Extreme Green Juice

I have noticed is many turn their nose up at the idea of green juice.  It does have negative connotations.  One of the first comments I had after mentioning my new juicer was turning into one of 'them' and by 'them' the implication was a 'health nut'.  Juicing is a simple and healthy way that supports a healthy lifestyle but quite frankly you don't have to be a health nut to enjoy fresh homemade juices.  The benefit to having a juice extractor is you can easily make healthy fusion drinks.  I will say that I am so impressed with my juicer that I will be buying one for our vacation home.  It has quickly become a must have small kitchen appliance!

While fresh homemade juices are healthier for you, some fruit and vegetable combinations act as detoxifiers or provide other health benefits besides tasting good.  One reason green juices get a bit of a bad rap is because they are made primarily of vegetables and herbs ergo they must taste like vegetables.  Now, certain vegetables (eg. cucumber, celery) make excellent juices by themselves.  Celery juice is a very good diuretic that will relieve temporary bloating without the side effects of a pharmaceutical diuretic.  Cucumber juice is a delightfully refreshing summer drink served over ice.  The surprising thing is, green juices do not have to taste like vegetables.  Extreme green juice is a delicious fusion juice consisting of fruit, vegetables and one herb.  We just won't tell anyone it's good for them!

Extreme green juice contains only four ingredients: celery, apple, broccoli and parsley.  It is a detoxifying juice that supports the liver, kidneys, immune system, nervous system and heart.  The diuretic effect of the celery helps flush toxins from your body, reduces urinary tract infections, and has anti-fungal properties to prevent fungal infections.  Celery also helps lower blood pressure and there is some indication that celery provides relief from migraines.  Parsley is an anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory agent that supports a healthy immune system and the heart while providing Vitamin K.   Broccoli helps maintain a healthy nervous system, regulates blood pressure, strengthens the immune system, boosts liver function and is rich in Vitamin C.  It supports healthy bones and helps repair sun damage while reducing the risk of atherosclerosis, heart attack, and stroke.  Apples fight the effects of aging on the brain and are rich in anti-oxidants and Vitamin C.  Fiber in apples provide a wide range of health benefits and while juice removes fibre, the juice strengthens the immune system while detoxifying the liver.  All in all, this is a very healthy drink that tastes delicious!

Extreme Green Juice

4 stalks celery
2 apples
1 small head (about 10 florettes) broccoli
handful fresh parsley

Wash and cut celery, broccoli and apples to fit in juicer hopper.  Juice adding ingredients until

Freshly Extracted Orange Juice

I recently wrote about using my new Bella High Power Juice Extractor for the first time.  I really liked the results and quickly saw that I could create unique juices that are unavailable in the grocery stores.  Unless you have a free source of fruits and vegetables for juice or you can find them at a good sale price, you won't realize a savings on the basic juices (eg. orange, grapefruit, cranberry, grape).  However, like jams and jellies, juices can be a blend made by stretching the more expensive fruit or vegetable with less expensive or free ones.  It is possible to make the new fruit and vegetable juices that are now popular for less money than store bought plus you can custom the blend to your tastes. 

Store bought orange juice is made from concentrate as are most commercially prepared juices.  Once the oranges are juiced, the juice is stored in holding tanks that have had the oxygen removed for up to a year.  During that time the juice loses flavour.  Many of the popular brands of orange juice use a chemical process (flavour packs) to make the juice taste and smell like oranges.  Pulp and/or sugar may be added to the juice as well.  So, the orange juice you buy in the grocery stores is anything but fresh!

Freshly squeezed orange juice is delightful!  It can vary in flavour from sweet to sour depending on the variety of orange used.  I bought 7 medium sized oranges to test out the juicer. The skins may be left on all produce for juicing except oranges, grapefruit and tangerines as the oils in these citrus fruits is bitter and hard to digest.  I cut each orange into quarters then removed the peel.  The peel need not be discarded if the oranges are organic.  It can be dried and powdered for culinary purposes as well as a natural source of Vitamin C medicinally.  It can also be candied.  There is no need to seed the orange wedges for juicing unless you want to try growing orange trees.  Don't laugh!  I have three small lemon trees started from lemon seeds in a lemon I cut up for Caesar salad.

