Dolly Mixtures..?

A cider weekend sees the addition of batches 8 and 9 - 1.054 and 1.060 respectively. Using up the last of some very sweet red-skinned windfalls from a local churchyard most likely accounts for the higher gravity of no.9.
With the scratter video on YouTube receiving so many hits, I thought I'd mention two simple modifications for this season.
1st the feed plates have been further shortened and a plastic skirt added. This is just a stretched out (at one end) strong plastic bag. Just held in place trapped between the body and plywood base plate - a simple but big improvement and the scratter hasn't clogged up like it used to.


Also a piece of plastic bag just held with a couple of drawing pins over the feeder chute prevents bits flying back out - again simple but effective.




Using softer apples and with the drill set to a slower speed it took 20 minutes to scrat over 40kg of apples. Although on a slower speed the scrats tend to come out a little bigger.


and those Dolly Mixtures..?


With other jobs needing doing, especially with the fine spell of weather through October, progress has been slow on the steel press, but the wooden press held yet again...