Food DJ: Cider, Hard Cider & Applejack..that will be the apple of your eye

What’s the difference between apple juice & apple cider?

You might be surprised to learn that apple juice and apple cider are technically the same - they are both 100% juice from the apple. Some apple juice manufacturers also use processes to clarify the juice, resulting in a clear appearance. In fact, the greatest volume of apple juice sold in the United States is clarified apple juice.

Cider is a broad term that is often used to refer to a number of different products (apple cider, sweet cider, hard cider and so on). For example, in the United States, the word cider refers to the freshly expressed juice of the apple. In England and Australia, the word is used to describe fermented juice, which Americans actually call hard cider. When cider is allowed to ferment or partially ferment, it has distinct characteristics that many have come to recognize - including tart taste and dark, cloudy appearance.

Whether choosing apple juice or apple cider, consumers are recommended to select shelf-stable, frozen or other fruit juices and ciders that have been pasteurized or appropriately heat-treated for safety. If a juice or cider has not been pasteurized, the Food and Drug Administration requires that it be labeled as such to inform consumers.

Keep in mind, the shelf-stable and frozen apple juices found in your grocery store are pasteurized or otherwise heat-treated (unless they contain the unpasteurized label required by the FDA) and may even carry the label "apple cider" during certain times of the year! It all depends on whether the term cider has more appeal in a particular market area.

Here are some simple instructions for making your very own batch of apple cider.

Equipment
You probably already have most of the equipment you'll need to make apple cider lying around the kitchen. First up: a sharp knife. It's also helpful to have an apple corer, though this isn't mandatory. It will just make things apple easier. You'll also need a blender or a food processor, some cheesecloth, and a container to store the cider in. Voila, that's your equipment list.

Choosing Your Apples

Most commercial apple ciders are made from a variety of different apples. Red Delicious and Fuji make for a sweeter cider, while Granny Smith and Macintosh are tart. When making your own, you can mix it up as you like, or stick to your favorite kind. If you do decide to combine varieties, try to get a mix of red, green and gold for maximum flavor combinations. Cider tastes best when its made from freshly picked apples, so if you don't live near an orchard where you can pick your own, it's worth a visit to your local farmer's market. You want to use the healthiest apples, so avoid ones that are battered and bruised. It takes about 36 apples to make one gallon of apple cider.

Making Apple Cider

Before you start, be sure to wash all of the apples thoroughly. This is especially important if you buy nonorganic apples because you'll want to make sure they're clean of any pesticides. But even if you buy organic, you should give them a rinse to make sure they don't have any dirt that will end up in the final product. Next, you'll want to core the apples. If you don't have an apple corer, you can cut the apple in half and carve out the center of each half. Next, slice the apples into quarters and puree them, peel and all, in the blender or food processor. Keep them whirling until they're finely ground. The finer the pulp, the more juice you'll be able to extract. Now comes the fun part. Spread the cheesecloth over a container of your choice, and pour the pulp into the cloth. The cheesecloth acts as a strainer, so the juice filters through the cloth and the pulp stays put. You'll need to give it some good squeezes to get out all the juice. You can experiment with different spices to add to the flavor. Cloves, nutmeg, lemon peel and ginger are all complementary flavors that can be added to taste, or pop a cinnamon stick in for some holiday flair. If you want to make it a hard cider, add a little rum and brown sugar. If you store it in a container with an airtight lid in the refrigerator, your cider should keep for about seven days. Or, you can keep it for up to three weeks if you pasteurize it by heating it to 160 degrees Fahrenheit (71 degrees. Celsius). But of course, it will always taste best right out of the strainer.

Mulled Cider

Warm up during wintertime with this deliciously spiced mix made by boiling apple cider with cinnamon sticks, cloves and strips of orange peel. Dress up each mug with a cinnamon stick and orange slice.

Recipe Ingredients

10 cups (2 1/2 qts) apple cider
3 cinnamon sticks
6 whole cloves
3 strips orange peel, removed with a vegetable peeler
Garnish: orange slices and cinnamon sticks
Recipe Preparation
1. Bring cider, cinnamon sticks, cloves and orange peel to a boil in a large pot over medium heat. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered 25 to 35 minutes.
2. Line a strainer with cheesecloth or a plain white paper towel. Set strainer over a large clean saucepan; strain cider mixture into pan. Ladle into mugs. (May be refrigerated up to 2 days, then reheated.)

Recipe Variations

If you’re looking for a little variety in your apple cider, embellish the above recipe with various combinations of spices, fruits and liquors.

