Well, here is the promised returning blog post. Not quite what I had in mind or probably you, but I am super excited about it and found it blog worthy. ! Since my return from Spain, I am now cooking and have been promoted to Sous Chef at
Secco Wine Bar. If you haven't visited me there yet, you truly need to come in. Beautiful unique space, under the ownership of River City Cellars' Julia Battaglini. Really really great Italian and Spanish influenced food from Chef Tim Bereika, my time thus far has been both a learning and truly an enjoyment, I learn something everyday! You can taste not only the love, but the flavor from the ingredients that are purchased from local markets. And, the people working around me, WANT to work there! They care about the Beer they are serving, and the cheese that abounds! Passion emanates from all corners of the restaurant, come in and experience it!
But I am not writing to advertise Secco, but more to record my making of Apple Cider! That's right, what screams fall more than a nice glass of local Apple Cider!
On a cool, Monday morning I ventured up the treacherous what-seemed-to-be 80* hillside that leads you to Charlottesville's
Carter Mountain Orchards! There, millions flock yearly for the pick-your-own apples, and, oh yea, Apple Donuts. (They also have grape vines?!) At the orchards, I picked close to 10 pounds of apples, all being Fuji's. Following the pickin', having gotten wind of a special deal known only to those in the know, I asked the registers for apples known as Dear? Apples, or Apples that one necessarily wouldn't want to eat due to indentations or other defects, but perfect for a low budget cider. The pick'em yourself apples are 1.19 a pound, and the 2nd's were 75 cents? I think I left the mountain with between 20-30 pounds, or about a bushel.
Now, conventional Apple Cider makers would use a mill to juice the apples, but being a cook, I chose to use my trusted Cuisinart Food Processor, and then push the juice out using cheesecloth. A little slow, but it did the job!
The Yield from the apples was almost exactly a gallon, and wanting a bigger production, I purchased two gallons of cider. (Note: these must be preservative FREE, or else it will affect the fermentation process/yeasts)
If you are to go about doing this, I would suggest reading anything and everything you can online, as I did. Following my research, I was warned of wild yeasts in the cider producing off putting flavors and unwanted desires. Therefore, it is recommend to simmer all cider before jarring for 45 minutes. Before simmering, I added 1/3 pound of honey in each gallon, and approximately a pound of dark brown sugar in each. (A POUND of sugar you say?!) Yeast is an active micro-organism, or fungi. It is alive! What yeast does, is eats the sugar, lets off Co2, and, well you know the other. Upon some research, I found that the yeast should and will most likely eat all of that sugar.
Now, after the simmering, I let the ciders cool to close to room temperature, which went into the early hours of the morning. Once at an acceptable temperature, I added a controlled purchased yeast, and siphoned the cider into three-one gallon super sanitized with special cleaner jugs. Attached on the top, are sanitized "airlocks" which let the co2 out, and forbid the oxygen or other yeasts or bacteria in.
The jugs now sit for two weeks, for the fermentation to change the cider. Following the two weeks, the cider is then siphoned into bottles, capped, and let sit for one more week to carbonate before being enjoyed. A priming sugar, or sugar added before bottling may be added to give the yeast more "food" to carbonate in the bottle, that decision will be made upon tasting the sweetness before bottling.
This has been an incredible learning experience and exciting process for me to induce, amazing thinking I have been a part since the apples left the tree!
I hope you found this entry as intriguing as I had dreamt, albeit my writing is rusty and it is late! I hope to write more often, thanks for reading!
PS: Apple Butter is truly delicious, and so simple. Google a recipe and make a batch from some apples this fall, you won't regret it!
