A Public and Family Business: Lain's Cider Mill - Canisteo, NY

As promised, here's an informative, but informal Lain's Cider Mill Tour:

1.  Import the Apples.  As I mentioned in the other post, they don't own an orchard themselves, which is kinda interesting considering they have one of the best cider mills I've ever been to.  Although if you're going to do something well, focusing your efforts is a great way to do a great job.  Anyways, they make it work.  Something I was impressed by is that they bring in all their apples from local providers.  This just makes sense because the raw product is going to be healthy, have higher yield and it definitely keeps transportation (and operation) costs down for everyone involved. Additionally, they bring in a wide variety of apples.  In the picture, you can see there are about 12 large crates of apples and each one was a different variety - some of which I never heard of sold in grocery stores.  So chances are, if you can think of a type of apple, they had it.  Also, you're free to try out any apple for free, right from the crate.  Don't like it, or don't finish it? Throw it in the white bucket there in the background: the cows aren't as picky or wasteful as you.

2.  Clean those Apples! When it's time to make cider, they dump all the apples onto a conveyor belt (that they built themselves) and it goes into the cleaner.  The man explaining the process to me said this is once of the places where they are distinct in their operation.  At the end of the ride, apples are dumped into a washer and spinning brush cleaner.  The cleaning process is obvious, but the brushes are especially designed to pull all the excess of the apples.  The bristles of the brush tears away and removes the stems, leaves and any other impurities.  The picture here is the bottom of the washer-brusher and contains all the junk that usually ends up in your cider.  No stems, sticks or leaves in my cider thank you very much!

3. Under Pressure.  Back when the mill started in the 1940s, apples were sent to the manual press where the operator used a number of large bolts to press down on the fruit.  They still own their manual press and it is on display.  I couldn't take a picture of it because the sun was setting and it was too dark.  Today, they used an automatic (hydraulic) press, which takes considerably less effort and less time.  The picture doesn't give it justice, but that red bar is actually a large metal plate and it presses the apples into the wooden base.  Overtime, the sweet apple juice comes out of the slot and into a strainer, sending the juice to be mixed with the other ingredient while leaving the solid apple film left at the top.  I didn't ask what they did with the film, but they put it in a machine, presumably where all the other firms are kept.  Unique to this mill compared to the other ones I've been to, you can come here and bring your own apples and they will press them for you.  And even though it's not a free service, it's cheaper than buying from any grocery store for the amount you get.  This is of special interest to me for two reasons.  #1: You could try out different ciders from the different apples provided by the mill over the course of several years.  I can only imagine all the different flavors apple cider can have.  #2: You can also throw other fruits into the press as well to get even more different tasting ciders.  If you know the McClains, they own both an apple and pear tree.  Just for kicks, they were going to visit here this week and throw some pears into their cider mix.

4.  Mix it Up! The juice is then moved from the press into the mixing basin where all the other ingredients needed for accelerating the fermenting process are added.  It would be important to note here that when you buy from the mill directly, they don't put any preservatives into the cider.  Why?  Although preservatives do make the cider last longer, it also corrupts that delicious flavor.  Having put so much effort into keeping the product fresh and clean, why take away all that hard work by adding chemicals?  And besides, they know and you know that cider isn't going to last more than a week in your fridge anyways - even if you do buy a gallon.  Also, this probably saves them a little money too.

5. Still not Impressed?  They do sell more than just apples and cider at the mill.  In fact, we ended up buying two dozen donuts as well.  Of course they make the donuts themselves on site.  They only come in two flavors though: plain and cinnamon.  Now, I'm not a huge fan of plain donuts, but even those were extraordinarily delicious.  They're in the back near the manual press I was telling you about.  And speaking of that old manual press, that is where they sell their hard cider kits.  Personally, I'm not much into any product that has or could make alcohol, but when we visit next year (and there will be a visit), I might purchase a kit.  Not only does it include everything you need to make it, but it comes in a variety of flavors: apple, pear, blueberries, apricots... basically any fruity flavor you can think of.  So if you're over 21, maybe that might peak your interest.

That's all I got.  If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.  I strongly recommend you just take the trip yourself.  Too late for this season?  Don't worry, there is always next year.