Nutmeg and Cardamom Spiced Apple Cider
Add 10 cardamom pods and 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg to the cider and other ingredients before bringing to a boil.

Gingery Pineapple Cider
Add a 1 1/2in. piece of fresh ginger—peeled and thinly sliced—to cider, orange peel and spices before bringing to a boil. Ladle into mugs or glasses and serve with a piece of fresh pineapple.

Hot Toddy
Add 2 Tbsp (1 oz) brandy or spiced rum to mugs or serving glasses before adding the mulled cider.

Handy Tips
1. Utilize your slow cooker. Using a slow cooker to make cider not only cuts down on the cleanup, but will keep it warm while guests mingle. Just follow the steps above, but substitute the large pot with a slow cooker and let guests refill their mugs straight from the cooker using a large ladle.
2. Make a sachet. If you want to add a touch of flair, create a sachet to go with the cider. Put the mulling spices on a piece of square cheesecloth and tie together with twine—the DIY creation will act as a tea bag. Another plus? You can give it as an adorable holiday gift, too.

Perfect Food Pairings
Cider can be paired with just about anything, but certain foods bring out the sweet flavor even more. Serve one of these festive eats—from casseroles to pies—at your party.

Caramel Apple Cider1 gallon apple cider
6 cinnamon sticks
1(10 ounce) jar caramel ice cream topping
1 (14 ounce) can whipped topping

In slow cooker, combine cider and cinnamon sticks. Cover. Cook on low 2 to 4 hours. In each mug, add 1 tablespoon caramel topping. Add cider.Mix well. Top each with whipped topping. Drizzle caramel topping over top. Makes 15 servings.

Red Hot Cider Recipe

Yields one cocktail

Ingredients:
25 g sugar
2 oz Apple Jack
4 oz Apple Cider
1/4 oz Lemon Juice
Pinch of Salt

Instructions:
Add a pinch of salt to the Apple Cider. In a saucepan, caramelize the sugar on medium heat until it becomes as amber color. Add the Apple Jack to the pan (be careful. There will be a huge flame). Douse the flames with the Apple Cider. Add the lemon juice. Take off the burner. Serve.

Apple Jack

If you put a bucket of your hard cider outside, let it freeze, remove the ice hunk and repeat the process you get "Apple Jack" I read from a retired farmer. An apple spirit through "reverse distillation." I've never had the chance to try it.

Hard cider is cider that has been fermented so it is carbonated and alcoholic - along the lines of beer. Most often it is shelved alongside beer in markets.An excellent recipe to make your own hard cider This recipe came from Mother Earth News.

Find the Ingredients

Choose Your Juice. The best hard cider is made from sweet apple cider fresh from the cider press — whether your own, or a local cider mill’s. If you’re buying sweet cider, start by checking the label to be sure the cider doesn’t contain chemical preservatives, because these will kill your yeast and your cider will not ferment. (The cider is chemically preserved if sodium benzoate or potassium sorbate are listed on the label.) Your best bet for preservative-free cider is to buy it in season from a local orchard. In a pinch, you can also make hard cider with grocery store apple juice, as long as it doesn’t have preservatives.
Also, be aware that most commercial cidermakers are required to pasteurize their cider, and the process they use will affect the flavor. Preferably, your sweet cider should be “cold pasteurized,” which kills microorganisms with ultraviolet light. The usual method of pasteurization kills microorganisms with heat, which affects the flavor of the juice. If you’re not sure which method a local cider mill uses, it doesn’t hurt to ask.

Choose Your Yeast. A variety of dry and liquid brewing yeasts will do the trick, and you can find them online or from homebrew stores. Although you can buy specialized liquid yeast packs for fermenting cider, dry wine yeasts do an excellent job and are much cheaper. (You can get a pack for less than a dollar.)

Make a Starter. The day before you brew your cider, make a starter. This step is optional, but it ensures that your yeast is proofed (i.e., alive) and will start fermenting your cider right away. To make a starter, open the bottle of preservative-free apple juice and pour out a few ounces. Pour the contents of one yeast packet into the bottle, reseal it and shake for a few seconds. Within five or six hours, you should see a bit of bubbling within the bottle. Once you do, release the pressure within the bottle, reseal it and put it in the refrigerator. Get it out a couple of hours before you brew.

