Crushing Grapes Using a Manual Crusher

[Craiger]

Hi Guys,
Really stupid question here. I've been making wine for about 7 years, but I've only been making wine from grapes for 2 years. I make about 5 crates, and up until now, I've crushed my grapes using a club with a flat bottom. I would take the grapes off the stems and crush away. It worked, but even 5 crates took forever.

However, several months ago I got a great deal on a hand cranked crusher.
So, do I crush the grapes with the stems on, and then remove the stems from the primary bucket? Or, do I take grapes off them stems, and then just run the grapes through the crusher? Or, is either way fine?

Thanks!

 

[grapeman]

You can do it eithere way. If you crush first, it will remove most of the grapes from the stems and then you just pick the stems out- but it is messy.

 

[JohnT]

I take it that this is just a simple hand crusher and not a crusher/destemmer? (ok, that was a rather stupid observation)

I think that pickeing the stems out afterwards would go quicker, but I think the concern would be making sure that you got all of the stems out.

You should get yourself some chicken wire and place it between your crusher and the container you crush into. The chicken wire would allow the grapes to fall through, but catch the stems.