Czech Shark Fruit apple mill
From Ukcider
Before hard fruit such as cider apples and perry pears can be pressed to obtain their juice they first need to be milled, ground, chopped or grated into a kind of pulp. One way to achieve this is with a Homemade_Scratter device of some sort, (full assembly instructions provided) and another is to use a professionally built fruit milling machine. Depending on how much fruit you need to process there are a number of different sized machines available from Vigo, particularly their new electric plastic-bodied 'hobby' mill, but the Shark Fruit Crusher offers a good economic alternative for the small scale producer.
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Purchasing
Added by Vicky:
Please note for purchases I am the UK distributor if you would like to order please contact me directly with any queries. Please don't leave it to the last minute, transport costs are high this year I am trying to group shipments to keep costs down, thanks! sales@fruitshark.co.uk
Note the English version of manufacturers website no longer available however I have left the rest of the report from Michael and Ray below.
The Vares Shark Fruit 1.6
Safety
You must use the Shark in conjunction with an RCD (Residual Current Device) with a maximum nominal tripping value of 30 mA. All common sense stuff when dealing with electrical items with exposed metal parts, liquids and 240 volts...
It's also recommended that you wear eye protection (in case any bits get thrown out), ear defenders (107dB), and some protective gloves - in other words the usual Health and Safety stuff for "garden machinery". However, in use I've found it to be very quiet.
Description
The Shark is similar to a garden shredder, but with a bigger mouth to accept apples and made of stainless steel to resist corrosion by the malic acid found in apple juice. To prevent you getting your hand down to the cutter (safety) the chute has three angled baffles which shut off half the area, alternating down the chute. It comes with its own collecting box for the pomace, which is of a quite fine size and texture.
Vares supply plastic bags to line the collecting box for "hygiene" reasons. These are awkward to use and a number would be used for any prolonged pressing. The collection box is made from Polypropylene which in itself is OK for food use, but as it is coloured (colouring agents are the main problem with 'inert' plastics when there is a question over food grade) it's advisable not to leave the pulp in there for too long, ie overnight. Previous purchasers have used the mill without the bags and have not had any problems.
In use
The chute takes everything but the biggest apples without having to cut them. As said above, it's quiet when in use, rocking slightly when the apples hit the cutter. As we were milling outside, we found it a good idea to put the Shark on an old rubber door mat to protect the metal frame from getting scratched. I didn't bother using the plastic bags supplied, just cleaned the collecting box really well and tipped the pulp into a 5-gallon bucket when appropriate. Unlike Mark, mine didn't seem to drop any juice but then I wasn't milling many apples this year (biennialism); however, some very fine pulp did ooze slightly from where the chute meets the top plate, but nothing to worry about.
Cleaning
Un-plug the Shark and remove the dome-headed nuts (2) and the bolts (2) around the bottom of the chute and carefully lift off the chute. This will expose the blade which is very sharp! A good blast with a hosepipe will dislodge most of the bits and bobs left behind, inverting the chute to blast out the bits jammed under the baffles, followed by a wash in warm soapy water. The cutter and lower part of the Shark needs more careful cleaning, especially under the cutter. Allow the whole thing to dry thoroughly before re-assembling it. A plastic bag stretched over the mouth of the chute will stop debris and muck finding it's way in.
Re-assembly...
When re-attaching the funnel and top plate to the main body after cleaning, make sure you put the right bolt in the right hole... One bolt is longer than the other and this is to make sure it is long enough to activate a micro-switch which acts as a safety cut-out that stops the Shark being used whilst the cutter is exposed. When standing at the back of the Shark with the warning label facing you and the power cable entering on your left, the long bolt goes into the hole on your left. Looking closely you'll see a metal strip through the nut which the longer bolt presses on to activate the circuitry.
Of course, no-one would be stupid enough to put the wrong bolt in the wrong hole and then spend an hour or so cursing the machine because they couldn't figure out why it wouldn't work... Vicky recommends marking the relevant bolt and hole on the machine with a blob of paint - a sensible idea!
Photographs
These photos of the Shark in use were taken by Michael and Ray.
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How the box locks on.
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Ready for use.
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How the box catches the milled pulp.
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Milled pulp collected in the box.
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Two box fulls will fill a 5 gallon container and yield around 3 gallons of juice.
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Stripped for cleaning.
Buy Direct from UK Importer
Added by Vicky 12th September 2006 - I have been importing these machines for 3 years now and was responsible for the original introduction of them to other UK Cider members. If you would like to order a Fruit Shark Crusher please contact me on sales@fruitshark.co.uk I ship to anywhere in the UK.
For information my machine is performing faultlessly after 5 years :)
Note: August 2008 presses and Fruit Shark machines available to order now
I also have a range of 8, 18, 30 and 45 litre capacity ratchet operated basket presses from Italy. The picture below shows the 45 litre capacity press. Note the 35 refers to the cage diameter (35cm)
