away with fruity goodness

[cranky]

So, I think Mrs Cranky may not be happy with me soon but yesterday I stopped and picked 2 buckets of the Arkansas Blacks, then went down the street and stopped and got permission to pick these trees.

The owner said he thinks the red one is a Roma but didn't know what the green one is. I think the green one might still be slightly under ripe but they are dropping so I'm going to pick them anyway, not that I need them.

The blacks are pretty heavily loaded so I easily picked two buckets and figure I'll get at least 10 of it with another 10 off the other tree in that yard.

I stopped on my way home today and picked another bucket of the other apples, then hit the Roma and other one in that yard. They are fairly short trees and I was able to get a bucket of each in a couple minutes without even taking a step sideways. I love picking like that

So, I'm up to 8 buckets now with a goal of 13 but my buckets are in rough shape and I only have 4 or 5 so I wound up emptying 3 in the back of the truck. My current plan is to empty out everything but apples from the back of the truck and just keep dumping apples into the back until there aren't any apples left. I'm guessing somewhere around 30 buckets full by the time it's done if I actually stay after it and City Fruit doesn't jump my claims, like they did last year and the year before.

I finished reassembling the chopper yesterday and today washed the press plates and the pan. Next will be the hopper then I can start chopping and pressing as time allows. Hopefully I can sneak in the free time at work to do a hundred or two pounds a day but work has been very busy lately so I don't know if I can manage that. I may have to chop at work and bring it home to press but we'll see. That would require getting more buckets, which I don't want to do. I also still need to buy some yeast. I'm probably going to go with the CiderHouse again because I really liked how that turned out last time.

Our neighbor came over the other day and asked Mrs Cranky if he could have some of the apples off our front yard tree because apples have gotten so expensive in the store. She told him "sure". I told her to tell him to help himself to anything in the back of the truck, it's not like I don't have enough to share.

Mrs Cranky also wants to make more pie filling and apple jelly. For the Jelly I'm going to sort out the most worm free ones and use my old method of the food processor and little press. Everything else will be float the worms and throw it though the chopper.

[Bradster68]

I guess iv been bitten by the same bug. I can't get enough of this fruity goodness.

[Bushman]

We brought two boxes home and canned apple pie filling and apple sauce in 1/2 pint jars for baby food for our granddaughter. The rest of the apples we will grind and make apple cider this weekend.

[cranky]

We brought two boxes home and canned apple pie filling and apple sauce in 1/2 pint jars for baby food for our granddaughter. The rest of the apples we will grind and make apple cider this weekend.

That's a good use of free apples.

[cranky]

Today after dropping the dog off at day care I stopped at Lowe's to buy some stuff to replace the side garage door. While I was there I went ahead and bought 2 new food grade buckets to transport apple juice home in.

On my way home I stopped and filled them with the Romas. I timed it and it took 5 minutes and 14 seconds to fill the two buckets. I then pulled out plastic bags to pick some more. The bags hold quite a bit more than a bucket and I filled 3 plus another one with the greens and 1/2 to 3/4 bag of drops. The grass is high so the drops don't get bruised so I have no problem using them.

So, that adds at least 6, probably 7 more buckets to my collection...so I figure I'm up to probably around 250-290 lbs. Which is pretty close to what I need to do a brandy run.

This coming week I'll continue to pick and hopefully find my press bags. I do have some burlap coffee sacks that will probably do the job if need be. I still need to get some yeast and unfortunately there aren't any brew shops near me so that's probably going to have to come from amazon.

[cranky]

The past 2 days I've stopped on my way home and picked 4 buckets of apples each day, so I can now add 2 buckets of the front yard tree, 2 buckets of blacks 3 buckets of Romas and 1 bucket of the little green ones. I think that comes to 9 buckets of Romas so far with at least another bucket full left on the tree, probably more. 4 buckets of blacks...maybe 5, 5 buckets from the front yard tree, 2 buckets of greens and another bucket from the empty lot tree and a full bucket of drops for a total of at least 21 buckets or about 500 lbs. I don't plan to stop picking until that total is at least 30 buckets, but I actually have a goal now of 1,000 lbs.

