This post will share why you need an apple grinder for making homemade apple juice. Read on why the maximixer apple grinder will triple or quadruple the juice output when making homemade apple cider or juice!
This post is not sponsored but the Maximizer Apple Grinder was gifted. All opinions remain my own.
When I was shopping for an apple press with which I plan to press apple and grape juice, I saw that most presses recommend you get an apple grinder. I thought, “Geez, another thing?!” It turns out you don’t have to have an apple grinder, but you’d be silly to not get one.
An apple grinder, specifically the Maximizer Apple Grinder which I ultimately chose, triples if not quadruples the juice output.
That means you get at least three times as much juice by putting the apples through the Maximizer Apple Grinder first!
Honestly, if it was a 10% increase, I’d probably skip it. But 4x your output?! That’s a HUGE difference!
The apple grinder makes all your apple growing and/or picking efforts yield so much more juice. If you’re bothering to put them through the press in the first place, it would be a mistake to skip grinding them.
The Maximizer Apple Grinder basically rough chops the apples so they can be dumped as a pulp into the press and the juice is much more available. Running the press is much easier, too!
It’s absolutely worth it to get a Maximizer Apple Grinder and I love this specific one because it’s all metal, and easy to use. You can grind the apples into a bucket, or directly into the press- the Maximizer Apple Grinder allows for both. It’s an heirloom quality grinder that my kids can use with their kids.
The Maximizer Apple Grinder needs to be mounted to a wall (a corner of a building) or to a table with a hole in it. Or, it can be mounted natively to the more expensive apple press.
These things are very important considerations when choosing how to set up your apple pressing station.
What we ended up doing was mounting the Maximizer Apple Grinder to an old sewing machine table that used to have a sewing machine that flipped down and out of sight (the machine is long gone). That table had the hole in the middle for the apple pulp to fall through and was fairly sturdy (it needs to be really sturdy because the Maximizer Apple Grinder is really heavy and grinding it generates a ton of motion).
This was not my idea. My dad is a really handy guy and it was his idea. He’s a rancher and that means he’s great at making something useful out of something that he’s kept around “just in case.”
I won’t be including specific directions for how Dad made this table because I’m not a DIY blogger but he used 2 1×6 scraps for the far side of the Maximizer Apple Grinder to be mounted to.
This sewing machine table was a great work around. It took several hours to decide how we’d do it, and do it (with me doing little more than holding screws and affirming that yes, that would work).
I honestly think that it is worth seriously considering purchasing the more expensive apple press that the Maximizer Apple Grinder mounts to natively because this sewing machine table project was more than I expected in terms of hassle and isn’t without drawback.
The Maximizer Apple Grinder is SO EFFECTIVE (seriously pulping those apples in seconds!) that the pulp doesn’t fall gently from the bottom- the pulp is flung out and in the first run my Dad and I did, we had apple pulp all over the floor of the woodshed because the bucket to collect the pulp was too far below.
This discovery affirmed that mounting the Maximizer Apple Grinder to a wall would have required we mouth some sort of removable bucket directly beneath…and I don’t know what that would have looked like or how we would have done it so it was effective and easy.
Final Thoughts on the Maximizer Apple Grinder
Overall the Maximizer Apple Grinder is a well built (my husband exclaimed, “this is hell for stout!”) and will last a lifetime. It mounts natively to this press https://pleasanthillgrain.com/maximizer-fruit-apple-cider-press-stainless-basket which is not the press I got. It can be mounted to a wall or a table with a hole in it, and either option better be sturdy as all get-out. Getting an apple grinder is not an optional add on if you get an apple press- they are a must! The amount of juice that poured effortlessly from the press because the apples were pulped first was incredible.
My great grandma Nona planted the apple trees I’ll be picking for use with this grinder and press. She wrote to her brother, living out of state, and asked that he send her starts for apple, pear, apricot, plum, raspberry, cherry, and more. Those trees are still growing on the family ranch with very little care from my dad other than water. Pretty amazing, right?
Pair the Maximizer Apple Grinder with the Macintosh Apple Press for homemade apple juice- use this recipe!
Want to make the juice but aren’t sure about canning? Join my Free Canning Basics Course! I’ll share valuable lessons straight in your inbox that will help you get started canning the easiest way!
Overrun with apples? Read the 3 Easy Apple Recipes for Beginners Post– In is is my applesauce recipe, the apple shrub recipe, and the BEST applesauce muffins!
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