So, the apple grinder is made almost all out of wood.

And it's got this chute here for putting the apples in.

And, in here there's a grinding drum.

Which actually just uses stainless steel screws

to grind up the apples.

So, if we take the chute off then let's have a closer look at that drum.

And you can see the counter-sink screws are inclined a bit

so that this edge kind of cuts away from the apples a bit.

And, this drum sits inside this wooden box.

And the box is what it kind of grinds against.

So, it kind of holds the apples.

But, it comes out easily like this.

And, if we look inside this box it has

a bit of a bevel ledge right here.

So that the apples, when they get really thin, don't just get pulled through

the slot.

Now, this wooden drum is just on a dowel for a shaft.

And I've got on here a hand crank

for cranking it. Which works quite effectively.

Much better than garburator-based grinders.

If I want to grind up a lot of apples, I can just put a pulley on the shaft

and then power that with a motor. And, we've

used a grinder of this very type of construction

to grind, about a thousand pounds of apples a year for many years now.

So, this kind of grinder really does work for a long time.

I've given all the grinding surfaces a coat of vegetable oil.

Which is also what I used to lubricate the wooden bearings.

I just pour a little bit in here.

So that there's no artificial grease or anything like that

that's gonna contaminate the juice.

Because if the oil gets in the juice, well... it's not poisonous.

And the box itself has also been rubbed in with lots of oil.

And those are really the only parts that get wet.

So, that was just five apples that I ground through. And if you look at this mash

that will press really easily. So this grinder is really good at preparing

this stuff for juicing. In fact the juice is just about flowing out of it.

Now, if there's a lot of apples to grind

a pulley on the shaft and a little utility motor

really speeds things up.

Now, if I was actually making cider

there would be a whole garbage can down here

to catch the mash.

Look at that. That's almost juice already.

Now, the catch is, I actually built this apple grinder after the apple season.

So, I actually had to buy some apples from the grocery store.

Normally we just get those from a tree from abandoned farms.

So, that's all I'm gonna grind for today. Just to show off how it works.

Now, a really important part of using an apple grinder

is to clean it up after using it. So that it will be

clean and dry for use next year.

And, that's why I made this apple grinder so it's really easy

to take apart for cleaning.

And, now I just gotta let those parts dry.

And they'll be ready for next season.

Now, I don't actually have an apple press here.

But I just thought I'd show off what a difference it makes

to have properly ground-up apples.

So, even without an apple press I was able to squeeze all this juice

out of the pulp.

And you can really see this is not very juicy at all anymore.

Most of the juice extraction happens in the grinder.

Not in the press.

Now, I like to ferment the stuff in partially filled

two liter pop bottles. Because these bottles can take a lot of pressure.

And the stuff, unless you pasteurize it, will start fermenting on it's own.

So, this one's been fermenting for a while.

And you just have to every once in a while let the pressure out.

And you have... hard apple cider.

Carbonated.

Mmmm. Cheers.