We had quite a bit of apples, therefore, quite a bit of scraps left over. In the past we used to press a certain yellow apple that we really like to pick/eat, but we found that the Honeycrisp is a softer, juicier, more pressable apple, so we stuck with those ( and a few ugly home grown yellow ones from our tree.
Once pressed, we took the. scraps and filled 3 gallon jars about 3/4 the way. Made a solution of sugar/ water ( 1 Tbs of sugar per cup of water). We then filled the jars almost all the way to the top. As expected, the scraps both hydrated and floated almost all the way to the top, and it's important to keep the scraps submerged to prevent mold and spoilage. Some of the apples we saved to eat were huge, so I cut one up into large slices , and was able to put the slice on top of the scraps, and used some wooden skewers to help press everything under the sugar water, leaving no apple parts ( including the covering slices ) exposed. I've covered the jars in the past with either cheese cloth or a coffee filter, secured with a rubber band. The recipe calls to stir it every few days. I usually poke around a bit with a skewer, but not too much, as it causes the solids to float to the top.
Now it's the waiting game. Have to let it sit for about 2 weeks, then strain out the solids, and let sit again for a few more weeks. This is the 4th time I'm doing it this way with only one failure, and I'm assuming some of the apple scraps floated to the top, causing spoilage.
