Quickest way to extract Juice from fruits

[achilles007]

I know with all the expert wine-makers on this forum, whom regularly are used to extracting around 15-25 gallons of juice per fruit season VERY easily, very efficiently and very fast, that this question would best be asked to you.

now, even though I am not interested in making wine, I would like to know what type of equipment would you recommend, for a person interested in say-- making 6 gallons of juice, from a wide variety of fruits (citrus, grapes, berries, apples, pears) every week? A fruit press? A fruit crusher perhaps?


I've been told also, that wine-makers regularly make use of a process in which they store the fruit in containers which helps to break down the fruit thus resulting in even more juice being pulled out. Any more info on how to go about doing that?

thanks all

 

[BobF]

I know with all the expert wine-makers on this forum, whom regularly are used to extracting around 15-25 gallons of juice per fruit season VERY easily, very efficiently and very fast, that this question would best be asked to you.

now, even though I am not interested in making wine, I would like to know what type of equipment would you recommend, for a person interested in say-- making 6 gallons of juice, from a wide variety of fruits (citrus, grapes, berries, apples, pears) every week? A fruit press? A fruit crusher perhaps?


I've been told also, that wine-makers regularly make use of a process in which they store the fruit in containers which helps to break down the fruit thus resulting in even more juice being pulled out. Any more info on how to go about doing that?

thanks all

IMO, freezing the fruit, then processing with a steam juicer is the way to go.

 

[Wade E]

It really does depend on what fruits you are using. Grapes really do need a crusher destemmer and a press while most other fruits can be frozen and crushed and then fermented. Ive heard many swear by the steam juicer though.

 

[BobF]

It really does depend on what fruits you are using. Grapes really do need a crusher destemmer and a press while most other fruits can be frozen and crushed and then fermented. Ive heard many swear by the steam juicer though.

The OP said no interest in making wine. For fermenting, I agree. It all depends on the fruit.

 

[Luc]

A steam juicer dillutes the juice, so if you want pure juice that's not the way to go.

Crushing and pressing is one method.

Freezing and then treating with pectic enzymes is another way. You would however need a large freezer.

Read my story on processing apples on which I did all kinds of exepriemnts to juice apples and see what gained most juice per weight:

http://wijnmaker.blogspot.com/2008/09/appeltje-voor-de-dorst-apple-day.html

Luc

 

[achilles007]

IMO, freezing the fruit, then processing with a steam juicer is the way to go.

Okay. thanks for the answer!

does freezing the fruit somehow succeed in breaking down the fruit even further, thus resulting in more juice coming out of product rather than trying to juice it fresh?

sounds genius!

thank you again for your post!

 

[achilles007]

It really does depend on what fruits you are using. Grapes really do need a crusher destemmer and a press while most other fruits can be frozen and crushed and then fermented. Ive heard many swear by the steam juicer though.

Excellent post, sir!

but a couple of questions came to mind while reading this:

1.) Can you explain to me why is it that most other fruits-- some that are significantly harder than grapes (pears, kiwis, apples, etc.)-- you say only need to really be frozen and crushed, but grapes would need a crusher and press?

I mean-- you would think the arrangement would be opposite.

2.) and for crushing-- in both grapes and other fruit types-- is there a piece of equipment you could recommend? The only tool I've seen online for crushing is the stainless steel, sometimes wooden, contraption that has rotating blades at the bottom or the other models with have two rotating cylinders for crushing softer-fleshed fruits, like grapes


any further recs would be MUCH appreciated, sir.

thank you.

 

[achilles007]

A steam juicer dillutes the juice, so if you want pure juice that's not the way to go.

Crushing and pressing is one method.

Freezing and then treating with pectic enzymes is another way. You would however need a large freezer.

Read my story on processing apples on which I did all kinds of exepriemnts to juice apples and see what gained most juice per weight:



Luc

Wow-- this post is TREMENDOUS!

What an exceptional website!

Words cant express my gratitude for the wealth of this amount of info.

Seriously, sir. Thank you.

I owe you one.

Let me go take a gander and soak up all the information at this website, and if I have any further questions I'll forward them to you.

thanks.

 

[achilles007]

for some reason Wade E-- my post to you needs a mod to accept it or something.

thus it looks like I didnt respond to your post-- but I wanted to assure you that I did, and I guess it's waiting for acceptance.

thanks

 

[achilles007]

Ah!

After reading said sent website link- it is CLEAR which path to take!

Since I plan on processing a lot of juice at one time-- I will invest in the fruit crusher/chopper (which wont process the pulp as finely as a food processor-- but oh well), and will have to find out where I can get my hands on those enzymes!!

