Too early then 😕. Here has been very early but then it has been extra sunny all year....and even then I have still left things on the tree to ripen.
Your best bet is to freeze them solid in the freeze then press them. It should help break down the starches into sugars.
Its a heavy fruit year. It's been much rainier here than normal, but this isn't the first time I've dealt with early fruit. I steam juice, so that helps and then I end up adding frozen juice concentrate to the cider mix to kick-start fermentation anyway so it all works out.
Ah ok. Steaming would break down the starch too. When I worked at the cidery we used to have a real character called Wally come deliver us tons of apples who was 92! When he was young, some 'old boys' who fought in the Boer war left him a cider mill(!!!) and they used to pressure cook the apples. It was apparently super strong as a result but the government put the taxes up on strong cider and killed the whole thing.
I looked the guy up and found this quote about him:
"Wally was brilliant at pouring oil on troubled waters ... and then setting light to it.”😂
