Re: Destemmer design

I would love to see a few pictures. Any chance of you posting some pictures to alt.binaries.pictures.misc or sending by email. A friend and I while doing the milk crate method this weekend (12 cases) discussed the operation and the possibility of building one.

thanks

What is the "milk crate" method?

Kent, You take a milk crate and place it on top of a tub or bucket and scrub the grapes off the stems. Labor intensive but effective.

John,

How is this process more effective/effecient than just stripping the grapes off of the cluster by hand?

Thanx-Mac

Unless you plan on processing several tons per hour, the centrifugal design is way beyond over-kill.

The "cheap" $300-500 models are more than adequate for home use --- except they crush the grapes BEFORE destemming (which releases many of the bitter components we are destemming to avoid) and they are made of painted steel (which eventually chips and flakes and ends up in the must) rather than stainless steel.

By spending $500-1000 (plus $150-200 shipping), you can obtain a stainless steel crusher with a large hopper and auger feed, but you have to spend over $1000 (plus shipping) for a destemmer with the crusher rollers in the destemmer output chute And you have to spend considerably more for a destemmer where you can vary the percentage of the grapes which are destemmed (for those who wish to do partial carbonic macerations), or the percentage of stems which are retained (for those who wish increased tannin levels and "green" flavours).

I'd still be > How is this process more effective/effecient than just stripping the grapes

You obtain more leverage, and are removing more grapes with one motion. Such a "scrubber" will take about 1/4 - 1/3 the time of "just stripping the grapes".