« Is it for real? | Main | Dirty Clown »
December 22, 2007
Gently does it.
When making apple juice you don’t want to damage the apples do you? And the carton from Lidl is very reassuring:
When I was in Bavaria this autumn I saw some apples being naturally gently pressed. You’d be forgiven for picturing an image of an alpine slope covered in short grass and Edelweiss, with a young girl, in a long white skirt and embroidered waistcoat, blonde hair in pigtails, squeezing apples into an enamel jug.
The reality is not quite as romantic as the copywriters would have us believe but none the less exciting for that. First of all the apples are gently loaded into a reservoir in the press, always under the ever watchful eyes of the Apple Inspectors of course.
The apples are washed and then gently smashed to pulp. The apple pulp is released onto cloth-covered flat wooden trays where Anton, sadly lacking white skirt and blonde pigtails, [but sporting a rubber apron which I’m sure does it for some] packs the pulp down.
Then the stack of trays is swung under the huge cast iron press where it is gently pressed with a two tonne hydraulic ram for 20 minutes.
That’s when the girl comes in with the enamel jug and embroidered waistcoat, naturally.
Posted by john at December 22, 2007 09:38 PM