A fruit presser MAY or may not be counter-productive. IDK-- will have to marinate on that one for a while

A couple of questions:

1.) If the pectin enzymes worked their magic beautifully in just ONE day, wouldnt you think multiple days might result in breaking down the product even further?

Or is setting fruit out that long at room temperature the grounds for serious health concerns?

2.) I wonder how commercially produced apple juice makers get that golden almost CLEAR color.

I REALLY hope that it isnt dye they are putting in the products.

 

[Wade E]

About your post to me, be careful when hitting the submit button as right above it is that pesky triangle with the exclamation point in it which is used to moderate a post which means hide it until a moderator or administrator looks at it. Usually used by posters to help us control Spam. What i meant is that there are differnt types of crushers out there. A grape crusher s not the same as an apple crusher. If you tried to shove some apples through a grape crusher you would probably be needing annew grape crusher within minutes and if you sent grapes through a apple crusher you would find that the grapes probably never even get crushed at all resulting in not being able to extract anything from these grapes. Without having a crusher the best way or cheapest to process most fruit is to freeze them which actualy busts the fruit open (splits them) thus when they are thawed and put into your fermenting bucket the pectic enzyme which we wine makers use can now get into the fruit and do its job to help break down the fruit further and thus extract the color and flavor resulting in a much better wine. Also, getting the fruit open like this will help extract the fruits sugars and if you dont do this you wont make much alc.

 

[Wade E]

A press for after fermentation is done is a great tool also but unless you are making big batches with a lot of fruit its not really cost effective and can usually be done with your hands instead. I use a fermeting bag for must of my fruit fermenting and then just squeeze the bag when its done. Some fruits are very tannic and you may not want to really press the fruit much afterwards much or you can ruin your wine. Grapes and some other fruits skins conatin a lot of tannins. If and when using a press you should extract some of the wine before pressing to taste against when pressing as once you get to a cerain point youll notice the wine getting very astringent and you should stop pressing at this pint so as not to make your whole batch taste like this as it doesnt go away!

 

[Sirs]

Ah!

After reading said sent website link- it is CLEAR which path to take!

Since I plan on processing a lot of juice at one time-- I will invest in the fruit crusher/chopper (which wont process the pulp as finely as a food processor-- but oh well), and will have to find out where I can get my hands on those enzymes!!

A fruit presser MAY or may not be counter-productive. IDK-- will have to marinate on that one for a while

A couple of questions:

1.) If the pectin enzymes worked their magic beautifully in just ONE day, wouldnt you think multiple days might result in breaking down the product even further?

Or is setting fruit out that long at room temperature the grounds for serious health concerns?

2.) I wonder how commercially produced apple juice makers get that golden almost CLEAR color.

I REALLY hope that it isnt dye they are putting in the products.

answer to 1 is if you leave it at room temp to long it will start to ferment
answer to 2 filters,they filter out the sediment in commercailly produced juices. The color itself is natural most of the time it's just how much you filter it or let it settle for how clear it will be, also the pectic enzyme will help in clearing it.
I may not have worded it right if not others will clarify

 

[SBWs]

The advantage to the steam juicer is it cans the juice at the same time. You drain the juice into canning jars, seal them up, and put them on the shelf until you need the juice.

 

[achilles007]

About your post to me, be careful when hitting the submit button as right above it is that pesky triangle with the exclamation point in it which is used to moderate a post which means hide it until a moderator or administrator looks at it. Usually used by posters to help us control Spam. What i meant is that there are differnt types of crushers out there. A grape crusher s not the same as an apple crusher. If you tried to shove some apples through a grape crusher you would probably be needing annew grape crusher within minutes and if you sent grapes through a apple crusher you would find that the grapes probably never even get crushed at all resulting in not being able to extract anything from these grapes. Without having a crusher the best way or cheapest to process most fruit is to freeze them which actualy busts the fruit open (splits them) thus when they are thawed and put into your fermenting bucket the pectic enzyme which we wine makers use can now get into the fruit and do its job to help break down the fruit further and thus extract the color and flavor resulting in a much better wine. Also, getting the fruit open like this will help extract the fruits sugars and if you dont do this you wont make much alc.

great post.

1.)And you see-- this is what the conversation really boils down to.

Freezer and storage size, depending on how MUCH fruit is actually needed per my 6 gallon goal.

I have never undertaken anything like this before. so for my goal of being 6 gallons of juice produced a week-- I have NO idea of the amount of fruit needed. Therefore I have no way of telling or ascertaining if there is enough room in my freezer to freeze all of those assorted, soon-to-be-juiced fruits.

