Juicing for Health: How to use natural juices to boost energy, immunity and wellbeing. Caroline Wheater
flatulence! The exceptions are apple and carrot, which you can mix freely with any other juice.
See Chapter 8 for advice on children and juices.
The Juice Kitchen
Juicing is really a very simple improvement to add to your daily routine, and juicing at home is fun, easy, and economical. You can produce an almost endless variety of colourful fresh juices which are brimming with health-giving nutrients. But of course, before you can enjoy the bounty of fresh juices, you need to know how to make them. Here are the guidelines to help you equip your kitchen and get the most out of juicing.
HOW TO JUICE
The most essential piece of equipment for any juice novice is a juicing machine – this is not the same as a blender, liquidizer or food processor (although some food processors may have a juicing attachment). A juicer separates the juice from the fibrous pulp, creating a smooth liquid, whereas a blender or liquidizer simply purées both fibre and juice together. You can juice by hand (Juicing by Hand), but it’s laborious to say the least!
Choosing a Juicer
To get the best value from your juicer, it should be able to juice most fruits and vegetables. You might be told that a juicer can’t handle citrus fruits – but that’s just because they won’t turn out like the ‘freshly squeezed’ varieties you can buy in supermarkets. Instead they look much thicker and creamier, because they include the valuable white pith that surrounds the fruit. With a cheaper juicer you might have trouble juicing stringy produce like bean sprouts, alfalfa, parsley and wheatgrass – so if you want to be able to juice absolutely anything perfectly it’s better to pay the premium for a more sophisticated model.
Make sure that whichever juicer you buy, it’s easy to clean and simple to put together. There’s nothing worse than facing a physical and mental assault course every time you fancy a juice.
Prices range from reasonable to very expensive, but if you’re just starting out, it’s probably wise to buy at the cheaper end of the range, just in case (and it’s highly unlikely!) you discover juicing isn’t for you. Investment in a better model is always possible later on. Let’s see what’s available.
Centrifugal Juicers
These models are at the lower end of the price scale and are made by companies such as Braun, Philips, Kenwood and Moulinex. They are electrically powered and work by grating fruits and vegetables, then spinning them rapidly to separate juice from fibrous pulp. The juice then runs through an outlet into a jug, and the pulp is ejected into a separate container. Centrifugal juicers cannot handle a huge amount of produce all at once, and must be kept clean, or they clog up with pulp. They produce thick, creamy juice and wet pulp (see Chapter 9 for pulp recipes). They are not as juice-efficient as some of the more sophisticated and expensive models.
Nose-Cone Pressure or Masticating Juicers
These models extract a greater quantity of juice from produce than centrifugal juicers because they put much more pressure on the fruits and vegetables. Rather than grating produce, they chop or churn it, then ram the resulting pulp into a mesh nose-cone from where the juice is forced out. Nose-cone juicers can be electrically or manually powered (when a lever system is incorporated). They tend to be able to cope better with the tougher produce such as rinds, stalks, and very hard vegetables; as a result they are usually more expensive than centrifugal models.
Hydraulic Juice Presses
Juice presses are the most efficient of all at extracting juice. This is because they can bring to bear the pressure of between three and five tons on your chosen fruits and vegetables. The press is brought down on the produce and the juice filters out through a fine cloth; the end pulp is reduced to a cardboard consistency (not much good for anything but compost). Hydraulic presses can be electrically powered or manual, but the former is extremely expensive. Nevertheless, the juice extracted from the press method is the most nutritionally complete of all the juices. They are available from specialist suppliers. See Appendix 2, specialist equipment.
Citrus Squeezers
If you really don’t like the thick juice that a juicing machine produces from oranges, lemons, limes and grapefruit, then you can use a citrus squeezer for cleaner, thinner juice. You can buy a simple glass or plastic squeezer, or invest in an electric squeezer if you have trouble gripping the fruit tightly enough (those with arthritis or rheumatism may find electric models helpful).
Juicing by Hand
For hand juicing you’ll need a grater, a bowl, a fine sieve and some muslin or specially designed juice cloths (see Appendix 2, specialist equipment). Here’s how you do it:
1 Grate your chosen fruit or vegetable into a bowl.
2 Place the grated produce in the middle of a square piece of muslin (or juice cloth). Gather the edges into a bundle, and squeeze the contents hard over a bowl.
3 For an extra filtration process, tip the juice through a fine sieve into a bowl. It is then ready to drink.
Other Equipment
Once you have your juicer, you will probably need and find useful:
a hard-bristle scrubbing brush to remove dirt from vegetable and fruit skins about to be juiced
weighing scales to measure out produce
a chopping board
a sharp knife, capable of cutting very hard vegetables
a peeler
a plastic/glass measuring jug indicating millilitres and fluid ounces
a large jug for storing juice
cling film to keep stored juice airtight
a blender for mixing juices with fruit purées, yoghurt, milk, water, honey and other extras (see Chapter 8).
a fine mesh sieve for straining juice if it seems ‘bitty’
an apron to avoid splashing your clothes with vividly coloured juice
Cleaning While Juicing
If you are making a lot of juice, clean the juicer once or twice under running water to remove unnecessary pulp. If you have put a very pungent or colourful fruit or vegetable through the juicer, run a little water through the opening to cleanse the innards of the machine, or chop up some apple and put that through the juicer. Both these methods prevent subsequent juices from being discoloured or tasting odd.
Looking After Your Juicer
Once you have finished with your juicer for the day, make sure it is scrupulously clean and dry, or you may get bugs making the pulp container into a comfy home. Every once in a while give it a thorough clean with a little bleach, to rid the plastic of any juice stains that might have collected. Alternatively, use a solution of bicarbonate of soda diluted in a small bowl of water. The better you treat your juicer, the longer it will last.
JUICE TIPS
Here are some tips to help you make the most of your juicing. They are simple but essential points of which you should be aware.
The Fresher the Better
Fresh juices should preferably be drunk just after they have been made, or during the same day. This ensures that they contain the maximum number of nutrients. Some vitamins are especially vulnerable to fresh air and can be destroyed in a matter of hours on exposure to it. If you are going to keep your juice, store it in the refrigerator in an airtight container or a Thermos flask.
Taste the Difference