The peeled quarter wedges fit nicely into the hopper but I did have to refill it a couple of times.  The only thing different with juicing the oranges was needing to peel them.  The juice goes into the pitcher to the right while the pulp goes into the pulp basket (left).  A small amount of pulp can be added to the juice if desired.  The remaining pulp can be dried then powdered or it can go into the compost. 

The seven oranges were quickly juiced on low power..  It actually takes longer to disassemble the juice extractor for clean (less than 5 minutes) than it does to extract the juice.   At this point the juice is ready to be enjoyed!

When the juice is first made there is a layer of foam on top of it because the stainless steel blade basket revolves at a high speed.  The juice quickly fills the pitcher which cause the foaming similar to what would happen if you shook a jar of juice.  This foam settles down rather quickly and has no effect on the flavour of the juice. 

The seven oranges gave a yield of almost 750 ml (3 cups).  I paid $2.50 for the oranges so the freshly extracted juice is definitely more expensive.  The taste is definitely worth the extra price!  It is also fresher than juice commercially made from concentrate.  It still is not 'picked that day fresh' as oranges as well as other citrus fruits are shipped to Ontario from Florida or California.  Clementines are an exception as they are usually imported from Morocco. 

I'm only making the fresh extracted juices in the amount we will use within 3 or 4 days.   store homemade juices in mason jars in the beverage chiller of the refrigerator.  It's an easy and inexpensive solution as I have so many mason jars.  It also means I have taken one more step of reducing kitchen waste by eliminating a large portion of frozen juice concentrate containers (not recyclable) and juice bottles.  I usually use a Bernardin storage lid in the refrigerator by my supply is low so a recycled snap lid and ring was substituted. 

Even though the freshly extracted orange juice is more expensive and the price will fluctuate more than juice made from concentrate, I am confident is a healthier choice for us.  I can't wait to buy some oranges from the Indian River trucks from Florida.  They come up each spring with about as fresh of oranges as you can get here.  There are two drivers so the make the trip from Florida to Ontario within a day.  These oranges are so good, they sell out their truck with a day or two!  In the meantime, I have to use store bought oranges. 

I'm also planning on buying a juice extractor for our vacation home in Florida where I can get inexpensive citrus.  During the orange season, finding free fresh oranges is very easy.  In our resort, residents not wanting oranges from their trees put them in a box free for the taking.  I just found out we can bring oranges back from Florida so will bring some the next time we drive. 

My New Bella High Power Juicer Extractor

There are a multitude of small kitchen appliances on the market.  Some are fluff, single purpose appliances that may or may not save you money.  In general, if the small kitchen appliance is not gimmicky, at some level it will save you money along with time while enhancing what you can cook in some fashion.   Sam's Club has a limited selection of small kitchen appliances.  By limited, I mean there really are only a very few to choose from and not the common ones like toasters what some consider daily use small kitchen appliances.  You will definitely save on the purchase price, likely ending up with a higher end appliance than you could find elsewhere but at a lower cost.  I bought my Kitchen Aid Professional HD stand mixer there with a savings of almost $200.

I am very pragmatic when it comes to small kitchen appliances, especially those single use ones.  I have wanted a juice extractor for years but really couldn't justify another appliance to find space for if it wasn't going to save me money or enhance my cooking in some manner.  Well, we were at Sam's Club a couple of weeks ago and they had a Bella High Power Juice Extractor on sale for $49.98 so for that price I decided to buy one.

The Bella high power juice extractor has a 1,000 W motor for juicing hard vegetables fast. It has a wide feed tube for quick and easy juicing with easy to clean dishwasher safe parts.  The 1 L juice pitcher has a splash free lid and there are two speeds for hard or soft fruits and vegetables.

