NWOCC - The North West Ohio Cider Company?

Since long before Apple Sauce Day '15, I've been driving around admiring all the different cider apple tree's, whose fruit goes to waste every year!  I can't help but wonder if there would be a market for pressing cider in the area... I've heard $3/gallon to press cider, if you drive a half hour to take it in.  But what if I loaded up on a trailer and came to the apples?  $4/gallon, $5 a gallon?  What would be fair?

Well before I get my cart before my horse, I need to build a cider press!  My wife got me the Herrick Kimball Whizbang Cider book (on Amazon here) for my birthday and now I need a garbage disposal!  I doesn't look like it will happen this year... but I've got an add on Craigslist and I'm hopeful!  Anybody have an old garbage disposal they don't want anymore?

Butchering 59 Chickens in One Day...

WELL THAT WAS A MISTAKE!

I don't know how many of you have ever butchered a chicken, considered raising them or even eaten one...but let me tell you that it is not a fun process to butcher them.  Now Herrick Kimball makes a good tutorial and equipment plans for butchering them, and I am incredibly grateful for his work... but next year, we'll be paying somebody to do that work.

The process:

Killing a chicken... I turned it upside down in a killing cone and slit both sides of the neck.  Pretty easy.

Scald the chicken... keep the water between 145 and 150!  When the wing feathers come out easily, time to pluck.

Pluck... check out the Whizbang Chicken plucker.  I borrowed one from a guy at work... Thank God!

Butcher... http://www.butcherachicken.blogspot.com/   - Nuff said, good job Herrick!

Freeze the bird...

Be exhausted and have to clean up...

I need to get better at bringing in pictures to post!