Pomegranate juice - buy in a store or squeeze yourself? What's better? Many of us will choose the quick or easy option - go to the store. But a more wholesome and tasty juice is obtained if you squeeze it from a whole ripe fruit. So, our tips on how to squeeze juice out of pomegranate.
Tools at hand
What improvised means will be needed, and how to squeeze juice out of pomegranate using them? Let's figure it out.
A sharp small knife - to cut a dense skin at the site of a dried inflorescence.
Water container - it is easy to divide the pomegranate into parts, the seeds do not fly in all directions and the juice does not splash throughout the kitchen.
Plastic bag - it is better to take a few special ones for freezing. They are dense in structure and will not tear.
Rolling pin or hammer - to crush seeds with seeds for better juice output.
A dense layer of clean gauze - to strain the juice obtained from traces of seeds, excessive pulp and traces of the skin.
A jug or a glass jar - for storing juice. Do not use plastic bottles or other containers made of this material. The fact is that pomegranate juice is a kind of acid that can slightly corrode thin plastic. It may not be visible to the naked eye, but the juice will not be as useful as it was originally.
Which pomegranate is ripe?
Homemade pomegranate juice will be the most delicious if you take benign ripe pomegranate to make juice. What should not be on the fruit:
- rot or its smell (both inside and outside the fruit);
- extensive dark brown spots on the peel;
- cracks, dents, or bruises on the peel;
- traces of frostbite.
How to choose a ripe pomegranate? It’s best to choose the right grenade while looking at it inside, but how to do it? Some sellers on their fruit counter display one of the sold species with a cut. This demonstration helps customers navigate a wide variety of varieties. This is especially important in the spontaneous markets of fruits and vegetables.
Outside, a ripe fruit of saturated red color with small interspersed brown spots, each of which does not exceed 2-5 mm. Inside, the fruit has bright red seeds with a slightly whitish base.
So, we learned how to choose a ripe pomegranate. It is not as difficult as many people think.
Squeeze pomegranate juice manually - method number 1
How to make pomegranate juice without a juicer? Of course, by hand. Having chosen the ripe fruit correctly, follow the step-by-step instructions:
- rinse the fruit under running hot water - this will make the skin not only clean, but soft and supple for cutting;
- cut off the top of the fruit with a knife and make cross-shaped incisions, as if by drawing a knife with peculiar petals on a pomegranate;
- dip the fruit into a large bowl of water and with strong pressure on your hands divide the pomegranate into pieces, now try to separate the maximum of seeds;
- dry the pieces a little and remove the separated seeds from the water, put them in two layers of a plastic bag - try not to put large pieces of skin in the bag, they will prevent the juice from squeezing out;
- tie a bag so that the juice does not leak;
- put the package on a cutting board (you can do without it) and roll it with a rolling pin or knock with a kitchen hammer to beat meat;
- then make a small hole at the bottom of the bag with a knife or scissors and direct it into a container to collect juice, you can immediately build a gauze filter on a jug or jar;
- when the juice flows out, it can be eaten or prepared from it drinks and cocktails.
For a more effective result, choose packages with a special zipper, small in volume.
The second way to squeeze pomegranate juice manually
How to squeeze juice from pomegranate in another way - without bags? It will be a little longer than in the first method. Below is the instruction:
- dip the well-washed pomegranate in an enamel container or a pan with boiling water;
- after a few minutes, carefully drain the water and remove the pomegranate;
- make incisions on the fruit and remove the upper skin;
- manually pull out all the juicy red seeds;
- when all the seeds have been collected, remember them with a pestle or a normal pusher for mashed potatoes;
- put the pulp along with the juice in cheesecloth, which put in a bowl or cup;
- collect the cheesecloth in a bag and push it with your hands so that juice flows out.
The third way to squeeze pomegranate juice
Pomegranate juice at home can be obtained in a third way:
- as in the first recipe, hold the pomegranate in hot water;
- wrap the fetus with a cloth;
- gently beat the fruit itself with a hammer or rolling pin, laying the pomegranate on the table;
- then make a hole in the fruit and squeeze the juice with your hands, pressing on the fruit.
But these methods are good when for culinary purposes you need a little fresh pomegranate juice. But what if this “ruby juice” is needed in large quantities? For example, for blanks for the winter or even sales.
Get juice using a meat grinder
Pomegranate juice can be squeezed out using a manual or electric (powerful) meat grinder. If your meat grinder can grind small bones from meat, then it will also cope with pomegranate.
In this case, peel all the seeds and twist them through a meat grinder. Then transfer the resulting mass into a fabric bag, dense in structure. Manually squeeze the juice out of it. Since the seed cake is not so juicy, this process will not be difficult, but lengthy in time.
Will a juicer help?
How to squeeze juice from pomegranate in a juicer? First you have to get all the seeds from the fruit. This process is time-consuming and time-consuming, but without it, juice cannot be obtained through an ordinary juicer. Get rid of not only thick skin, but also of thin white partitions. So, the algorithm of actions:
- put pomegranate seeds in portions into a funnel for fruit pulp - you can not overload;
- substitute a suitable container under the juice outlet;
- make a cup under the cake;
- turn on the juicer;
- squeeze the juice gradually and add seeds to the funnel.
Among all models of aggregates, choose more powerful ones that can squeeze the cake with a large number of seeds. A low-power juicer simply can not cope and irreparably breaks down.
The press
There are specialized presses for pomegranates, which are adapted to the hard consistency of these fruits. But still with fruits not ripe, even such machines will have problems.
The press itself is an inverted iron funnel with an opening at the bottom, a stand for a container for juice, a squeeze component that squeezes the juice from the fruit, and a lever that drives the entire structure into action.
How does the press work:
- ripe and well washed, dried pomegranates are cut in half;
- one half are stacked on an inverted funnel with a slice down;
- lower the lever, and with it the release component is lowered;
- half of the pomegranate is inverted, and the juice passes through the filter into the substituted container.
Grenade presses can be without filter. Then small parts of seeds and peels fall into the resulting juice. In this case, you will need to additionally strain the juice before use or use.
It is very important that such specialized presses can be useful not only in obtaining pomegranate juice, but also in any citrus fruit.
Now you know how to quickly squeeze juice out of pomegranate.
How to drink pomegranate juice?
Natural pomegranate juice is concentrated and quite acidic in taste. Using it in this form may not be useful for the digestive system. So, we figured out how to squeeze juice out of pomegranate, now let's see how best to drink it.
For 1 liter of juice add 0.3 boiled chilled water. You can sweeten the drink with sugar, fructose, natural flower honey or mashed dried fruits.
To your taste, add the juice of other fruits, berries or even vegetables to pomegranate juice:
- apple;
- plum;
- strawberry;
- currant;
- cabbage;
- pumpkin;
- beetroot.
Suitable for this purpose and compote.
Additionally, they also use something from a variety of spices or seasonings:
- nutmeg;
- ground cinnamon;
- almond;
- zest of citrus fruits;
- cloves;
- ground pepper (red, pink or black).
Now you know how to make pomegranate juice. Bon appetit and health to you!