Temperature is the best masher ever, just bring pears up to temp and let cool, mash with zero effort and break down the sugars to an easier state for the yeast to work with. same as heating honey to make mead, just warm it up!
20 ton shop press with clean bucket and holes drilled in a piece of plywood for the top plunger. Or you can go with sealskinners program. He knows what he’s doing
I built one using the bucket method that I use when making beer and...even stronger beer. Mine mashes the bucket before it gets juice out of apples. I need a better bucket strategy.