A steam juicer is a versatile tool for efficiently making homemade juice. You can extract clean juice from any produce and preserve it for a long time.
When it comes to homemade pasteurized apple juice, a steam juicer could be an overall better option. It can also turn your apple juice into excellent jellies and wine.
So, how can you prepare fresh and clean apple juice using a steam juicer? Let’s debug all the aspects of this topic in plain English.
Things to Know Before You Start Working With a Steam Juicer
Before you dive into any juicing process, it’s best to have a thorough understanding of what you are dealing with.
The Construction of a steam juicer
A stem juicer consists of three individual sections –
Section 1: The bottom pan or the stock pot.
Function: It holds the boiling water.
Section 2: The collection pan with a hose attached to it.
Function: Catching the juice and draining it into a container.
Section 3: The colander (perforated) with a loose-fitting lid.
Function: It holds your ingredients (fruits, veggies) and allows steam to reach this section of the steam juicer.
The purpose of a steam juicer
There are two types of juicing methods one is mechanical, and the other is using steam. A mechanical juicer uses electricity, and no heating is involved. Therefore, it produces fresh juice that retains most of the vitamins and minerals from the original fruit or vegetable.
Steam juicing uses heat, and therefore pasteurization occurs. It may reduce nutritional values in your juice, but you are getting a clean and pasteurized juice that is good for preservation.
A steam juicer is a versatile tool that can make other versions of your prepared juice. For example, a steam juicer not only extracts apple juice, but you can also try apple sauce, apple cider, jellies, etc.
So, depending on your priorities, the decision is yours to make when you are up to juicing something.
Making Apple Juice in a Steam Juicer – An Easy Way of Juicing
To make proper apple juice in a steam juicer, you can go for these easy steps –
Step-1: Wash Your Apples: To make apple juice, you need fresh apples, and it’s better to have a blend of different types to reach out for the best results.
After you get the apples, wash them properly to remove any soiling substance like mud, dust, or grime. Store-bought apples have stickers attached to them. So, you need to peel those during washing. Use a sink filled with water to clean them in a single go.
Step-2: Trim Your Apples: After washing, you need to remove the stems. You could also do this before washing. If you don’t remove the stems, then it can hamper the taste of your juice.
Cut your apples into small chunks (1″-2″). It will help to fill the apples into the steam juicer, and you can process more juice by cutting than using whole apples. However, you don’t need to peel the skin.
Step-3: Set the Apples Into the Steam Juicer: After washing and cutting your apples, put them inside the colander. Fill the pan in such a way so that the lid can still go on tightly.
If you are processing a lot of apples, say 20 to 26 lbs, then you need to fill the strainer a few times more.
Step-4: Start the Apple Juicing Process: when you finish putting the apples inside the colander, you need to set the lid properly and are ready to go on the stove.
Turn your burner into high heat until the water starts to boil, when the water comes to a gentle boil state, turn the heat down. It takes about 45 minutes to generate steam from the boiled water.
Step-5: Monitoring The Apple Juicing: Monitoring the whole juicing process is crucial as you need to ensure that the bottom pan doesn’t run dry. If it does, then there is a risk of damaging the steamer.
You can lift off the collecting pan to check on the water level. If the water level lowers down, then add more water and raise the heat to bring it back to the boiling state.
You don’t need a rolling boil so keep the heat under control. For a large batch, keep putting more apples into the top after some compressing occurs due to the steam.
Keep an eye on the middle section of the juicer when it begins to collect apple juice. Because if the collector pan gets too full, the liquid will spill over into the boiling water below.
Step-6: Apple Juice Collection: After one and a half hours, you can start to drain fresh apple juice into a container using the hose pipe. To collect the produce, you can use mason jars or any other put to store your juice.
Some Tips and Tricks for the Best Result
You can make the most out of your steam juicing by considering these simple tips and tricks –
Make the Apple juicing easier: You don’t need to continuously monitor the water level as there is an easy way to do so. Place some marbles or small stones into the bottom pan where the water will reside. So, due to boiling, the water level goes down, and the marbles will start to clatter. It works as a signal for when to check on the bottom pan.
Juice collection: The pipe that drains the juice works as a siphon. Therefore, try to place the steam juicer in a higher place so that you can easily collect the produce into a container, as it needs to be lower than the collection pan.
Clean Juice: If you don’t want cloudy apple juice, then don’t just stir the fruit into a pulp. Keep them untouched while juicing. The steam will do the rest for you. It will generate clear produce.
Preservation container: Before you start to fill the jars for storing, wash them well with soapy water and rinse well. Heat the jars prior to filling to prevent breakage due to thermal shock.
Canning Your Freshly Prepared Apple Juice
If you want to preserve your juice for longer, canning could be an effective way to do so. It’s a straightforward process. Proper canning is essential to retain the quality of your juice for a long time.
First, you need to prepare a water bath canner, some clean jars, and canning lids.
Though the steam juicer produces clean juice, you can still ensure the removal of any solidified pectin by filtering your apple juice through a cheesecloth.
Use a funnel to pour the apple juice into the jar, leaving 1/4 inch headspace.
Finally, process the jars in a boiling water bath canner for a straight 12 minutes.
After that, remove the jars, cool them down over a towel on the counter, and let them sit until you seal them.
These properly canned sealed jars will maintain the quality of your apple juice for at least 12 to 18 months.
FAQ
Can You Put Entire Apple in a Steam Juicer?
Yes, you can process whole apples in a steam juicer. Though, by doing so you can’t fit a large number of apples in the colander and will not get the required efficiency.
Which Types of Apples are Better for Juicing?
There are different types of apples you can try juicing depending on their taste (sweet or tart). For example, Fuji apples appear to have a more sweet taste than tartness.
You can also use –
- Sonya
- Gala
- Cameo
- Honey crisp
- Golden Delicious
- Red Delicious, etc
All these apples are great for juicing. Though, in terms of sweetness and nutrients, Red Delicious, Fuji, and Gala apples are the most favorable ones.
What are the Advantages of Steamed Apple Juice?
Steamed apple juice has extra pectin, a special form of fiber. It lowers cholesterol and improves blood sugars by promoting a healthy weight.
It also supports hydration as apples consist of 88% of water.
Steamed apple juice is pasteurized and thus ideal for long-term storage. It’s free from harmful bacteria and other disease-causing pathogens.
Final Verdict
Steam juicing is a great way to make apple juice as it uses pasteurization to kill germs and increases the shelf-life of your produce.
You can make several batches of apple juice with this method. There is not much work in this process, all you have to do is watch and collect the juice.
Though, it takes time compared to a mechanical juicer. The final result is what matters the most.