by Christina Hahs

As you might already know, there are an abundance of apple and pear trees here in West Seattle, each of which produce more fresh fruit than any one household could possibly consume. Yet, every fall, most of that fruit falls to the ground and rots, leaving behind a smelly mess for homeowners and maintenance crews to clean up.

The West Seattle Tool Library offers an old-fashioned alternative to that mess. It has two cider presses available to help you turn extra fruit into fresh cider. Perhaps the best part is that perfectly good cider can even be made from imperfect apples, so you don’t need blue ribbon-quality fruit for pressing.

Both cider presses operate along the same principles. First, whole fruit is placed in the grinder, where it is chewed into a pulp by metal teeth. Then, the pulp falls into the cage where a large wooden disc is placed on top and pressed against the fruit by a ratchet. As the ratchet is turned, fresh juice just pours out of the bottom of the press.

It’s pretty simple stuff, actually, and cider pressing is a great activity for all ages. When The Tool Library demonstrated the press at the West Seattle Farmers Market in October and November of 2010, it had kids as young as two helping to feed fruit into the press and running the macerator and the ratchet. Of course, adult supervision is still required to make sure fingers stay out of the macerator and the press while in use.

Here’s some tips to make your next cider pressing party great:
Line the cage with cheesecloth for easy filtering and cleaning.
Use a fine-mesh colander to strain the juice a second time as it flows out of the press, to keep seeds and leaves out of the juice.

Keep a bucket on hand for temporarily storing the spent pulp. The pulp comes out dry, making it a great chicken snack or addition to a compost pile.

Let the juice flow into a large pot. Keep a funnel and empty bottles close by for easy pouring when the pot is full.Pasteurize your juice before consuming. Seattle and King County Public Health recommend boiling the juice for 45 seconds to kill off bacteria. Cool before serving.

Cider Presses are just some of the over 1,000 tools currently available at the West Seattle Tool Library, which is free to use and run primarily on user donations. If you or someone you know you would like to be involved in The Tool Library, feel free to contact them by email or drop in on Saturdays from 9am-2pm or Sundays from 1-5pm to explore the Library, meet the community of DIYers, and sign up for a membership. Whatever the case, The Tool Library crew looks forward to meeting you!

The Tool Library is now located at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, 4408 Delridge Way SW, at the back of the building.

Follow The Tool Library on:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/WSToolLibrary
Twitter: @WSToolLibrary
and Meetup: www.meetup.com/West-Seattle-Tool-Library/

West Seattle Tool Library Website:
www.WSToolLibrary.org

Contact Email:
library@sustainablewestseattle.org