Making you own juice is easy!
Choosing apples
First, the apples must be sorted and washed thoroughly,
especially when they are already fallen down from a tree and picked from the
ground. Dirty apples or apples with rotten bits are not suitable for juice
making as the juice can quickly ferment even after pasteurization. Even a small
amount of moldy or rotten apples can spoil the taste of the juice and affect the
expiration of the whole patch. You’ll get extra aromatic and delicious juice by
mixing different kinds of apples. It is important that the apples are mature
enough, but not too ripe or too raw. Raw apples give very little juice and also
the juice will be very sour. The overripe apples, however, become too try and fall
apart very easily. It is hard to press them and also the juice will be cloudy
and full of pulp. That’s why it’s best to use late-autumn and winter apples for
juice-making as they are juicier and denser than soft summer apples.
Shredding apples
The next step
is to crush the apples with a special apple shredder. It's easy to squeeze the
juice out of a shredded pulp and also in that way you’ll get higher juice
yield. Unfortunately, just cutting the apples with a knife does not fulfill the
same purpose as it does not break the cell structure of apples which ultimately
gives you more juice. To increase the juice outcome, you can let the shredded pulp
rest for a few hours before pressing. The juice will already start coming out
from the pulp during resting time.
Pressing apple juice
Shredded pulp is placed into
juice press basket and it will be pressed. It is recommended to use a filter
bag inside of the press so that the juice will be clear and free from pulp.
Depending on the apples and the fineness of shredding, the juice yield is
usually between 40% to 70% of the total weight of the apples.
During the pressing it is recommended to increase the pressure gradually so
that there is time for juice to flow out from the pulp.
One cycle, which includes filling the basket, pressing, emptying the
basket, takes about 15 minutes.
The juice yield depends mostly on preparation as well as proper technique
of pressing.
Juice storage
Apple juice stays fresh in the fridge for 3-4 days on
average. To preserve the juice over the winter, it needs to be pasteurized or
heated and filled into bottles or Bag-in-Box juice storage bags. Pasteurized
apple juice will stay fresh for at least 12 months.
