The cider must was within those pine-slatted “pressing grates” folded up in muslin cloth. I used a cheap 1/2HP garbage disposal attached to the underside of a banker table to grind up all my apples into a 5-gallon bucket. I would gather my apples into a wheelbarrow that had a bunch of holes in it from overuse. I cleaned the apples with a few squirts from my garden hose, the water naturally exiting. Then I’d cut them into quarters on the top of the banker, shove them into the disposal, turn it on, grind, turn it off. Never removed seeds, peeled or even stemmed the apples. Only occasionally threw out a really nasty apple or two.
Then I scooped the squished apples from the plastic bucket into the muslin with a long-handled pot, folded up the cloth, placed another pressing grate on top, etc., stacking up 4 of them like a big cheese press. Cider was already flowing down the sides.
Placed the jack, gave it a few cranks. When the jack was fully extended, I’d release it a bit, add in another block of wood, go again. You can see the multiple blocks in the picture, as I was nearly done with that pressing.
The bottle jack method is far superior to any hand-cranked cider press I have seen. I’ve seen and used many, having lived in Vermont for 25 years. The force of the bottle jack is enough to completely desaturate the apple crap, unlike the hand-cranked presses, where the apple crap comes out still wet. When my rig was done pressing, all that was left was a flat puck of dried apple guts. I unfolded them from their muslin sack, chucked them into the woods and the squirrels and deer ate it.
One year my awesome neighbor kept bees. Due to the heavy pollination and perfect weather that year, my 2 apple trees produced so many apples that I pressed out over 60 gallons of cider. 2 trees! That was 2008. Blockbuster year. I had more than I knew what to do with, was giving it away, fermenting it, making vinegar and generally causing a ruckus. I had cider pressing parties every weekend all Fall that year. Twas awesome.
So, my friend @GilbertWham, you too can have an amazing cider press with a little elbow grease, and I highly recommend it. Don’t buy a hand-cranker. You’ll maximize if you build a bottle jack cider press.