Historic Treasure of the Week - November 1, 1992
By Deborah Curtis Drummy
Vigo County Historical Society
Historic Treasure of the Week - November 1, 1992
By Deborah Curtis Drummy
Vigo County Historical Society
Old press used for making apple cider
Autumn has arrived in full color. It’s time for falling leaves, crisp air, pumpkins, hayrides, bonfires, fall festivals . . . and apple cider, hot or cold, sweet or hard.
The mid-19th century saw the peak of cidermaking in America, and rightly so, given the fact that 75 percent of Americans lived on farms and apples were considered a staple crop.
Because it was easy and inexpensive to make, cider became the natural, widespread country drink.
In its fresh state, it was called sweet cider, and was consumed by every member of the family.
If allowed to ferment a short time, the sweet cider turned into "hard cider" with an alcohol content between 6 percent and 12 percent.
If hard cider was aged in barrels for about three years, it eventually acetified and became apple cider vinegar, an essential ingredient in the pickling method of food preservation.
This versatility explains why, when a farm was offered for sale, the owner took pains to mention that among the assets were an apple orchard and a cider mill.
The steps in making cider are simple. The first step is to select two or more varieties of firm, ripe apples, preferably mixing sweet and tart varieties. The next step is to mash or grind the apples into a pulp called pomace.
Pomace resembles applesauce, except it is uncooked and contains the skins, cores and seeds. Some purists insist on coring the apples contending that the seeds, if crushed, could impart a bitter flavor.
The pomace then is allowed to stand 12 hours to 14 hours to allow oxidation to lend a warm darker color to the pulp. The last step is to run the pomace through a press to extract the cider.
The typical farm cider press was a simple, hand-made machine with one or two screws operated either by hand or by horse. Pressure was exerted on layers of pomace from the top by a thick wood platform lowered inch b inch, squeezing out the juice. The juice ran out a trough in the bottom of the press and into a tub. The layers were removed, the pomace was fed to the hogs, so nothing was wasted.
The liquid resulting from the process is fresh, sweet cider--untreated, no additives and containing all the suspended solids, rendering it nearly opaque.
The historical treasure for the week is a combination apple grinder and cider press.
The grinder section has a wooden hopper that leads the apples to an iron, bladed cylinder that turns by means of a handle, and gears to grind the apples.
The press section has a threaded screw that is turned to apply pressure on the pomace to squeeze out the cider.
The cider-making machine was donated to the Vigo County Historical Society in memory of Preston H. Price and is located in the tool room in the basement of the museum.
The Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley, 1411 S. Sixth St., is open from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.