Monster Group (UK)

For anyone with a windfall of fruit or looking to make use of that unloved fruit tree, why not create delicious juice, cider or wine from the juice of both hard and soft fruits.

These 3 simple steps guide you through extracting the juice from a glut of fruit using a manual fruit crusher and fruit pressing machine. That fresh juice can be enjoyed straight away or fermented to make a nice alcoholic drink.

Step 1: Picking & Prepping

Ripe fruit will have the most juice and give the tastiest of flavours so wait until those apples fall from the tree or those berries are looking plump.

Remove any rotten or bad parts with a knife; they could affect the taste of your beloved juice!

Then rinse and cut larger fruits like apples, pears and peaches into quarters, smaller fruits may only need to be halved – just make sure to remove any stones as they can get stuck in the fruit crusher.

Step 2: Crush Crush Crushing!

Using a manual fruit crushing machine is a lot easier and quicker than mushing up that fruit by hand.

Position the KuKoo fruit crusher above a container or even over your fruit press (lined with a straining bag) to catch all that pulped fruit.

Pour the fruit into the hopper and set the wooden rest on top to steady the crusher, then turn the handle to start crushing – it’s as simple as that.

Pulping fruit in this way (also known as pomace) breaks the skin and makes it easier to extract as much tasty juice as possible.

Step 3: Time to Press…

If you haven’t already, line the pressing basket with a straining bag – these handy fellas sieve out bits of fruit and seeds. Transfer the pomace into the pressing basket and cover the top of the fruit with the edges of the straining bag.

Place a container underneath the spout of the base to catch all that juicy goodness!

Set the circular pressing plates on top of the fruit and remember, how much fruit you’ve now got in the fruit press depends how many pressing blocks will need to be added before attaching the handle.

Two wooden blocks are included with all KuKoo fruit presses and these are perfect if the press is filled to full capacity. However if the press is not completely filled, extra blocks of wood will need to be added in order to raise the ratchet and handle above the edge of the basket.

Finally attach the top pressure plate to secure the blocks in place and then screw the ratchet onto the spindle before pushing the handle into position.

Turn the handle to push the pressing blocks down and apply pressure onto the fruit – watch as the juice spills out of the pressing basket.

The ratchet should be turned a little bit at a time; you don’t want to press the fruit all the way down straight away. Allow the press to squash the fruit bit by bit until you reach friction and the ratchet can’t be turned any further. When you reach friction, allow the press time to squash all the fruit and get the maximum amount of juice from it.

Top tip: the fruit pomace that remains after pressing can be used for baking, how about a warm apple pie…

Whether you’re homebrewing cider and wine or drinking your fresh juice over ice, it’ll taste that little bit better knowing you’ve made it yourself. Plus with FREE next working day delivery to mainland UK when you order by 2pm, you could be crushing and pressing fruit by tomorrow!