Is a whole separate freezer needed for storing fruit of such capacity? Or is 6 gallons not really that much of a feat, that I should be able to squeeze it all in with no problem?

2.) Hmmm.. I might just have to go away and purchase the fruit crusher I saw before that comes with a set of removable blades, and a set of grape crusher rollers that I could just install whenever I want to switch over.

Now-- for berries-- such as strawberries and raspberries-- would the grape crusher or apple crusher be the one to typically use?

and what about citrus fruits (Oranges)?

 

[achilles007]

A press for after fermentation is done is a great tool also but unless you are making big batches with a lot of fruit its not really cost effective and can usually be done with your hands instead. I use a fermeting bag for must of my fruit fermenting and then just squeeze the bag when its done. Some fruits are very tannic and you may not want to really press the fruit much afterwards much or you can ruin your wine. Grapes and some other fruits skins conatin a lot of tannins. If and when using a press you should extract some of the wine before pressing to taste against when pressing as once you get to a cerain point youll notice the wine getting very astringent and you should stop pressing at this pint so as not to make your whole batch taste like this as it doesnt go away!

Okay-- so what would be your ideal size of "big batches" that one would need a press for?

and as far as fruits being astringent, does this apply to someone whom is only interested in the fruit juice and not necessarily the wine or fermenting part of the process?

thanks again, mate.

 

[achilles007]

answer to 1 is if you leave it at room temp to long it will start to ferment
answer to 2 filters,they filter out the sediment in commercailly produced juices. The color itself is natural most of the time it's just how much you filter it or let it settle for how clear it will be, also the pectic enzyme will help in clearing it.
I may not have worded it right if not others will clarify

Perfect!

All my questions answered!

thank you, good sir.

 

[BobF]

great post.

1.)And you see-- this is what the conversation really boils down to.

Freezer and storage size, depending on how MUCH fruit is actually needed per my 6 gallon goal.

I have never undertaken anything like this before. so for my goal of being 6 gallons of juice produced a week-- I have NO idea of the amount of fruit needed. Therefore I have no way of telling or ascertaining if there is enough room in my freezer to freeze all of those assorted, soon-to-be-juiced fruits.

Is a whole separate freezer needed for storing fruit of such capacity? Or is 6 gallons not really that much of a feat, that I should be able to squeeze it all in with no problem?

2.) Hmmm.. I might just have to go away and purchase the fruit crusher I saw before that comes with a set of removable blades, and a set of grape crusher rollers that I could just install whenever I want to switch over.

Now-- for berries-- such as strawberries and raspberries-- would the grape crusher or apple crusher be the one to typically use?

and what about citrus fruits (Oranges)?

Grapes are generally 12-15# per gallon of wine. I can easily fit 5# of destemmed (not crushed) grapes in a 1 gallon ziploc.

IME with berries, I get roughly 1 gallon of juice from 8-10# of berries when I steam them. 5-6# of berries fit in a 1 g ziploc.

I can't help with citrus yields.

I do have a small, 7.5 cubic foot chest freezer for my fruit. Right now it's holding 135# of grapes, 18# of elderberries and several 5# bags of blackberries plus some misc. There is still a bit of room left.

Technically, steam juicing does dilute juice, but it is a minute amount - not enough for me to be concerned about it. Depending on what you plan to do with the juice, it may or may not matter to you. Steam juicers are designed and work well for extracting juice for drinking.

 

[Luc]

achilles,

I am not sure what you are going to do with all that juice.
But we are woinemakers !!!

If you make juice from fresh apples and let it soak on pectic enzymes too long there is a chance that the wild yeast on this skins will take over and start a spontanous fermentation.

That is why, we winemakers, use sulphites (that stops wild yeast for a few hours to days) and then start fermentation with a cultured yeast as soon as possible.

You will need to stabilise the juice (by heat, sulphite and sorbate) or other means in a few hours if you do not want and bacteriological activities to happen.

Luc

 

[achilles007]

achilles,

I am not sure what you are going to do with all that juice.
But we are woinemakers !!!

If you make juice from fresh apples and let it soak on pectic enzymes too long there is a chance that the wild yeast on this skins will take over and start a spontanous fermentation.

That is why, we winemakers, use sulphites (that stops wild yeast for a few hours to days) and then start fermentation with a cultured yeast as soon as possible.

You will need to stabilise the juice (by heat, sulphite and sorbate) or other means in a few hours if you do not want and bacteriological activities to happen.

Luc

Okay, perfect!

Any books you would recommend that goes further on this subject as to hours, times, or procedures to be used?

I'm only interested in making juice for the family to consume, not wine.

Not big wine drinkers.