First Time Steam Juicer!

[Jify]

So I made the plunge, bought a big ole steam juicer and 24 lbs of strawberries ($1/lb).

I set everything up, loaded in 8 lbs, steamed for 90min, checked, steamed for another 45min, and filled about 2 litres worth of canning containers.

There in lies my difficulty. Reading recipes, most folks are using about 3-3.5 gal of juice per 6 gal batch of strawberry wine. Assuming 6 lbs per gallon, that works out to be about 12lbs per gallon.

I'm only getting about 1 gallon per 16 lbs of fruit. However, the juice is black as night (barely see a flashlight through it), and super duper thick and sweet.

So my question is, does anyone else end up with a super thick juice? Am I doing this juicing thing wrong?

Also, do I have to do the whole "bath in the water for 10 minutes" ordeal? I think I read somewhere that folks using the juice for wine just put it into a sanitized glass jar and sealed it up that way.

Thanks folks!

Jify

 

[Tom]

What steam juicer did you get?

Sounds like you cooked the juice. My juice comes out RED and mostly clear minus the floaties.

Any pix of what U got?

 

[Jify]

An enamel wear juicer, but I find it hard to believe I cooked the juice. I mean, I'm following the set times, checking, and there is just not enough juice produced in that time.

Anyway I can tell if the juice is cooked, or any tips on avoiding it in the future?

Here are a few pictures, this is the strawberry.

This one is with a flashlight shining through it (and flash... Saskatoon Berry Juice in background):
http://i53.tinypic.com/2liiotu.jpg

And this one is just straight up, no light:
http://i52.tinypic.com/2eltq9g.jpg

 

[Jify]

Ack! Sorry those turned out so big!

Should mention those are about 1.35 L per container, so they are a little large.

 

[Tom]

can you post a pic of the juicer

 

[Tom]

1st I freeze all my fruit prior to steaming.

When I steam strawberry I find after 30 min I get nothing more. Then time to dump the pulp and start all over.

Here is what I have

 

[ffemt128]

I generally get about a gallon per 10-12 lbs of berries. I too freeze for a couple weeks then steam. Generally I won't steam longer than an hour - hour and 15 minutes with a medium flame on the stove. Lower flame, longer steam time. Juice is a nice red color when done.

 

[Jify]

I generally get about a gallon per 10-12 lbs of berries. I too freeze for a couple weeks then steam. Generally I won't steam longer than an hour - hour and 15 minutes with a medium flame on the stove. Lower flame, longer steam time. Juice is a nice red color when done.

Sorry, I forgot to mention that I did freeze these as well. Thanks for the help thus far, still trying to figure out this dark juice and lack of volume. 8(

Todays batch I'll try steaming only 60min.

The last bit of juice, to be added to my next steam batch... (lots of floaties)

 

[ffemt128]

If the berries were extrememly dark that could account for the darker color juice. I think you'll be fine. How does it taste? My last steaming I did 12-14 lbs for an fpac and ended with around a gallon of juice. My left over pulp filled a gallon ziplock about 3/4 full if nothing but mush.

 

[Jify]

If the berries were extrememly dark that could account for the darker color juice. I think you'll be fine. How does it taste? My last steaming I did 12-14 lbs for an fpac and ended with around a gallon of juice. My left over pulp filled a gallon ziplock about 3/4 full if nothing but mush.

Doesn't taste burnt, but it is sickly sweet. I ended up with about 4 cups or so of mushy strawberry gunk, threw it in an ice cream pail and into the freezer.

 

[Tom]

set up looks a little funny.

Is the drain hose attached to the boiling pot or is it attached to the pot under the strainer? Pix looke like hose is attached to the bottom pot.

 

[Tom]

Depending on the fruit I also get 3-4 qts for 10-12 # of fruit. You may be steaming to long.
try this, after 1/2 hour take away all the juice. Then see how much you get in the next 15 min.

Report back.

 

[Jify]

Depending on the fruit I also get 3-4 qts for 10-12 # of fruit. You may be steaming to long.
try this, after 1/2 hour take away all the juice. Then see how much you get in the next 15 min.

Report back.

I can do that, no problem. The setup is normal, the bottom pot has a hole in it where the juice pipe goes through from the 2nd tray. That way it sits low in the pot and all the juice comes out when I open it up!

 

[Tom]

OK something seams wrong.
The bottom pot should be water only
The next up should be where the steamed juice collects AND has a hose to drain it.
The next up is where you put the fruit.
Then the lid.

It seams like your juice somehow goes in the bottom pot. If thats the case thats why its so dark. You are carmalizing it.

 

[Boyd]

Did you let the bottom tray run out of water.

As long as there is water in the bottom pot the juice should not get over 212 degrees give or take depending on berometric pressure.

Should not carmelize at that temp.

When I steam juice I run the hose directly into the catch container so no juice collects in the center pan.

It should be noted the juice is not pure as the water turned to steam in the bottom pan condenses back to water and runs out with the juice.

 

[Jify]

OK something seams wrong.

I don't think I was clear on how the steamer operates. It's just like every other steamer on the market.

Three Pans:
Bottom Pan/pot: Filled with water
2nd Pan/Pot: Connects to a hose, juice collects here
Top Pan/Pot: Holes in the bottom, steam enters and hits the fruit. Put fruit here.

Depending on the fruit I also get 3-4 qts for 10-12 # of fruit. You may be steaming to long.
try this, after 1/2 hour take away all the juice. Then see how much you get in the next 15 min.

Report back.

I just completed the whole thing again, but only let it run 30min before taking a container of juice, and then another 30min to take another container of juice. The juice is noticeable redder/clearer, BUT I only ended up with about 2 litres of juice (out of 8 lbs of strawberries)

Did you let the bottom tray run out of water.

Every run I've done thus far I have not run out of water, usually about 2-3 inches of water left in the bottom while I'm cleaning.

When I steam juice I run the hose directly into the catch container so no juice collects in the center pan.

How do you can the juice? Or do you just toss it straight into a primary?

My juice is looking better/redder, but I'm still getting no where near the amount of juice you folks are. Is it possible my strawberries were just not juicy? Why the hell did it turn darker, as mentioned, the temperature shouldn't increase above 100C unless I pressurize the thing.

 

[docanddeb]

Depending on the fruit... you can put the HOT juice into clean jars and let them seal on their own. I did it with Rhubarb which has a lot of acidity. Acidity is one of the things needed to keep the juice safe. Off hand, I don't know the acidity of strawberries. You can cool, then freeze the juice in milk jugs too. Takes up less space than the whole fruit.

Debbie

 

[docanddeb]

Works terrific for elderberries too!!

Debbie

 

[SBWs]

I'm in the second year of using my juicer, I've found the best I do is a pint per pound of fruit. What I do is added 8 to 10 lbs of berries to the top and start steaming. At the hour point I added water and more berries, never disturbing the pulp (or as little as possible). The weight of the new berries press more juice out of the pulp. I keep adding water to the bottom and berries to the top every hour. I keep this cycle going until it gets to full to add any more. I stop and clean up. As far as canning (which is what I do) I clean canning jars with easy clean then put them in the oven at 210 degrees for 10 minutes. I then boil the lids in water. Once I have enough juice I drain into jars and seal them. Once they cool I store them off in the corner until I'm ready to start a new wine. I still have Blackberry juice from last year, hasn't spoiled yet.

 

[Jify]

I'm out of Strawberries, I have some pre-frozen rhubarb defrosting at the moment. Interested to see how this one turns out, I doubt it will turn dark on me (I HOPE!).