How to make apple juice How to make apple juice

How to Make Apple Juice in 4 Ways?

Are you tired of drinking packaged apple juices 1loaded with preservatives? Or perhaps craving a scrumptious, refreshing, and nutritional summer/fall drink at none other than home?

Do you have leftover apple peel and cores from making apples crumble and do not want to let them go to waste? If this sounds like you, you are absolutely at the right place and need not worry, we have your back. Explore how to make apple juice at home, and that too in 4 ways below!

How to Make Apple Juice in 4 Ways?

Here you will know everything about homemade apple juice2 – from its recipe ( both with and without a juicer and from leftover apple peel and cores) to the health benefits of apples, the upsides and downsides of apple juice, making apple puree, applesauce, and apple juice (all in one single process) – everything in one place!

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By Pixel 2013 on Pixabay.com Copyright 2022

An apple juice recipe is fairly straightforward to follow. After a few times, the juicing process will become as easy as breathing. Here you will learn some simple recipes for homemade apple juice.3

What are the Benefits of Apple?

Apples are delicious on their own and when introduced to various dishes, but also they come packed and loaded with health benefits and nutritious values.

Apples have been related to numerous health benefits, including improved gut health4 and reduced risk of strokes, high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and some cancers.

As stated by the reports of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a small to medium-sized apple is a fair enough source of fibre. It is said to contain a good 4.8 grams of nutrients. It is also a fair enough source of potassium and Vitamin C, offering 9.2 milligrams and some other vitamins and minerals.

Apples have fibre which helps aid digestion; they may lower high cholesterol and blood pressure. Apples can support a healthy immune system by being a diabetes-friendly fruit.

The antioxidants in apples may play a role in Cancer prevention5, and eating apples (in suitable quantities) can support healthy weight loss.

Apples may also prevent Alzheimer’s disease, and last but not least, apples might help keep your gut healthy. Thus, the phrase “an apple a day helps to keep a doctor away” has some truth.

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By Stevepb on Pixabay.com Copyright 2022

Apple Juice is Packed with Nutritious Value!

When juicing apples, their hydrating quality is maximized, and many plant compounds are retained. Are you someone who is looking for a refreshing, scrumptious, and nutritious summer drink?

Or a way to use up an abundance of apples from a nearby apple tree? Or has the weather cooled, and you’re getting ready to whip up large batches of mulled apple cider and other warm drinks? – for all of these, learning how to make apple juice is a must!

It is a delicious beverage to serve guests or keep handy for yourself. Apple juicing is seemingly an intimidating process. However, that is not at all true.

This post has everything you need to know about apple juice- from its recipe to its health benefits and some fun, relevant information.

Health Benefits of Apple Juice:

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Image by StockSnap from Pixabay

Apple juice fends off dehydration, consequently promoting hydration.  This makes it easy to consume — especially for those sick or unwell and at an increased risk of dehydration.

Apple juice contains beneficial plant compounds, which may protect your cells from inflammation and oxidative damage. The two of these processes are fundamental elements in chronic conditions, including certain cancers and heart diseases.

Apples are rich in and loaded with plant compounds, mainly polyphenols. While most of these compounds are in the peel, some from the apple flesh are retained in the juice. Cloudy or murky juice with pulp is higher in polyphenols than clear juice.

Apple juice may support heart health. In apple juice, plant compounds, including polyphenols, may be specifically beneficial for heart health. Polyphenols may prevent LDL or bad cholesterol from oxidizing and accumulating in your arteries.

Higher degrees of oxidized LDL are associated with increased heart attack and stroke risk.

Some of this protection may be due to the antioxidant activity of the polyphenols6 contained in the juice. They may shield your brain and protect you from damage by unstable or unsteady molecules called free radicals.

Downsides to Drinking Apple Juice

Juicing apples reduces other benefits of whole apples, including fibre intake. Drinking apple juice in huge quantities may contribute to weight gain.

The juice can be fed on faster than a whole apple, which can consequently cause you to absorb a large amount of energy or calories over a short period.

Apple juice is usually loaded with sugar, and low fibre content in the juice can result in a spike in your blood sugar levels.

Drinking a considerably increased amount of apple juice can stimulate or promote tooth decay. The bacteria inside your mouth are likely to absorb apple juice’s sugars, producing acids that can abrade tooth enamel and eventually lead to cavities.

These were some spectacular health benefits or upsides as well as downsides of apple juice. We will quickly delve into how we can make delicious and nutritious homemade apple juice!

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By Bru-No on Pixabay.com Copyright 2022

The first and foremost step for making apple juice should be selecting your apples. Almost all apples will work for homemade juice. However, different varieties of apples will ultimately lead to a different taste.