Start Brewing

On brewing day, pour your cider into the brewpot and simmer it over medium heat for about 45 minutes. This will kill most of the wild yeasts and bacteria in the cider. Bolder cidermakers will forgo this step by pouring the sweet cider directly into a plastic bucket and then pitching in the yeast. If you follow this strategy, wild strains of yeast will still be in the sweet cider when it begins fermenting. This will alter the flavor of the cider. (It may or may not improve it.) If you do heat the cider, don’t let it boil! Boiling causes pectins to set, which creates a permanently hazy beverage. While simmering the cider, you can add the optional 2 pounds of brown sugar or honey. This will boost the fermentable sugar content in your cider and up the alcohol content.

Next, pour the cider into a sanitized fermentation bucket — an unsanitized bucket may spoil the cider. To sanitize, pour a capful of bleach into your bucket, fill it with water, let it sit for a half an hour, then dump out and rinse with cold water. (You can also buy non-bleach, no-rinse sanitizers at homebrew stores.) Let the cider cool to nearly room temperature, then add your yeast — or starter, if you chose to make one. Stir the mixture for a minute or two with a clean stainless steel or plastic spoon to aerate, then seal the lid and affix the airlock. Place the bucket in a room or closet where the temperature is 60 to 75 degrees — the closer to 60 degrees, the better. Stay within this range if you can: At lower temperatures the cider won’t ferment, while higher temperatures will speed up fermentation, but may also change the flavor.
Let it Ferment. Within a day or two you should see the airlock start to bubble. The gas it’s releasing is carbon dioxide, a byproduct of the fermentation process. Congratulations, your soft cider is on its way to becoming a delicious, inebriating elixir of the gods! This bubbling should subside within two weeks, signifying an end to the primary fermentation. After that, let the cider sit another week to allow the yeast to settle out

Options For Bottling

There are a couple of different ways you can go at this point:
Option 1: Bottle the Cider Now. If you want to bottle the cider immediately, affix the rinsed food-grade tubing to the spigot on your fermentation bucket and pour the cider off into sanitized jugs or bottles. (Be gentle when moving the bucket full of cider. Sloshing can disturb the yeast sediment at the bottom of the bucket and cloud up your cider.) Seal the jugs or bottles. Let the bottled hard cider sit for another two weeks and then it will be ready to drink. Your cider will probably be “still” (i.e., not fizzy) unless you let it age for several months. Hard cider is more like wine than beer, and the flavor will improve as it ages.

Option 2: Let it Clarify. If you only use one fermenter, your cider will taste fine, but may not be perfectly clear because it will probably still have some suspended yeast. To reduce cloudiness, siphon your cider into a secondary fermenter (another food-grade bucket). Sanitize this bucket before filling it with cider. Once you’ve siphoned your cider into the secondary fermenter, put a sanitized lid and airlock on it and place it back in a dark and, preferably, cool location. A month should be ample time for the cider to clarify. After it’s aged for as long as you can stand, bottle it as above. This cider will most definitely be “still,” with no bubbles.

Option 3: Make Sparkling Cider. Regardless of whether you decide to bottle immediately or let it clarify in a secondary fermenter, if you want “sparkling” cider, you’ll have to add a couple steps at bottling time. First, boil 1 cup water with three-fourths cup honey or brown sugar. Pour this mixture into a sanitized bottling bucket (i.e., another fermentation bucket with a spigot at the bottom). Then, siphon your cider over from your fermentation bucket to the bottling bucket. The honey or brown sugar syrup and cider should mix together naturally, but stir slowly with a sanitized spoon if you feel it is necessary. Then, bottle as you would normally. You’ll have to let this sit a bit longer than the still cider, so the residual yeast will have time to ferment the sugar you added and carbonate the cider inside the bottle.

Brewing Equipment

One 5-gallon food-grade plastic bucket with spigot, lid and airlock
3 to 6 feet of 5/16-inch food-grade plastic tubing
Stainless steel or plastic spoon
Enough half-gallon glass “growler” jugs or other bottles (including caps or corks) to store the finished cider
Optional: Stainless steel or enameled pot
Optional: a second 5-gallon food-grade plastic bucket with spigot, or a glass carboy

Hard Cider Ingredients

5 gallons of preservative-free, sweet apple cider, preferably unpasteurized
Two packets of wine yeast (Lalvin 71B or Red Star Cote des Blancs are good choices)
Optional for higher alcohol content: 2 pounds of brown sugar or honey
Optional for creating a starter: one 16-ounce bottle of preservative-free, pasteurized apple juice
Optional for sparkling cider: 3/4 cup honey or brown sugar