The juice extractor is extremely easy to use.  Simply set up as per instructions then wash the fruit or vegetable you want to juice.  Fruits with pits (eg. mangos, peaches, cherries) should be pitted.  Fruits other than citrus do not need to be peeled.  Fruits containing starch (eg. banana, papayas, avocados, figs and mangoes are not suitable for the juice extractor as the will not yield a clear juice.  Bananas will also clog the micro-mesh screen.

The juice goes into the pitcher or if making a smaller amount you can use any glass that will fit under the spout.  The pulp goes into the pulp basket.  Do not throw this pulp out as it can be dried then used to make fruit or vegetable powder helping you increase your cooking diversity.

For the most part, a juicer is a single use small appliance with the sole purpose of making juice.  While the waste pulp can be frozen or dried for other uses, the goal is making juice.  That is one reason I did not buy a juicer earlier.  At the same time, a juicer makes small quantities of juice at a time while being a fair amount of work to clean.  For those with small kitchens, a juicer will take up more room than a stand mixer on the counter.

A juice extractor does not save you money unless you grow your own or have access to a free source of some fruits or vegetables.  A juicer does result in a healthier product that has not been subjected to heat for preserving.  Nor has it had salt, sugar, artificial flavourings or colours, or harmful preservatives like sodium benzoate.  The enzymes are still active in freshly extracted juice (aka better for you).  You can juice just about any fruit or vegetable, even herbs so you can make something at home that you can't buy.  I've have recipes that called for cucumber juice.  The only way you can make that quickly is with a juicer although you could set up an old fashioned strainer if desired but it will take several hours to collect the juice.

Juicing allows you collect the juices then use them in cooking, baking and jelly making.  If I wanted to make a juice for jelly it could take a half of a day or more to collect the jelly but a juice extractor reduces that to just a few minutes.  You can easily make home-made versions of the new and popular fruit and vegetable combination juices.

Pictured are carrot, celery and pineapple juice.  Now, I did save money on the carrot juice because 3 lb of carrots that were on sale for 97¢ gave a yield of 1 L carrot juice (less than the cost of store bough) and carrot pulp for drying to be made into powder, a win:win deal.  The celery juice is really a speciality juice you would be hard pressed to find in grocery stores.  It can be used in baking, cooking, drank as is, blended with other fruit juices or froze into ice cubes to flavour drinks later.  The celery was $1.49 but I got a unique product that I would either make off season when celery is on sale or use in season local or home grown celery.  Pineapple juice is not a cost savings it is a quality savings.  I paid $1.99 for the pineapple so I know store bought pineapple juice is cheaper but it has been subjected to heat for preserving meaning enzymes have been killed and there is a flavour change.  The freshly extracted pineapple juice is far superior in flavour to store bought canned pineapple juice.  Use it in baking for a wonderful punch of flavour that can't be beat!

Tomato Juice Just Out of Pressure Canner

I have an All American pressure canner, model 921.  I like to process my tomato products in the pressure canner because the processing time is less which makes a difference as to how many times the canner can run in a day.  The process time for tomato juice in a boiling water bath canner (BWB) is 40 minutes for 1 L jars but only 15 minutes using the pressure canner (PC).   The pressure canner is more energy efficient as I can process a larger number of jars at a time.  The PC only uses 3 L of water per load in comparison to the BWB canner that uses several L of water.

Tomato products are healthier when pressure canned.  Pressure canning increases the antioxidant properties of lycopene.  Now a pressure canner is quite easy to operate.  There are safety features built in to prevent over pressurizing.  As with any stovetop cooking, the pressure canner should not be left unattended.  When filling jars, it is important to leave a 2.5 cm (1 in) headspace.  Most seal failures and/or liquid loss when pressure canning are due to insufficient headspace.  Heat the water in the pressure canner to avoid thermal shock before adding the filled jars. Secure the lid per manufacturer's instructions then vent for 10 minutes.  Venting allows any trapped air in the jars to escape.  In a BWB canner the temperature is 100ºC (212ºF), just enough to kill bacteria, yeasts and molds in high acid foods (eg. fruits, jams, pickles).  The food does not get hot enough in the jars to boil.  The processing temperature in a PC is 116ºC (240ºC), enough to kill bacteria, yeasts, molds and destroy any botulinum toxin that may be present in low acid foods (eg. vegetables, meats, soups).