Many are concerned about homemade apple juice undergoing discoloration and turning brown. However, don’t let that stop you from making scrumptious homemade apple juice.

Tarter fruits generally have higher acid content. This means they are not likely to oxidize quickly and will keep a natural light brown colour for a long time, but sweet juice doesn’t have to be brown.

Introduce a small amount of citric acid, lemon juice, or a crushed vitamin C tablet, the apple juice will certainly retain its light brownish colour.

There are predominantly three types of apple juice: sweet, tart, and balanced. Also, apples are grown and maintained using a lot of pesticides and wax.

Though the freshness and the look of the organic apples aren’t as great or appealing as the regular or inorganic ones, buying organic apples makes sense and comes with a lesser health risk if you are juicing apples regularly.

# The best apples for sweet juice:

  • Red delicious apples will make a sweet juice with a classic apple flavour.
  • Golden delicious apples will produce a mellow juice with notes of watermelon and vanilla.

# The best apples for tart juice:

  • Granny Smith has a considerably high juice content and classic sour flavour.
  • Sweet Tango will produce a tangy juice that would leave a sweet flavour in your mouth after an initial sour taste.
  • Sweet apples like Pink Lady will make a refreshing and bright tart apple juice.

# The best apples for balanced juice:

  • Gala Apples will produce a light juice with a hint of floral flavour.
  • Honeycrisp will make a flavoursome juice that is sweet, tart, and not very acidic.
  • Braeburn will yield a classic and balanced juice that tastes fresh.

Ingredients For Apple Juice

  1. Apples
  2. Juicer
  3. Peeler and Corer
  4. Cutting board
  5. Juice filter
  6. Lemon juice or Citric acid
  7. Cinnamon (optional )
  8. Sugar (optional)
  9. Clean jar or container for storing the juice

Ingredients (Without Using a Juicer)

  1. Apples
  2. Peeler and corer
  3. Cutting board
  4. Juice filter
  5. Lemon juice or Citric acid
  6. Fine mesh strainer
  7. Utensil for mashing potatoes, a large pot, a pressure cooker, or a blender.
  8. Cinnamon (optional )
  9. Sugar (optional)
  10. Clean jar or container for storing the juice

Ingredients that you will need for making apple juice from leftover apple peel and cores are as follows:

  1. Peeling and core of about twenty apples
  2. Add sufficient water to cover all the peelings and core in the pan
  3. Approximately 100g of white caster sugar
  4. Clean jar or container for storing the juice

Homemade Apple Juice with a Juicer

Making Fresh and Delicious Apple Juice in 3 Minutes | Easy Homemade Apple Juice Recipe

Step 1:

Start with a 5-6 lb. bag of apples. You will require about 18 apples to make 2 quarters (about 8 cups) of apple juice. Scale up or down as you wish and wash the apples.

Step 2:

Peel and core the apples to get rid of the seeds and peel in the juice, which is likely to cause discoloration and bitterness. Discard or compost the peels and cores.

Step 3:

Slice the apples so and place them in your juicer. Follow the instructions of the juicer for processing the apples.

Save the juice in a pitcher or clean jar and set aside the pulp, which is just apple puree (you can use it to make other apple products later ). The apple juice will possibly have foam on the top.

It’s completely edible, but if you are someone who does not like or appreciate it, filter the juice using a fine mesh strainer. Your juice is now ready to be strained through a filter or cheesecloth, you need to do this to get any leftover pulp out, or you can skim it off with a spoon.

Step 4:

You can now stir in citric acid or lemon juice to prevent browning.

Tip: If you are someone who wants to make raw and unfiltered apple juice without using a juicer (detailed steps are given below), just skip step 3 above and use a blender or food processor to puree the apples as finely as you can.

And that’s it; your homemade apple juice is ready! Now serve your homemade apple juice or store it in the refrigerator.

Homemade Apple Juice Without a Juicer

How to Make Homemade Apple Juice without a Juicer

Step 1:

Firstly, wash and core the apples to remove the seeds. Then cut the apples into slices, you can either peel the apples or even leave the peels on.

Step 2:

Place the apples in your pot and add enough water to cover them. Adding too much water will result in the dilution of the juice.

Pro tip: It’s easier to add water after the juice is made if you feel your final juice is too sapid.

This extracted juice may be a bit strong and sapid, but it is much easier to dilute the juice later with extra water rather than trying to make the flavour stronger and eventually making it bitter or too strong to drink.

Step 3:

Boil the apples slowly for about 20-25 minutes until the apples are soft enough to smash. Place a coffee filter or a cheesecloth in your fine mesh strainer and place it over a bowl.

