DELPHOS — Canal Days-goers will be in for a treat Saturday and Sunday; fresh apple cider pressed before their eyes.
Raymond Pruden of Pruden’s Orchard in Rockford will be setting up his 100-year-old-plus cider press on the canal parking lot this evening so it’s ready to go Saturday morning.
The press, according to Raymond’s mother, Helen Pruden, has been in her family for years. She and her husband, John, received the press from her uncle Frank Metzger and grandfather, Mathias Metzger, who lived outside Fort Jennings. Helen estimates the press was built prior to 1896 because of a cylinder change to the model in that year.
“It had sat across from the sorghum press they had in the barn and they were going to get rid of it. John asked if we could have it because he had been in the apple business all his life. We wanted it to stay in the family,” Helen said.
Raymond, 22, will be pressing more than 100 bushels of apples. A good variety of apples is the key to good cider, he said.
“There are going to be 10-15 different kinds of apples. We use some of these, some of those and there are a couple you just need a few of to make it taste the way we want,” he said.
Ripeness and juiciness also matter, according to Helen.
Each bushel produces 3 1/4 to 3 1/2 gallons of cider.
The press still has the original wooden frame. Due to health regulations, any part that touches the apples has to be either plastic or stainless steel, so some renovation has occurred on the press. The operation of the press has also been changed from water hydraulics to oil hydraulics.
A leather gasket on the press, an essential part, deteriorated from age and was a little harder to replace than the rest of the parts.
“We looked all over for a gasket and we couldn’t find one. We stopped at a parts store in Indiana and the owner looked everywhere and came up empty. Then his mother, who had run the store before him, remembered they used to keep them on a back shelf. Sure enough, when he went back there, they had one,” Helen said. “I hope they have a spare because they don’t last forever.”
To make cider, the apples are put on a conveyor belt and transported to the top of the press where they fall into a hammer mill. The apples are chopped and dropped down onto a rack covered in synthetic fabric. When the rack is full, the fabric is folded over the apples like an envelope and another rack is placed on top to be filled. When the racks are 10 high, they are moved over the cylinder, located under the press, and the cylinder comes up from the bottom and “presses” the apples on the racks to squeeze out the cider. The cider is gathered in a stainless steel tub and then poured into jugs. The apple plumice is dumped from the racks and the process starts over again. The process takes about 1 1/2 hours to complete.
Cider will be available by the glass, 1/2 gallon and gallon.