Austrian cider industry equipment pioneers launch into North America By Peter Glockner
While the cider-making process is very similar to making white wine, it’s the processing equipment that differentiates it the most. Let’s take a look at the cider-making process from an equipment standpoint. Fruit reception/washing: The first stage involves washing the fruit. This can either be achieved on a small scale by hand-washing in self-draining lugs or, at higher production volumes, an integrated bin-dumper/water bath can be incorporated to handle half-ton bins of fruit.
The VORAN Belt Press EPB500.
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ith apple cider now the fastest-growing alcoholic beverage category on the continent, Austrian equipment manufacturers VORAN Machinery picked the perfect time to launch their extensive product line into the North American marketplace. Canadian company, Cellar-tek Supplies signed on as their full-service distributors in Canada and Washington/ Oregon states and we are very excited to be working with one of the most re-
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spected fruit and vegetable processing equipment manufacturers in the world. VORAN is a family owned Austrian company established in 1925 whose manufacturing facilities reflect the most stateof-the-art technologies available today. However, despite their continuous investment in manufacturing innovation, it was a dedication towards listening to their customers’ needs that kindled their growth and earned them the title of cider industry leaders.
Fruit milling: To facilitate the release of juice, the fruit is fed either by hand or automatically into a shredding mill. Mills range in design from small, free-standing units with manual feeding at 650 to 2,000 kg/hour, to automatic, integrated mills that directly feed a continuous belt press at volumes up to 8,000 kg/hour. Fruit pressing: To separate juice from the shredded pulp, one of three common press designs are implemented. The most basic design, the basket press, is one that has survived since the early Greco-Roman period. The pulp is loaded into a “basket”, historically made of vertically aligned wooden slats spaced to allow the juice to run out. A hydraulic ram has replaced the traditional screw to apply pressure on the pulp from above. The pressure is increased by lowering the ram incrementally and allowing the juice to flow at each level