It helps if your bowl has a handle, but it’s unnecessary.

Step 4:

Then gradually, scoop the juice or apple mixture into a fine or porous mesh strainer and gently smash the apples into a thick paste.

The juice will then get filtered through the bottom of the strainer into your bowl, leaving behind the apple mush of a slightly thick consistency. Place that mush in a separate bowl for later. Replicate this process until all of your juice is in the bowl.

Step 5:

Once the juice has cooled down to a considerably normal temperature, it’s your turn to go ahead and taste it. Here, you can adjust the sweetness to your liking by adding additional sugar (or the sweetener of your choice).

Feel free to introduce a little cinnamon to your juice if you want to spice it up. If the juice tastes too strong, you can dilute it by adding water.

Step 6:

The apple paste you collected can now conveniently be turned into applesauce by pureeing and adding a pea-sized amount of sugar and cinnamon.

Apple Juice from Leftover Apple

When you are making apples crumble, you peel the apples and remove the cores. However, there’s quite a lot of waste in this method.

If you were to eat the whole apple, you’d eat all the skin too. And the most straightforward thing you can turn apple peels and cores into is none other than apple juice!

Step-1

Add the leftover apple peels and cores to a saucepan and boil them.

Step-2

After that, turn the oven to a simmer for about 90 minutes. You then need to sieve everything to remove the remains of the apple. Then strain the juice into the clean glass jar, and you are good!

Friendly reminder:

Be mindful that your self-made or homemade apple juice does not have any added preservatives or chemicals. So, be sure to keep it refrigerated and use it positively within a week!

Fun fact: Did you know you can make applesauce, apple puree, and apple juice in one process? Here’s how:

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By Taken on Pixabay.com Copyright 2022

Step-1

Peel, core, and cut the apple into slices/chunks.

Step-2

Place sliced apples into a pan with just enough water to cover apples slightly.

Step-3

Boil or steam the apples until they are tender; check the water level and stir.

Step-4

Drain the juice.

Step-5

paste the apples with a potato masher to achieve a smooth applesauce consistency.

Step-6

Place your choice of appliance for pureeing and begin pureeing the apples. Add the reserved water necessary to achieve a smooth, thin puree.

Add cereal (if you feel like it) to thicken the consistency of the applesauce. And the remaining juice is your pure apple juice.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Is it good to drink apple juice every day?

While there are various health benefits to drinking apple juice, there is such a thing as excessive amounts of anything. It’s critical to restrict your daily consumption of apple juice, especially because so many kinds are high in sugar.

2. Is it okay to drink 100% apple juice?

It is appropriate to consume one serving of 100% apple juice as one of the suggested daily fruit requirements for breakfast.

3. Which time is best for apple juice?

Apple juice should be consumed during the day. As your body has been “fasting” while resting at night, it will absorb nutrients efficiently if you drink apple juice upon waking before breakfast.

Closing Thoughts

Thinking about how to store apple juice? We have a solution to that too! Once you’ve chosen your apples, found a good recipe, and are done making fresh apple juice, you can store apple juice in the refrigerator for up to 10 days.

However, if you want to store your homemade apple juice for longer than ten days, freeze the juice in freezer pouches. The juice will stay fresh and fine in the refrigerator for almost a year, provided it is well-sealed.

However, avoid freezing it in a glass container or fill a plastic container to the top since liquids expand as they freeze, and you might end up breaking the container where you have stored the juice and get juice all over your freezer.

Stay safe and healthy!

  1. Włodarska, Katarzyna, et al. “Factors influencing consumers’ perceptions of food: A study of apple juice using sensory and visual attention methods.” Foods 8.11 (2019): 545. ↩︎
  2. Zhu, Dazhou, et al. “The detection of soluble solid contents and conductivity of apple juice by homemade near infrared spectrometer.” Sensor Letters 8.1 (2010): 158-162. ↩︎
  3. Plans, Shop Meal, My Vegan Journey, and Vegan Food Gallery. “The Health Benefits of Organic Apple Juice.” ↩︎
  4. Tuohy, Kieran M., et al. “Using probiotics and prebiotics to improve gut health.” Drug discovery today 8.15 (2003): 692-700. ↩︎
  5. Umar, Asad, Barbara K. Dunn, and Peter Greenwald. “Future directions in cancer prevention.” Nature Reviews Cancer 12.12 (2012): 835-848. ↩︎
  6. Scalbert, Augustin, Ian T. Johnson, and Mike Saltmarsh. “Polyphenols: antioxidants and beyond.” The American journal of clinical nutrition 81.1 (2005): 215S-217S. ↩︎

Last Updated on by Sathi Chakraborty, MSc Biology

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