Foods taken from the PC are usually still boiling in the jar as seen in the video I took of tomato juice just out of the canner.  It is very important to not tilt the jars when removing them as that can cause the contents to erupt, leaking hot liquid everywhere creating a rather dangerous situation.  Do not put the hot jars directly onto the countertop.  Use cork trivets or t-towels to sit the jars on to prevent thermal shock.  It is very important to not adjust the rings unless you are using glass inserts or Tattler lids.  Do not adjust the rings if using the metal single use lids.  Jars should be left undisturbed for 24 hours then remove the rings and check the seal.  Wash and dry the jars and rings.  Rings can be replaced loosely on the jars for storage if desired.

Tomato Tips and Home Canned Tomato Juice

Before I start the tomato posts, I thought it would be nice to give a few tips for processing tomatoes.  Aside of the tomatoes I grow, I get hampers of field tomatoes for processing.  A hamper is 5/8 of a bushel or 15 kg (33.1 lb).  Many tomato product recipes call for a certain number of kilograms or pounds while others indicate the required weight followed by the number of milliliters or cups of prepared tomatoes needed.  This gives you and estimate of how many tomatoes to buy if necessary.  On average, 454 g (1 lb) of tomatoes will give a yield of 500 ml (2 c) chopped tomatoes or 625 ml (2½ c) sliced tomatoes or 375 ml (1½ c) crushed or puréed tomatoes.

Tomatoes should be firm and ripe.  Do not use tomatoes with signs of spoilage.  It is common to lose as much as 10% in weight due to spoiled tomatoes in a hamper.  The longer a hamper sits, the more that will be lost to spoilage so only buy or pick what you can comfortably process within a 48 hour period.  Washed well in soap to remove any soil.  Rinse then transfer to a sink of cold water with about a 125 ml (½ c) of white vinegar.  Let soak about 10 minutes.  This will remove any contaminants as well as kill of surface bacteria.  Tomatoes can then be blanched to slip the skins off if desired.

I usually make two or three products per hamper of tomatoes.  When tomatoes are cut, pectase is activated causing the tomato to drain liquid.  Seeding and draining tomatoes that will used for certain products is desirable as it reduces the cook time.  The liquid can be collected, strained and made into tomato stock.  Most of my tomato products are home canned using a pressure canner wherever possible although a few are processed in a boiling water bath canner (BWB).  However, many can also be frozen if you don't want to can them.  All home canned tomato products must be acidified with citric acid, lemon juice or vinegar.  Home frozen tomato products do not need to be acidified.

Commercially canned tomato juice is not expensive but home canned tomato juice is by far superior in flavour.  Home canned tomato juice lacks the tinny flavour many complain about because it is canned in glass jars rather than metal cans.  It is also a great way to use up excess tomatoes from the garden as any variety of tomatoes work well for juice.

I canned 5 L of plain tomato juice in the pressure canner.  I have also been experimenting with a Clamato juice clone which is a spice up version to tomato juice using clam juice as an ingredient (more to come).  Tomato juice can be processed in a BWB canner (500 ml jars 35 min, 1L jars 40 min or 1.5 L jars 50 min) or in the pressure cooker (500 ml or 1 L 15 min at 10 lb pressure) at altitudes up to 1,000 feet above sea levels.  Refer to the altitude adjustment chart on the Canning FYI page if you are above that altitude for timing and pressure adujstment.

