We had a bumper crop of pears this year.
The trees bloomed in the spring, and we got pears in the summer.
But then they bloomed again in September, and we got even more.
I did not want to make jelly or butter with them. I decided instead
to make perry. What is perry, you ask?
Perry, quite simply is cider made from pears.
First thing I needed was a fruit press. A fruit press is an expensive thing,
and did not have an enormous amount of fruit. I spdid not even know if I would like
the perry well enough to make it again, so investing in a press
did not make sense. With a little research, my husband and I was able
to rig up a press.
All it took was a clean five gallon bucket, some scrap wood, a hi-lift
jack, some power tools and a little time.
First, we had to make a brace. We were lucky in that our porch was
able to be used. We just reinforced the handrail with another piece of wood
so it did not pop off. We screwed another scrap underneath to hold our jar.
Second, we cut scraps of wood to fit inside the bucket, and then screwed
them together. We ended up making solid and pretty thick.
Third, we drilled a hole in the side of the bucket near the bottom. We had one
hole originally with a tube running out, but kept clogging. Instead of using a
tube, we drilled several holes and that worked better.
Voila, a fruit press.
To use it, place the bucket on the floor, with the holey part hanging over the jar.
Dump some fruit in, put the wood press in, and the jack on top of the wood.
Go ahead and pull the jack up to the railing, and then all you do is tighten it.
We went about our chores, and whenever one of was one the porch, we would tighten the jack up a little more. When you have decided you have extracted all the juice you can release the pressure off of the jack, dump out the pomace, and start over with more fruit. The pomace went to the animals, and the juice was filtered as there were a few pear chunks in it. But all in all, it worked out well.
