19th+century+cider+making


 * //__how to make cider in the 19th century__//**

Step 1: Farmers brought their apples and barrels and straw down to the mill and ran it themselves. Usually the owner of the mill allowed anyone to use it as long as he paid a fee and, of course, didn't do any damage.

Step2: Once the juices were pressed and filtered through straw or cloth, or some other type of sieve to remove solids, the farmer would take the juice home and watch and listen to the activity in the barrels.



Step3:The yeasts that were present in the juice would start to feed on the sugars (making alcohol as a byproduct) and the juice would foam and fizz and hiss. Once this action stopped the must had become what everyone at the time would recognize as cider.

Step 4:At this time it would be drawn off into clean new barrels. Many farmers would add a few "extras" into the cider at the time of the transfer to the new barrels to improve its taste or its longevity. These extras might be brandy or rum to raise the alcohol level, or isinglass, egg shells, charcoal, or sand to keep the cider from spoiling

Step 5:At this time it would be drawn off into clean new barrels. Many farmers would add a few "extras" into the cider at the time of the transfer to the new barrels to improve its taste or its longevity. These extras might be brandy or rum to raise the alcohol level, or isinglass, egg shells, charcoal, or sand to keep the cider from spoiling.

Step 6:Some also added blood and meat to mature the taste and give it something to "feed" on while it was in the cellar.

and then wait 5 months and theres your apple cider

facts:The land on which the mill was originally built in Brookfield, N.H., and changed hands in the early 1840's. The Lyford family had purchased the farm in the late 18th century after it was sold at auction to settle debts. One of the Lyford daughters, Betsy, married John Hutchins in the early 19th century and the farm then passed into their family who retained ownership until recently.

**//__Average housework during the day__//**
1. For the cleaning part of the day, The soot and smoke from coal and wood burning stoves blackened walls and dirtied drapes and carpets. Gas and kerosene lamps left smelly deposits of black soot on furniture and curtains. Each day, the lamp's glass chimneys had to be wiped and wicks trimmed or replaced. Floors had to scrubbed, rugs beaten, and windows washed. 2. For the cooking part of the day, the housewife had to use a cast iron stove. To use this, a shes from an old fire had to be removed. Then, paper and kindling had to be set inside the stove, dampers and flues had to be carefully adjusted, and a fire lit. Since there were no thermostats to regulate the stove's temperature, a woman had to keep an eye on the contraption all day long. Any time the fire slackened, she had to adjust a flue or add more fuel. 3. It was not enough for a housewife to know how to use a cast iron stove. She also had to know how to prepare unprocessed foods for consumption. Prior to the 1890s, there were few factory prepared foods. Shoppers bought poultry that was still alive and then had to kill and pluck the birds. Fish had to have scales removed. Green coffee had to be roasted and ground. Loaves of sugar had to pounded, flour sifted, nuts shelled, and raisins seeded. 4. On Sunday evenings, she soaked clothing in tubs of warm water. then she had to scrub the laundry on a rough washboard and rub it with soap made from lye, which severely irritated her hands. Next, she placed the laundry in big vats of boiling water and stirred the clothes about with a long pole to prevent the clothes from developing yellow spots. Then she lifted the clothes out of the vats with a washstick, rinsed the clothes twice, once in plain water and once with bluing, wrung the clothes out and hung them out to dry. At this point, clothes would be pressed with heavy flatirons and collars would be stiffened with starch.

http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/historyonline/housework.cfm