How Its Made - Orange Juice From Grove to Table

Many start their day with sunny, bright flavour of orange juice. Most of the orange juice consumed in North America comes from oranges grown in orange groves in Florida aka the sunshine state.  Oranges grow best in good soil with plenty of sunshine and lots of rain.  To ensure the oranges are ripe for harvesting the water content is analyzed for the sugar content on the Brix scale.  When the sugar content reaches 10% the oranges are ready for harvesting.  The oranges are harvested using a continuous canopy shaker.  The oranges are shipped to the processing plant where they are washed then sized ready for juice extraction.  Pulp is added back into the juice then the juice is packaged into cartons ready for shipping out to the grocery stores.  Here is a video  showing the process.

Kitchen Quick Tips - Using Leftover Pineapple Juice

Mix leftover pineapple juice with a little oil, soy sauce and garlic. Mix well then marinate chicken for several hours. Bake the chicken in the marinade until the juices run clear.

Home Canned Tomato Juice

Yesterday I canned a hamper of tomatoes in the form of tomato juice. The first question is always why until you taste it. Tomato juice is usually inexpensive here going for about 99 cents for a 48 ounce can (2 cents per ounce) of the store brand. I get my tomatoes free but if I had to buy at the going rate of $8 per hamper my juice works out to 2 cents per ounce figuring in the electricity, essentially the same. My actual cost for 448 ounces was 0.003 cents per ounce. This would be the similar cost for anyone who grows their own tomatoes without the cost to produce those tomatoes, something that should always be considered when growing a vegetable garden. The biggest consideration with home canned tomato juice is not the cost but the taste! It has a nice, clean, garden fresh tomato flavour with none of the tinny off flavour of commercially canned tomato juice.

Food Mill

A food mill is essential for making smooth sauces and juices. I use a Kitchen Value (Home Hardware brand) manual food mill but will soon be switching to the equivalent Kitchen Aid attachment. A food mill removes the peels and seeds making quick work for juicing. The mill attaches to the countertop. Food is fed into the hopper (not shown) then a handle in turned so that the seeds and skins go out the waste shoot (behind) while the juice comes down another shoot into the collecting pan (front). A more detailed picture of the food mill can be found on a previous blog entry here.

Making tomato juice is easy but has a little twist. Tomatoes contain a high level of pectase that is activated when tomatoes are cut. This can lead to separation during storage. To reduce this the tomatoes have to be heated quickly on high heat to destroy the enzyme. When making tomato juice a layer of cut tomatoes is brought to a boil then additional tomatoes are added, crushing them into the mixture until all the tomatoes are heated. The mixture is then brought to a boil, removed from the heat and put through a food mill.

Tomato Juice

An average of 3 lbs of tomatoes is needed to make 1 L (about 1 quart) of juice. Choose a juicing tomato if possible. Other varieties will work but you will get far less juice out of a paste tomato. If you grow your own consider making juice from yellow tomatoes as well.

I made 14 lovely jars (L & quarts) of tomato juice yesterday. The work was easy enough but a bit drawn out but some of that was due to getting used to the new kitchen. Despite my plans, I didn't start the actual canning process until early evening then had to run the canner twice for processing as it only holds 7 L jars when used as a boiling water bath. So that meant I didn't get my mushroom soup canned but that will likely be today's project along with canning carmelized onions so watch for both of those coming soon.

Home Canned Tomato Juice
recipe for 1 L (quart) jars

3 lb tomatoes per L (quart) jar
2 tbsp lemon juice per jar or 1/2 tsp citric acid
1 tsp sea salt (optional)

Determine how many jars you want to process. My canner holds 7 L or quarts when used for boiling water bath canning. Weight out your tomatoes then wash. Cut into halves or quarters. Start with a layer of tomatoes in a large stainless steel stock pot. Bring to a boil on high heat then add more tomatoes (lg bowl full) at a time to mix in. Continue doing this until all the tomatoes have been added. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Run the mixture through a food mill. Return the juice to a large stock pot and bring to a boil. Pour into hot, sterilized litre or quart jars leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Add 12 tbsp lemon juice or 1/2 tsp citric acid per jar. Add salt if desired. Wipe the rim and cap. Process 40 minutes in a boiling water bath canner.