How to Make Apple Juice At Home

How To Make Apple Juice At Home: Step by Step

A friend of mine recently asked me if it was possible to make apple juice at home. I was surprised that they didn’t know how to juice applies, but then I remembered that they were just getting into a healthy lifestyle. Juicing isn’t a one size fits all process. In this case, apples and oranges are quite different. So, I figured that I should help them out and after I did that and explained all about how to juice apples in their home kitchen, I sat down to create this guide for anyone else who wasn’t sure how to juice apples at home.

I’m going to cover the following information:

1. Why Juice Apples At Home?
2. The Health Benefits of Juicing Apples
3. What Type of Apples Juice Best
4. What Type of Juicer You Need To Juice Apples
5. And What you Can Do With All That Apple Juice Pulp

Why Would You Want To Make Apple Juice At Home?

The big question that needs to be answered right up front is why you would want to make apple juice at home to begin with? After all, it’s easier to simply buy apple juice from the store, isn’t it? Well, let’s examine the reasons that making apple juice at home is superior to buying and drinking apple juice from a store.

Homemade Apple Juice Tastes Better

The first thing that I want to discuss is taste. Freshly made apple juice tastes better, way better, than any store brought apple juice. Even if you’re buying a designer brand of apple juice such as martinelli’s apple juice, the taste and flavor of freshly juiced homemade apple juice is just way better.

You get much more of a clean “apple” taste when you make fresh juice at home. If you don’t like the pulp and prefer a clear, clean juice, then simply use a fine mesh strainer.

Pasteurization Is Bad: Fresh Apple Juice is Better

Apple juice that you buy in the supermarket is pasteurized, with very few exceptions. And it’s well known and accepted by all scientific experts that pasteurization kills the good along with bad. You need to pasteurize juice otherwise it won’t last. And this is the reason that people who make commercial apple juice for sale in stores always pasteurize it. However, there are drawbacks. The nutrients in the apple juice including the enzymes and beneficial antioxidants are destroyed by heating the juice. So, homemade fresh apple juice is superior.

Organic Apples Are Healthier

Lastly, when you make apple juice at home, you will get a much superior juice because it will be free of chemicals. Store brought apple juice is often times made from the cheapest discarded mass produced apples you can imagine. These apples will likely have been sprayed with all manner of pesticide and other agribusiness standard chemicals. And that’s going to end up in your juice, and in your body!

When you make apple juice at home with a juicer, you can select to only use organic apples for your juice. This will produce a much healthier juice that does not have any of the toxic pesticides that are in regular juice. Of course, you do not have to buy organic apples if you don’t want to. You can get regular apples and simply wash them thoroughly before juicing.

 

 

What Are The Benefits of Fresh Apple Juice?

Store brought apple juice has almost non of the health benefits that real apple juice has. For starters, store brought apple juice has been pasteurized. This is a process of of bringing the juice up to a certain temperature. In essence, you are cooking the apple juice and this destroys any beneficial enzymes and most of the antioxidants. So, the healing power of raw apple juice is not available in store brought apple juice.

When you drink apple juice from a store, you are getting minerals and vitamins and fiber (very little because the juice is filtered). So, you do get some benefit. However, the major benefits are lacking. Let’s examine the various health benefits of apple juice and see if they are available in store brought apple juice, or only in raw fresh apple juice:

• Apple Juice as a Laxative- Helping You Poop

It’s well known and multiple studies have shown that apple juice is good for preventing constipation. The  reason that apple juice is a good laxative has to do with it’s fructose and pectin. The fructose will be measurably the same in store brought juice as it is in fresh juice. However, fresh juice will have much more pectin. That’s because store brought juice is heavily filtered. So it will have less pectin and fiber.

• Apple Juice as a Dementia Deterrent

One of the more recent discoveries is that drinking apple juice can have positive results when it comes to protecting your brain, specifically with regards to Alzheimers.  The studies have focused on the role that apple juice plays in preventing the build up of a dangerous plaque that is believed to be responsible for harming the brain. While the studies do not explicitly state if the juice was fresh or store brought, one can safely assume that the scientists were using store brought. The scientists are not sure why exactly the apple juice helps to prevent alzehimers, but some believe that a chemical compound called fisetin.

So, store brought apple juice would give you these benefits, but as many health experts attest, fresh apple juice has even more of these powerful nutrients.

• Apple Juice Help Lower High Blood Pressure

This is a health benefit that many Americans are probably seeking as high blood pressure also refereed to as hyper tension is one of the most damaging  diseases and silent killers. And apple juice is something that can actually help with this problem. However, it turns out that it’s not regular apple juice from the store, but only freshly made apple juice that is beneficial. Store brought apple juice can actually hurt and raise blood pressure!

