If you have your own apple trees, you can look forward to a rich harvest. Not all apple varieties can be stored. So it makes sense to make apple juice yourself. However, direct juice only lasts for a few days. Therefore, the juice has to be additionally preserved. You can find out how to do this in this article.

Apple juice can also be pasteurized at home

juice fruit

The easiest way to extract larger amounts of juice is to use a juicer. This can be used to produce one liter of juice from around two kilograms of washed, stoned and damaged fruit.

preserve apple juice

For this you first need the right container for the self-pressed juice. Well suited are:

  • Disposable bottles with twist-off cap,
  • Weck juice bottles with a glass lid that attaches to a rubber ring with a clip,
  • glass bottles with rubber cap,
  • Glass bottles with swing top.

It is important that you clean the bottles thoroughly before filling them. You can sterilize them lying flat in the oven at 120 degrees. This should be done just before filling, so that no more bacteria can settle.

  1. Put the apple juice in a saucepan and heat it to 90 degrees. Check the temperature with a thermometer. The juice should never boil, otherwise the vitamins will be destroyed.
  2. Fill the juice into the bottles through a funnel (€5.00) to just below the cap.
  3. Close the juice bottle and turn it upside down.
  4. Turn cool bottles over and check whether they are really airtight.

Store the juice in a cool, dark room. The fruit juice can be kept here for up to a year.

Pasteurization in the bottle

Heating after decanting: Bottles with twist-off caps or crown caps should be used. The vessels are placed in a large pot, which you fill halfway with water. Pour in juice using a funnel. Heat the water to 80 degrees, checking the temperature continuously. After 20 minutes you can remove and close the juice bottles.

Pasteurizing the already capped bottles: Use bottles with rubber caps and wire clips for this. Alternatively, mason jars with lids and rubber rings are suitable. The juice is first filled into the vessels. Clean the rim thoroughly, close the bottles and heat them up to 80 degrees for 30 minutes.

Freeze apple juice

You can preserve not-from-concentrate juice by freezing. This preserves all nutrients and vitamins. Fill the apple juice into sturdy freezer bags, plastic cans or ice cube makers. The latter have the advantage that you can remove the preserved juice in portions. Thawed in mineral water, the frozen not-from-concentrate juice makes a refreshing drink.

tips

If you use a steam juicer, you don't have to boil it up, you can fill it directly into the bottles. These are then sealed airtight. Turn upside down, let cool and store in a dark, cool room.

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Trees