I'm planning on firing up the chopper and beginning to press this weekend but pressing will probably take some time and I still need some yeast but I found some liquid lager yeast in my refrigerator from 2020 I have no idea why I bought that I'm considering using that and seeing what happens but I was really hoping to get some Ciderhouse select again. Doing a google search I see a brew shop opened in Kent in April. I hope they are still in business because all previous searches have not found this place. That would be relatively convenient to stop by and pick up what I need.

I've come up with a sort of goofy idea that I shouldn't do but may. Since I have a crap load of gummy bears I want to make wine with but didn't have any yeast nutrient I was considering boiling the gummy bears and adding the boiled gummy bear water to some of the spent pomace or maybe rehydrate the pomace, repress it and use that water for the gummy bears, but this morning while looking for my press bags I found a big bag of DAP so I don't think it's necessary.

I've also been sorting apples as time allows to separate out the wormy from not. So far I have 3 or 4 buckets of non wormy but still have a lot more to sort. Probably a quarter to a third aren't wormy but that still comes to 7.5 to 10 buckets if I get 30 buckets, which is more than enough for Mrs Cranky to have her pie filling and jelly and even share with the neighbor

[cranky]

Today Mrs Cranky thwarted my evil plan of getting buckets #22,3,4&5

we both needed gas so after work we met for that. To maximize our 25 gallon allowable discount I always fill the truck, then the Escape. If we time it right they both get topped off plus a gallon or two goes into the spare gas can I keep in the truck...We didn't time it right this time The truck took 15 gallons leaving only 10 for the escape

You might be thinking, "Cranky, why don't you fill the escape for Mrs Cranky and whatever's left goes to the truck" and that would be the chivalrous thing to do but for about 4 or 5 years now the trucks fuel gauge only goes down to 1/4 then stays there, on top of that it's actually at 1/2 when it reaches that 1/4 reading so I rely more on miles driven that the gauge so starting at a full tank is always best for the truck. The escape also gets better gas mileage.

Anyway, Mrs Cranky bought me some muslin to make new press bags out of, so after gas we dropped the truck off at home and ran to pick up the fabric, grab some dog treats and dinner then headed home. After dinner I sewed up the bags so I could get them in the wash and hopefully in the dryer so I can use them tomorrow and Sunday.

I actually doubt I'll get a chance to press tomorrow but I hope to. I can only do so much though because I only have 4 suitable buckets for transporting juice. At 4 gallons per bucket that only comes to about half the apples, unless I clean out and bring some carboys but I don't like doing that. It's not like I'm in any rush but there are less prying eyes on the weekends and the manager who doesn't approve of my activities isn't around. Fortunately chopping is a quick process and pressing isn't noisy or very visible so they actually can be done during the week if it comes to it.

[Bradster68]

for about 4 or 5 years now the trucks fuel gauge only goes down to 1/4 then stays there, on top of that it's actually at 1/2 when it reaches that 1/4 reading so I rely more on miles driven that the gauge so starting at a full tank is always best for the truck. The escape also gets better gas .

This sounds like a page from my book cranky. All I'm missing is the apples

[cranky]

for about 4 or 5 years now the trucks fuel gauge only goes down to 1/4 then stays there, on top of that it's actually at 1/2 when it reaches that 1/4 reading so I rely more on miles driven that the gauge so starting at a full tank is always best for the truck. The escape also gets better gas .

This sounds like a page from my book cranky. All I'm missing is the apples

A new fuel sending unit is $55 plus shipping and would have to be modified for the in tank EFI fuel pump and the last one only worked correctly for a few years, plus I don't want to drop the tank again so I just live with it. I've actually thought about making my own tank out of stainless steel with a better setup for the fuel pump but that would be a pain too so I don't.

[Bradster68]

for about 4 or 5 years now the trucks fuel gauge only goes down to 1/4 then stays there, on top of that it's actually at 1/2 when it reaches that 1/4 reading so I rely more on miles driven that the gauge so starting at a full tank is always best for the truck. The escape also gets better gas .

This sounds like a page from my book cranky. All I'm missing is the apples

A new fuel sending unit is $55 plus shipping and would have to be modified for the in tank EFI fuel pump and the last one only worked correctly for a few years, plus I don't want to drop the tank again so I just live with it. I've actually thought about making my own tank out of stainless steel with a better setup for the fuel pump but that would be a pain too so I don't.

