Make Cider From Real Apples

Serve fresh apple cider as a holiday punch.

Apple juice turns into cider when it's fermented. The fermenting process takes less than a week and gives the cider a slight bite. Fresh cider isn't fermented long enough to become alcoholic. Hard cider is the alcoholic version. Non-alcoholic cider is served cold as a refreshing drink or warmed up with cinnamon, cloves and other spices to make a spiced cider. Unlike the alcoholic variety, fresh cider doesn't require special equipment to make it at home.

Instructions

1. Wash the apples in cool water. Trim off any bruised spots on each apple. Cut out the cores and slice the apples into quarters.

2. Place the apples in a blender or food processor. Process the apples in small batches until they are ground to a coarse pulp.

3. Place 2 to 3 cups of the apple pulp in a jelly bag. Suspend the bag over a large bowl. Press and squeeze the pulp, releasing the juice out of the bag so it drips in the bowl. Repeat until all of the apple pulp is juiced.

4. Wash the glass bottles in hot, soapy water. Rinse in clear water.

5. Pour the apple juice into the bottles. Leave ½ inch of space at the top of the bottle. Insert a clean, cotton cloth stopper into the top of each bottle.

6. Store the bottles at 72 degrees Fahrenheit for 3 to 4 days to ferment. Sediment from the juice settles to the bottom of the bottle as fermentation causes small bubbles to work up to the surface of the juice.

7. Remove the stopper from the bottle and set it on a shelf. Set a second clean, empty bottle below the filled bottle. The top of the empty bottle must sit beneath the bottom of the full bottle.

8. Insert a rubber tube into the full bottle. Suck on the end of the tube until the apple cider flows into your mouth. Insert the tube into the empty bottle. The cider flows through the tube and into the empty bottle, leaving the sediment behind in the other bottle.

9. Pour the cider into a large pot. Insert a candy thermometer into the pot and bring the cider to 160 degrees Fahrenheit over medium-high heat. Remove from the heat immediately once this temperature is reached. Heating the cider pasteurizes it, making it safe to drink.

10. Store the cider in clean, sealed containers in the refrigerator. Use the cider within five days.

Tags: empty bottle, tube into, apple cider, apple pulp, bottle Insert, cider flows