recipe adjustment if using a press?

[ludders]

I have a second hand wine press which has no instructions. I have taken a photo which I will try and upload. The basic principle is to squash soft fruit to extract the juice. The recipe books I have talk about cutting up or crushing fruit then leaving it in a plastic barrel for a few days before transferring minus the pulp into a demijohn.

My question is if I use the press should I not put the fruit pulp in, just using the juice obtained? If I do this will the recipe need to be adjusted in terms of the quantity of fruit used?
If no pulp I would still use a large bucket and put into individual DJ's once primary fermentation has settled. My target is blackberry which are going to be pick-able in the next month and I want to try to make 4 gallons.

Thanks in advance.

John

 

[salcoco]

from your description it seems that the beginning of the wine recipe is juice, since the transfer is minus the pulp into a demijohn. I would then proceed accordingly since you are pressing the fruit to obtain the juice.

 

[Rice_Guy]

I have done both and also method # three:
* I always use my press lined with a nylon straining bag to remove juice from berries and grape and apple. Yesterday I was pressing frozen mulberry to collect juice which is going back in the freezer for topping off later. I also keep raspberry juice in the freezer which I use for adding color to blush color wines.
#2 * I have just moved juneberry/ gooseberry out of the primary so to top off the carboy I am “washing” extra flavor/sugar/ acid/ color out of pulp which has already been pressed by mixing dry pulp with equal volume fresh water,, steeping in the fridge a day,, and pressing the liquid off of this for adding to the carboy. AND maybe “washing” a third time if I need more volume.
#3 * Run as you suggest extracting as much of the good stuff and pressing when this is down to 1.020,,, good CO2 is still coming off. ,,, and again always with a nylon bag strainer
*** also a press with the nylon bag makes a good filter if something is still in a batch that needs to come out

My question is if I use the press should I not put the fruit pulp in, just using the juice obtained? If I do this will the recipe need to be adjusted in terms of the quantity of fruit used?
If no pulp I would still use a large bucket and put into individual DJ's once primary fermentation has settled. My target is blackberry

The basic recipe for blackberry says four pounds (pints) per gallon. ,,, We will make a richer/ more flavorful wine by extracting the pulp with the other four pints of water that make up our gallon.
As a guess at best with my press I still have 50% moisture/ flavor left in the “dry” pulp. Sooo With the goal of a rich wine I wash my pulp with fresh water to get as much good stuff as I can.

 

[ramcowboy41]

Just thinking here but that looks more like a cheese press for cheddering then a wine press but i could be mistaken

 

[ludders]

'Just thinking here but that looks more like a cheese press for cheddering then a wine press but i could be mistaken'.

You are mistaken. If you think this press is for cheese you must like your cheddar very runny...