Your absolutely right. My ole 90 1ton seems like a lotta work to fix. So I cross my fingers mostly till I make it to the station. An extra can is definitely something I should consider though

[cranky]

Today I went to the new brew shop in Kent...really its sort of the kent. I have to say it was a bit of a disappointment. Selection wasn't great, they didn't have the yeast I wanted so I had to settle for D-47. It never even occurred to me that they wouldn't have Ciderhouse select or some other suitable cider yeast like Nottingham or S-05. They also didn't have any iodophor so I had to get star san, I like iodophor and never been a big fan of star san but it's what they had and on top of that they are hard to find and I think kind of expensive. The only redeeming thing is they are close to me.

I didn't get to pick any apples today but I did get an accurate bucket count 24, which is roughly 576 lbs. I promised Mrs Cranky a bucket full for pie filling and everything else will be pressed. I got all the wormy apples separated out. Half a bucket full was loose in the bed up near oil bottles that may have leaked and felt oily so I probably won't use those so I expect about 37 gallons from these. All that's left now is washing the buckets and I can start pressing.

[cranky]

for about 4 or 5 years now the trucks fuel gauge only goes down to 1/4 then stays there, on top of that it's actually at 1/2 when it reaches that 1/4 reading so I rely more on miles driven that the gauge so starting at a full tank is always best for the truck. The escape also gets better gas .

This sounds like a page from my book cranky. All I'm missing is the apples

A new fuel sending unit is $55 plus shipping and would have to be modified for the in tank EFI fuel pump and the last one only worked correctly for a few years, plus I don't want to drop the tank again so I just live with it. I've actually thought about making my own tank out of stainless steel with a better setup for the fuel pump but that would be a pain too so I don't.

Your absolutely right. My ole 90 1ton seems like a lotta work to fix. So I cross my fingers mostly till I make it to the station. An extra can is definitely something I should consider though

I keep a 5 gallon can in the back, sometimes it has gas sometimes not. I like when it does. Oddly people will steal gas out of the tank but never tough the can in the back, I'm guessing they think it's chainsaw gas or something.

[cranky]

Today I managed to get some free time at work so I set about chopping and pressing the non wormy apples.

That went extremely well...so well in fact that after it was done I decided since I still had one empty bucket with a lid that I'd just go ahead and run another bucket and a half and start pressing it while cleaning up.

Then something broke hard, too hard, and had to be dealt with, which meant I had to leave the cleaning for later. Fortunately I managed to get everything cleaned up and put away and the juice and pomace loaded into the truck just in time to go home for a weekend but I was flat wore out So wore out I wasn't even going to stop and pick apples on my way home...but then I noticed nobody was home where the black apples were so I just had to stop and pick a bucket of each kind of apple. The big green ones with the blush are still super easy to pick but the blacks are starting to get a bit more difficult, not terrible yet but it took a little more time than I would have liked to pick that bucket full. I should have gone down the street and picked the small greens because I can pick a bucket of those in probably 2 minutes and if I'm going to reach that 1,000 lbs goal that is the fastest way to do it...but I didn't. I will save that for another day.

So that brings the total bucket count to 26 and the juice count is somewhere around 19. I did share a gallon with my co workers and Mrs Cranky will get another gallon to make jelly out of which leaves 17 or so for me which is certainly more than I had originally planned on doing.

Hopefully in a few days when I go back to work I can get the second half of the apples processed quickly so I will be able to process the ones I pick this week on the weekend.

Tomorrow I plan to get some carboys cleaned and get all this juice fermenting.

[Grappa-Gringo]

Just chopped up about 175lbs of apples yesterday to get some apple brandy going... warmed up some water to help it start to get soft, and poured it over the apples...not much... pitched some yeast and we'll sit and wait, and mix, and wait...lol....

[cranky]

Today I let Mrs Cranky sleep in and dropped the dog off at daycare by myself On my way home I stopped and picked the little green tree. It's every bit as loaded as the rest but the apples are quite small. Probably 125 to a bucket, maybe as many as 150. In comparison the front yard tree and the blacks run 50-60 to a bucket and the Romas ran about 75.

The advantage here was I didn't need the picker because there are plenty of low hanging ones. I picked a total of 400 apples and 50 drops. I figure that's at least 3 buckets worth, maybe even 4. This would bring the total bucket count up to 29 or 30.

