Clearance: MacIntosh Fruit Press 5 Gallon + Wood Basket

I purchased the fruit press to accommodate our small orchard's Honey Crisp apple needs and have been extremely impressed. The product was delivered on time in a very sturdy container. Construction is even better than expected and the MacIntosh is a work of art. The minimal ssembly was completed by my elementary aged daughter. The pressing screw glides effortlessly through the pressing process so easily, my daughter easily completed the first press with her fingertips, completely pressing all liquid. The remaining fruit pulp is easily removed by using the fabric mesh bags, sold separately, and was fed to the chickens. Cleanup is completed with soap and water. I added lubricant to the metal shaft as well.

Besides Honey Crisp apples, our orchard also includes: Concord grapes, red Latham raspberries, yellow Anne raspberries, Bartlet pear and Stella cherries. The fruit press was used to press from the entire orchard. Note - each fruit was pressed separately and then blended together for taste in the kitchen.

The price for this labor saver was a steal. The fruit press has become my best friend, next to the bees.

I am quite pleased. The press has surpassed all my wishes. Easy to operate, easy to clean and most important, the yield is wonderful.

I bought 3 of the mesh bags and use all 3 in each press with 2 circular pieces from a plastic cutting board separating them. The mash is divided into thirds and the cider can only exit out the side of the press. I've found this to be very effective in increasing the amount of cider and the speed of doing so.

Overall, I have nothing but praise for the McIntosh press. Easy to set up, easy to use, easy to clean. I've had it in use for a couple of weeks so far and the only issues I've had is the yield has been so good that we had to buy another freezer to accommodate the cider and even then we've given away almost 20 gallons and there are still more apples to come!

Bought this last year and love it. The frame is compact but sturdy, and feels like you can put a lot of pressure on the fruit to squeeze out maximum juice. I also like that the optional grinder is separate from the press as one person can work the press while another grinds fruit for the next batch--it's more efficient having a separate unit.

I have used a couple of cider pressed a long time ago. I looked at our loaded apple trees and decided nobody could eat that much apple sauce or apple butter. Time to buy our own cider press. It was delivered in under a week. It looks great! Best thing, it works as great as it looks. Family loved the cider. Should have splurged and bought the apple grinder too. Well I guess there is Christmas coming up. If you plan on pressing more than a few gallons, this press is ideal. We love it so much, we are starting a new family and friends cider pressing day to share our delicious homemade cider and teach the young ones. The people at Pleasant Hill are so nice and helpful, I could not imagine ordering from anyone else.

Instead of once again begging and borrowing other peoples' cider presses, we finally decided to SPLURGE and get our own. Pleasant Hill Grain had the best combination of photos, descriptions, and helpful people on the telephone. We bought this press from PHG, set it up and used it for several days. After pressing over 20 gallons of cider, we let our friends use it, too.

The MacIntosh press is rugged, beautiful and functional. We absolutely love it and are very happy we bought it.

Thank you Pleasant Hill Grain for your help!

Just did our first pressing of about 450 pounds of apples; only took a few hours with some friends and the Maximizer grinder. I felt like the press was very effective as our apple pomace was very dried out, and though some of our apples were not quite ripe we still got over 18 gallons. The mesh bag is a must and is still in good shape after a whole day of pressing. We did not have the hopper extension as we had lots of kids excited to feed apples into the grinder but I could understand why it might help. For us, the press, the grinder, and the mesh bag were the perfect trio for our little hobby farm.

I ended up with too many apples to juice and not enough to take to a commercial cider press. The MacIntosh Press was just right. It was well made, sturdy, easy to use and easy to clean. I was impressed with how much juice I got from the apples. I am looking forward to trying other fruit in it this year. I am hoping for a good grape harvest.

Best bang for the buck I found.

Looks well made and all as advertised. Should have included a mesh bag.