Normally I boil my cider for 15 minutes before putting it in the Carboy.
While this has worked well, I want to see if I get more “flavor” by going the “lower temp/longer heat” route. I had a web page that discussed this but for the life of me I can’t find it now. 
Can anyone tell me what temp and how long I should do this cooking?
Thanks.
Instead of boiling, perhaps consider using 1 campden tablet per gallon, 24 hours before you add yeast:
http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/campden-tablets.htmlI also recommend not boiling your cider. It can lead to some unwanted flavors and set in haze. The recommended route is the campden tabs.
So, not wanting to completely abandon what as worked for me before … I stuck with the heat pasteurization. Instead of boiling this time, I did use the slow heat mode.
I used 4 gallons of locally pressed cider and 2 pounds of honey. I let the whole thing simmer in the 160f to 170f range for 45 minutes. Then brought the temp back down to about 75f as quickly as I could by putting my pots of cider (I used 2 pots) in a cold water bath.
Once cooled it was immediately poured into my carboy and I added the “Wyeast 4184 Sweet Mead”. This is another big departure for me. Normally I use a two stage yeast approach (Ale yeast to start and then adding champagne yeast when I rack).
I finished by noon yesterday and by bedtime I had some nice “fizzing” in the carboy. By this morning I had quite a head of foam and some rather vigorous bubbling going on in my airlock!
I’ll try to remember to update the progress as weeks go by.
posting.php?mode=reply&f=9&t=106668#So, just to update …
On Tuesday (1/3) I racked my cider and added another gallon of fresh cider and another pound of honey. I put the honey and the new gallon in a pot and simmered it at 170f for 45 minutes before cooling it and adding it back to my newly racked cider.
As of today, the cider is bubbling nicely again.
BTW - sampled some of the cider and it was nice. Still very sweet but already(been 14 days) had a kick to it.
In the past, I heat pasteurized at 170 F for 10-15 minutes. Never had a problem with that method. In fact, I’ll probably try it again next season and maybe do a side-by-side vs. Campden to see which method works better for me.
UPDATE-
Wow! Bottled today.
I have outdone myself. This is my best batch yet!
IMHO - not to sweet and soooo not to dry like previous batches have been.
Best of all though … the taste of the original cider REALLY comes through!
As for final gravity … well, my reading was 1.002 but I have trouble believing that because it doesn’t taste very dry.
That being said … 8oz of the stuff has me quite … “happy”. 
My only disappointment is that I only got 4 gallons out of it. I have put a dozen bottles in the fridge to drink “as is” and the rest in the cellar to bottle ferment a bit more … mostly for experimentation though. For me, this stuff is ready to drink as is.
I don’t know if the difference this time was the “not boiling it” thing or if it was the fact i just used “cider yeast” but this is the way I shall always make it from here out!
This is almost exactly the same recipe I used as well, except I did 10 gallons of cider and 4 lbs of honey. Bottled 10 days ago, so I’m waiting until 2 weeks to try my first bottle. It was pretty tasty before bottling I must say.