I also rounded up all the carboys that I could find that weren't currently full and cleaned and sanitized them...well all except the Kardashian and the Arrowhead. It got me 6 carboys total, four 5 gallons, one 6 gallon and one 7 gallon. That gives me 35 gallons capacity currently. I'm certain I have another 7 gallon and probably another 6 somewhere but I'm not sure where. but I'm going to have to figure out something because by my current estimate I'll need 50 gallons. So I guess I'm going to have to use that Kardashian and maybe even the arrowhead in spite of the small crack. I'm pretty close to the point of being happy enough with the "cranberry cocktail" wine to bottle it which would give me another two 5 gallons. That one will be my Christmas giveaway this year.

I might even have to put the 30 gallon drum to work if I succeed in reaching 42 buckets which looks like may be a real possibility.

I could empty out the big one, I can't remember if it's 10 or 12 gallons but it's a pain in the ass to fill and empty because it's so big.

[Bradster68]

Today I let Mrs Cranky sleep in and dropped the dog off at daycare by myself On my way home I stopped and picked the little green tree. It's every bit as loaded as the rest but the apples are quite small. Probably 125 to a bucket, maybe as many as 150. In comparison the front yard tree and the blacks run 50-60 to a bucket and the Romas ran about 75.

The advantage here was I didn't need the picker because there are plenty of low hanging ones. I picked a total of 400 apples and 50 drops. I figure that's at least 3 buckets worth, maybe even 4. This would bring the total bucket count up to 29 or 30.

I also rounded up all the carboys that I could find that weren't currently full and cleaned and sanitized them...well all except the Kardashian and the Arrowhead. It got me 6 carboys total, four 5 gallons, one 6 gallon and one 7 gallon. That gives me 35 gallons capacity currently. I'm certain I have another 7 gallon and probably another 6 somewhere but I'm not sure where. but I'm going to have to figure out something because by my current estimate I'll need 50 gallons. So I guess I'm going to have to use that Kardashian and maybe even the arrowhead in spite of the small crack. I'm pretty close to the point of being happy enough with the "cranberry cocktail" wine to bottle it which would give me another two 5 gallons. That one will be my Christmas giveaway this year.

I might even have to put the 30 gallon drum to work if I succeed in reaching 42 buckets which looks like may be a real possibility.

I could empty out the big one, I can't remember if it's 10 or 12 gallons but it's a pain in the ass to fill and empty because it's so big.

Lots of work,but your definitely rockin the apples. That'll be a hell of a year. to all that hard (sneaky work).

[cranky]

Lots of work,but your definitely rockin the apples. That'll be a hell of a year. to all that hard (sneaky work).

It is a lot of work but worth it

[cranky]

Today on the way home I stopped at the empty lot tree and picked a bucket. I was going to stop at the others but decided not to. I had to remove my apple stuff from work for the day so it's all in the back of the truck but this brings the total up to 30 buckets.

I'm only 12 short of my current goal of 42, If I pick 2 buckets a day, with Mon/Tue off I will reach that on Thursday next week. Now I'm kind of starting to think 100 gallons is a possibility, after all that's only 59-60 buckets

Ok, maybe that's just a little more than I should plan on. The blacks probably only have another 4 or 5 buckets I can reach without going in the yard. The front yard tree probably has another 8, possibly 10. The Roma has another 2 or 3 at best. The little green has at least another 5, probably 8 and the empty lot probably easily has 5 if I am quick enough to get them picked. That comes to a possibility of 21 more buckets That is exactly 60, isn't it

Then there is Cousin It...Cousin it is a bit of a problem because the house it's at sold last year and someone has been rebuilding the entire thing...but it looks like work has stopped so it's likely nobody would notice if I drove up and grabbed a bucket or ten It takes less than 2 minutes to grab a bucket from Cousin It so by the time anybody would notice me I'd be gone.

I'm going to have to figure out where I'm going to ferment it all but I do have 2 carboys that should be about ready to empty, I just need to clean and prep the bottles and maybe get Mrs Cranky to help me...and maybe find my bottle filler wherever that is

My new airlocks arrived today so I can get everything fermenting correctly now. When I cleaned and sanitized the carboys I discovered my airlocks were in rough shape. Some even looked like they had mother in them so I definitely don't want to use them on apple which I expect will overflow 24-36hrs after I add the yeast.

