On Mar 21, 11:35*am, "Lum Eisenman" > wrote:
> "Wayne Harris" > wrote in message
>
> ...
>
> >I have not searched the archives of this group, apologies if this has
> > been covered.
>
> > I have neither a Crusher/de-stemmer nor a grape press.
>
> > Does anyone ever use a standard basket wine press for both roles?
>
> > Can I get by with doing the initial crush with a light pressing in the
> > basket press?
>
> > -Wayne
>
> Wayne,
> Small quantities of grapes can be crushed by hand and the stems removed
> using the following technique. *Put a clean, plastic milk crate on top of a
> suitable container (a new, 33-gallon trash can). *Pickup a few clusters of
> grapes in both hands. *Place your hands in the bottom of the milk crate and
> squeeze the grapes. *Then make a scrubbing motion and the crushed fruit and
> juice will drop through the crate into the container. *Discard the stems
> from the crate and repeat the process.
> Good luck with your winemaking,
> Lum

I plan on making about 75 gallons of Cab this fall. I think that will
require about 1200 lbs of grapes.
Off-hand, that sounds like too much to process in this fashion.
thoughts?

I'm in a bit of a financial funk. 1200lbs sems too much to do by
hand, and too little to justify a 500 dollar crusher/destemmer.