Making cider

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Radio interview source: Richard Swearinger, senior food editor, Better Homes and Gardens

I made cider in an episode of the Living the Country Life television program. We used apples from my friend Doug's orchard and ground them through an old-fashioned wooden apple press. It took us many takes and we had to drink the cider over and over again for each one. Good thing it was delicious!

I noticed that the more gnarly the apples, the better the cider. Richard Swearinger, the senior food editor for Better Homes and Gardens magazine, agrees. He says you don't have to be picky.

"It's best to use a mix of apples," Swearinger says. "That's when you get the most interesting flavor combinations. Just do what our ancestors did in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries -- just mix whatever you have, press it, and enjoy it. There are no wrong choices in apple juice. The more varieties the better, but, single varieties make wonderful apple juice as well."

Most Extension services recommend not making cider with apples from trees close to livestock or heavily populated by birds. Also, make sure the apples are dry.