It all comes down to fiber content. Store brought apple juice has very litter fiber. That is because the apple juice that you buy in a supermarket does not have nearly as much fiber as freshly made apple juice. Store brough apple juice is filtered to be super smooth and clear. And studies have shown that clear apple juice isn’t beneficial. Only whole apples or “cloudy” apple juice which is another term for apple juice that has not been filtered.

 

What Apples Should You Use When Making Juice At Home?

There are thousands of different types of apple varieties. To be specific, there are over 7000 varieties. 

However, you are not going to find all of those apple varieties in your local supermarket. In all actuality, you are likely going to find a dozen or less varieties. But that’s ok. You do not need to have access to a huge number of rare apples. In fact, it’s likely that you will find a perfect apple to juice at most stores.

My personal choice for the best apple to use for making juice is the granny smith. But that’s because I like to make green juices. Whenever you are juicing leafy greens, you will want to choose an apple that isn’t as sweet, but has a more sour flavor (sour in a good way,like citrus lemons).

If you’re making a juice with cucumbers and celery, then you can use a sweeter apple such as a gala apples or pink ladies. These are two types of apples that are commonly available at most supermarkets and will make for a delicious juice.

Here’s my personal list of good apples to use:

1. Granny Smith (this is best for making juices with Leafy Greens)
2. Braeburn
3. Pink Lady
4. Golden Delicious
5. Fuji
6. Gala

I also really do endorse buying organic apples when it’s possible. Organic apples simply provide a much better quality of apple juice. If for whatever reason (cost or availability) you cannot buy organic apples, then it would be important to clean the apples extremely thoroughly with good vegetable soap. Because you shouldn’t have to peel apples in order to juice them.

 

Which Juicer Is Best For Making Apple Juice?

If you’re planning on making apple juice at home, then it’s important that you select the proper juicer. There are several different styles of fruit juicers available to buy, but not all of them will provide you with good, clean, easy to drink apple juice.

In fact, if you are looking to make apple juice at home, there are certain juicers that simply will not work. Others might work, but are inferior to the better apple juicing machines. So, let’s examine the different options that you have.

Can You Make Apple Juice With A Citrus Juicer?

No, sorry. You cannot make apple juice at home with a citrus juicer. These juicers are designed for lemons, oranges, and other citrus fruit. They use a ream and this presses the juice out of the fruit. Apples have a different fiber structure than citrus fruit and it’s just not feasible

How About A Standard Centrifugal Juicer?

If you’ve ever been to a large healthy food store (even some Whole Foods) then you will have seen these old fashioned style juicers. They are cheaper to make than auger style juicers, and they are faster to use. That is why commercial businesses that make fresh juice always use them. They use small blades to cut up the apples and the liquid is separated from the pulp. But it’s really not efficient. A lot of the juice is left in the pulp and doesn’t end up in your glass. So,it’s a waste. Also, as I’ve covered extensively in my articles on juicing leafy greens, standard juicers destroy beneficial enzymes because of the high speed and high heat generated by the discs.

So, in my opinion, it’s a clear no!

How To Make Apple Juice At Home With An Auger Juicer

Ideally you will already own a juicer that uses a masticating design and auger. These juicers press instead of cut. This creates way less heat and they also allow for more juice to be extracted from the apples. So, what you end up with is a juice that has more healthy nutrients and is also better for you.

The only downside that I’ve heard people complain about is that many auger style apple juicers require you to cut up the apples before putting them into the feed chute. But this is common with all juicers!

It’s rare that home juicers(even the standard ones that use cutting wheels) allow you to put apples in whole. It’s simply not something that’s a design feature on most juicers.

If are really averse to cutting apples into slices before juicing, then you can get a wide mouth auger juicer. Omega doesn’t make one, but Kuvings does. I have a write up about it on my main review section. Here’s the section on my personal favorite wide mouth juicer.

What Can You Do With Apple Juice Pulp?

Now that you’ve finished making apple juice, you are probally left wondering what you’re going to do with all of that apple juice pulp. Besides throw it out!

Well, there are a few things you can do with apple pulp!

• Add to Muffins

You can add apple pulp to muffins when you are baking. But don’t add too much. Remember that the pulp is dense and will not rise, so if you add to much of it to the batter,the muffins won’t rise and will be flat.

• Use In Smoothies

Sometimes apples can be a bit of a pain to blend. And if you want to make a smoothie but don’t have a Vitamix or other top of the line blender, you will have trouble adding whole apples to the blender. That’s why adding apple juice pulp from juicing is so good. You can save that apple pulp from juicing and add it to your next smoothie. I suggest freezing the apple pulp if you are not planning on using it within a day.

• Use As Compost

If you have an indoor or outdoor compost area, then be sure to use this pulp for the compost. Apple pulp and for that matter all fruit and vegetable pulp is great for compost bins because it provides the “greens” for the compost process. Greens and Browns (nitrogens and carbons) are what make compost. So the apple pulp will help breakdown any paper products and other brown carbon rich products you have.