You sure have a lot of questions. See if the library has a copy of The New Cider Makers Handbook; Joulicourt, about 2010?
Would it be more efficient, with less lees, if the juice were strained before primary? I’m thinking just a wire strainer.
Is adding lemon juice to prevent browning a thing?
I’m starting to imagine a process. Use a peeler/corer then drop the apples into a bucket of lemon water, along with the skins. Run the apples through a grinder and strain the pulp out as the juice goes into the fermenting bucket. 6ish gallons of juice. Add skins to fermenter. Bentonite?, pectic enzyme, acid blend, tannin?, yeast (tbd). Will I need nutrient?Does that depend on yeast choice? Rack into hopefully 5 gallon carboy secondary. What if I were to top up with apple juice in secondary if needed? Be it 5 or 6 gallons.
Also, most recipes I see mention boiling the apples. Yes, no? I’m leaning towards not wanting that.
* apples have high pectin, I would never boil
* traditional creates juice with two choices 1) grind whole apples and then squeeze out the juice. Grinding could be a garbage disposer or if you quarter them a meat grinder. 2) freeze whole apples > thaw > press whole apples (I will score the skin or with apple crabs cut in half). Freezing creates a cleaner juice than grinding. Traditional would not peel or core, ,,, that is major added work..
* grinding followed by straining will have poor juice yield, you really need a press to put constant pressure on the apple. A simple press is two 18 or 24 plywood squares with threaded rod on the four corners. A grape/ traditional fruit press works well.
* bentonite, won’t help a lot you are fighting pectin, ,,, pectase or even five times package direction, ,,, remember to treat right away since alcohol decreases effectiveness
* a standard tree can yield five bushels! Apples are easy to get by asking the neighbors or driving the town roads and finding on the roadside. Juice volume can get massive.
* the US apple market produces high sugar aromatic types. Good cider/ wine/ cyser is a blend of sharps (high acid), sweets (1.050 to 1.060), bitters (high tannin 10% of the juice +/-).
* I have been using under the power lines city owned Prarie Fire crabs for tannin at five to ten percent. These are dry therefore I “wash” out the tannin by crushing the crabs the adding an equal volume of fresh cider. A cider apple like Kingston has low enough tannin that it can be a single variety.
* US table apples by themself are kind of blah! We can get acid (sharps) with the acid bottle and sweets (sugar) with the sugar bag. Look for aroma and tannin, ,,, apple tannin tastes better than chestnut or grape (opinion)
* a lot of US fresh cider is pH 3.2 / 1.0% TA and 1.050 gravity. Doesn’t really need acid. A yeast like 71B or Maurivin B will reduce the malic acid. Some ciders have malo run to reduce the acid.
* Acetobacter will be on the apple skins, watch the head space and sulphite.
* cool / unheated garage does a better ferment than 70F.
FAVORITES
* a 1.100 gravity cyser or brouchet made with 10% tannic crabs back sweetened with apple concentrate, ,, table apples blended with a stronger flavor as 10% cranberry juice, ,, I will put 10% crab apple in my Briana white grape or 5% in my rhubarb wine, to me it misses the harsh notes from chestnut or grape tannins.
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