To Press or not to Press

[Ernest T Bass]

What advantage will I see if I buy a press? Presently, when my must gets to about 1.010 I transfer it to a 5 gallon bucket thru a paint straniner and squeeze all the juice I can thru the strainer. I only put about 2 or 3 cups of must in the strainer at a time and the hulls and stuff are pretty dry after squeezing. I then pour the juice in the carboy with a air-lock. I always have a lot of fiber to settle out in the carboy. Am I gaining anything by squeezing the strainer that hard?
Thanks
Semper Fi

 

[JohnT]

For tiny amounts (perhaps up to 5 gallons), I see no advantage.

If you are doing a bit more, I would go with the "bucket-inside-a-bucket" setup if need be.

If you end up spending more than a few hours pressing (using what you have) then I would recommend a press.

 

[x_diver]

Can you please explain "bucket inside a bucket setup"?

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

What are you trying to press? THerae are all kinds of presses, from little stainless steel ones to big ones. When we squeeze the bag its not King Konging it if its a soft fruit, the more you Kong it the more stuff gets thru the strainer as you have found out, you can put more in the bag so your squeezing isnt as effective or just dont try to get every drop out WVMJ

 

[GreginND]

Bucket inside a bucket is just 2 5gal pails. One you drill a bunch of small holes in. Place your fruit in that and squish out the juice/wine by putting another bucket on top of it inside the bucket with holes and fruits.

I actually find a commercial yellow mop bucket with the mop wringer works pretty well. Put the fruit inside s paint straining bag, place it in the wringer and press away. Now it may not be designated as food safe but it's not like I'm storing wine in it for any length of time. I doubt anything leaches out in the couple minutes the wine or juice us in the mop bucket.

 

[JohnT]

Bucket inside a bucket is just 2 5gal pails. One you drill a bunch of small holes in. Place your fruit in that and squish out the juice/wine by putting another bucket on top of it inside the bucket with holes and fruits.

I actually find a commercial yellow mop bucket with the mop wringer works pretty well. Put the fruit inside s paint straining bag, place it in the wringer and press away. Now it may not be designated as food safe but it's not like I'm storing wine in it for any length of time. I doubt anything leaches out in the couple minutes the wine or juice us in the mop bucket.

Nice Greg, The mop bucket idea is much better (and only slightly more expensive).

 

[GreginND]

Here's some fresh king of the north grapes I was pressing a couple years ago. It's not as good as a real press, but I find it better than the bucket in a bucket.