[cranky]

I guess I should take pictures to spice my posts up a bit but haven't been

I didn't pick any apples today but yesterday I picked another bucket of both the front yard tree and the blacks. I think that brings me to 32 buckets. The blacks are getting time consuming and although I really like them I think I'm going to have to concentrate on the easier to pick ones. The front yard, small greens and vacant lot.

By my count I'm only 10 buckets away from 1,000 lbs. That's easy enough to get. I doubt I'll reach 100 gallons but who knows.

I managed to process 8 buckets today giving me 13, maybe 14 gallons of juice. I only have 2 clean carboys left so I guess I'll need to clean the Kardashian but after that I think I'm going to have to resort to the 30 gallon fermenter. Even that may not be enough because roughly 16-18 buckets will fill it up and I already have 11 waiting to be processed.

I suppose it's not a bad problem to have but it's a lot of work to do all by yourself. At least I'm not using a hand cranked scratter

[cranky]

Well, I just finished emptying the buckets, so I took a pic to show you

The one in the very back is the 6 gallon, you can probably spot the 7 easily enough. I had to clean and sanitize the Kardashian (Left side) but that wasn't hard because I did that when I put it away the last time. I'm not sure where the Arrowhead is but I probably shouldn't use that one anyway The white drum (back right) is probably where anything else is going...at least until it's full.

I bought 10 packets of yeast so now I only have 3 left but I'm getting the hair brained idea to use that 3 year old Lager yeast I found in the fridge on that 30 gallons and see how it turns out after a long slow cold ferment. I can get 3 runs out of 30 gallons and could easily tap 5 gallons off then top back up to get full size runs. Of course I'd have to make a starter and see if it's even still usable after 3 years

[cranky]

I was hoping to get another round of pressing in today but all Hell broke loose so didn't get the chance I did get everything set up and 6 buckets of them sorted and washed so it won't take long to get them to the press tomorrow, provided I get a small amount of free time.

I have 5 additional buckets full sitting in trash bags waiting to be sorted and washed for a total of 11 but the press really can't handle more than 8 buckets full at a time and I have to get everything cleaned up and stored before I leave, which takes extra time every day so I really only have time in a day for 190-200#s of apples.

None of that stopped me from picking more I stopped on my way home at the Roma and small green and picked 2 buckets of each.

The Greens are still super easy to pick and I now know for certain that they are running around 140 per bucket. The Romas required the picker and a bit more time but the upper ones are HUGE. They ran 50 to a bucket. Beautiful apples too and the added bonus is the higher apples seem to have less worms...not that anything on the Roma is high, I didn't even have to extend the picker to pick them.

Mrs Cranky asked me to sort out a bucket of non wormy ones to give to the neighbor or I wouldn't be sorting them, but I'm more than happy to share.

So, running bucket count is 36, I'm getting close to that 1,000# mark, only 6 buckets to go

[cranky]

Today I managed to chop and press what I think was 8 buckets, maybe 9. I kind of lost track plus sorted out a worm free bucket to give the neighbors. I think I still have 2 buckets of the 11 I had brought into the shop. Take away another one for the neighbor and it would be 8. I got roughly 15 gallons out of them, which means I now need to clean and sanitize the 30 gallon fermenter. I also need to hurry up and get that Lager yeast started because with 15 gallons going into the barrel and enough apples to get 15 more I don't have enough yeast

On the way home I stopped and picked 2 more buckets off the front yard tree. This brings the bucket total to 38. Only 4 buckets to go to reach 1,000#s. I doubt I've got it in me to do much more than that, not to mention there will be a lack of fermenters. I still have the head space in the carboys that can be topped up with 7 or 8 gallons but only after the initial fermentation is over and it's calmed down.

[Bradster68]

Today I managed to chop and press what I think was 8 buckets, maybe 9. I kind of lost track plus sorted out a worm free bucket to give the neighbors. I think I still have 2 buckets of the 11 I had brought into the shop. Take away another one for the neighbor and it would be 8. I got roughly 15 gallons out of them, which means I now need to clean and sanitize the 30 gallon fermenter. I also need to hurry up and get that Lager yeast started because with 15 gallons going into the barrel and enough apples to get 15 more I don't have enough yeast

On the way home I stopped and picked 2 more buckets off the front yard tree. This brings the bucket total to 38. Only 4 buckets to go to reach 1,000#s. I doubt I've got it in me to do much more than that, not to mention there will be a lack of fermenters. I still have the head space in the carboys that can be topped up with 7 or 8 gallons but only after the initial fermentation is over and it's calmed down.

Holy moly cranky. When you get going there's no stopping you. That will be a great addition to an aging liquor cabinet. Nice job

[subbrew]

Since this thread is a compilation of all sorts of apple related info I will drops this here.

I wanted some more apple flavor in my fall 2021 apple brandy. So I cut up an apple into 3/8 inch or so chunks and soaked them in barrel proof apple brandy that had been on toasted but not charred oak in a glass since Jan 2021.

I now know why it was always said to not eat the fruit out of an alcohol fruit punch.

My experiment:
Input:
300 ml of 120 proof apple brandy. 115 gram of apple chunks. Let sit for 3 days.
Output:
80 proof apple brandy with very nice apple flavor. Apple chunks that could be lit on fire and tasted like there were everclear infused. (side note: had a friend over that thought the apple chunks were great and loved them. He also eats the little Thia hot chilis so I question his taste buds)

I double checked the brandy in the jar to make sure I had put in 120 proof. After straining the brandy from the apples I went to proof it down and much to my surprise it was at 80 proof. I don't understand the science of how the apples could absorb that much alcohol. It makes sense they would bring water to the mix so would lower abv some. But the drip in abv seems high to me.

I think my next try will be to used steam extracted apple juice to proof down the barrel strength brandy.

[Saltbush Bill]

You could always juice the apples and add the juice back.

[NZChris]

I double checked the brandy in the jar to make sure I had put in 120 proof. After straining the brandy from the apples I went to proof it down and much to my surprise it was at 80 proof. I don't understand the science of how the apples could absorb that much alcohol. It makes sense they would bring water to the mix so would lower abv some. But the drip in abv seems high to me.

The sugar from the apple will be upsetting any method you are using to check the proof.

[subbrew]

I double checked the brandy in the jar to make sure I had put in 120 proof. After straining the brandy from the apples I went to proof it down and much to my surprise it was at 80 proof. I don't understand the science of how the apples could absorb that much alcohol. It makes sense they would bring water to the mix so would lower abv some. But the drip in abv seems high to me.

The sugar from the apple will be upsetting any method you are using to check the proof.

Of course, should have thought of that. Thank you.

[subbrew]

You could always juice the apples and add the juice back.

Using a steam juicer makes for a very clear juice that does not brown like pressing for cider. It will get a bit of color from skins if you don't peel the apples.

[cranky]

Today I managed to chop and press what I think was 8 buckets, maybe 9. I kind of lost track plus sorted out a worm free bucket to give the neighbors. I think I still have 2 buckets of the 11 I had brought into the shop. Take away another one for the neighbor and it would be 8. I got roughly 15 gallons out of them, which means I now need to clean and sanitize the 30 gallon fermenter. I also need to hurry up and get that Lager yeast started because with 15 gallons going into the barrel and enough apples to get 15 more I don't have enough yeast

On the way home I stopped and picked 2 more buckets off the front yard tree. This brings the bucket total to 38. Only 4 buckets to go to reach 1,000#s. I doubt I've got it in me to do much more than that, not to mention there will be a lack of fermenters. I still have the head space in the carboys that can be topped up with 7 or 8 gallons but only after the initial fermentation is over and it's calmed down.

Holy moly cranky. When you get going there's no stopping you. That will be a great addition to an aging liquor cabinet. Nice job

I suppose that's true I just can't stand to see fruit go to waste. There is a house I drive by nearly every day that has 4 or 5 apple trees in the fenced back yard. Currently it looks vacant. There is at least 1,000#s of apples on the ground under those trees and it drives me crazy to see them go to waste. That's part of what drove me to go ahead and start picking this year even though I wasn't intending to

[cranky]

Today I picked one more bucket off the vacant lot tree. I think I've not been giving that tree enough credit. it's quick and easy to stop at, easy to pick, I can park my truck tight underneath it and the apples run about 60 to a bucket. I think I'm going to have to give this tree a bit more attention.

Nice big green apples off the vacant lot tree.