Why is orange juice or apple juice added in a smoothie?

Question

I currently have strawberries, bananas and yogurt in my fridge and this got me thinking about the Strawberry-Banana Julius from Orange Julius. Previously I've made smoothies with strawberries, bananas, yogurt, milk and a light dash of sugar.

I know most places add in some orange juice or apple juice. What does the addition of orange juice or apple juice do to the smoothie? Does it amplify the flavor of the strawberries and/or bananas?

How much would someone suggest adding if I do not want the juice flavor to overpower the smoothie?

Thank you!

Asked by SirCobalt

Answer

Apple juice will give you very little additional taste, but it will sweeten your smoothie. Especially filtered apple juice has a rather subtle flavor which is easily covered by other fruit flavors. Juice producers use this to make their juices cheaper - if a juice advertises 100% fruit, and a flavor from an expensive, non-juicy fruit like strawberries, it is usually a blend of a small amount of strawberry juice and a large amount of apple juice (this is not fraud, the ingredients are listed on the package if you care to read it). Apple juice is normally made from low-acid apples, and it tastes quite sweet, so it is useful not only for bulking, but also for sweetening blends made with sour juices like elderberry, cranberry, etc. In a smoothie, it will have the same effect as in a juice blend, plus a diluting effect, as it is less viscous than your other ingredients. It won't amplify the flavor of the smoothie, it will even reduce it, as sugar tends to suppress other flavors in general. But the reduction won't be too big, and you might find the overall result better if you are accustomed to heavily sweetened food. You can also remove the sugar if you use apple juice - I wouldn't put it there anyway, even without juice.

Orange juice is much more acidic than apple juice, and it has a stronger aroma. It will add an orange flavor to your smoothie. I would count this as an advantage, because orange flavor goes especially well with bananas and is OK with strawberries too. It will also make the smoothie taste more sour, and again dilute it. Overall, the effect will be pleasant. As for what constitutes "overpowering" the taste, I think this is subjective. You should just experiment, adding a the juice in small proportions, until you have achieved the ratio which tastes good for you.

Answered by rumtscho

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How Long Does Tomato Juice Last?

Question

We've been buying tomato juice in smaller containers and now decided to buy bigger ones. But, when we went to the store the tomato juice says that it only lasts two weeks in the fridge. Expiration dates always err on the side of caution. How long can we expect to keep it after we have opened it?

Asked by Joe Johnson 126

Answer

According to this website, 5 to 7 days in the fridge.

Answered by Mien

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Can I put other vegetables in a manual wheat grass juicer?

Question

I'm thinking about buying a wheat grass juicer, but the fact that it only juices one thing gives me pause. Are they adequate at juicing vegetables such as spinach, kale and carrots?

Answer

Some juicers are better than other kinds for different things. A dedicated wheat grass juicers probably isn't going to juice spinach, carrots, and kale well.

A centrifugal juice usually doesn't handle wheatgrass well and in general isn't supposed to be as efficient as some other kinds for leafy greens.

A single-gear or double-gear masticating juicer works great for leafy greens, but isn't supposed to be as efficient for softer fruit.

If you're looking for something that will do wheatgrass, leafy greens, and a variety of other things - consider something like the Omega 8004. Long warranty, easy to clean, and gives good quality juice. If you need to make juice for a lot of people though, it is kind of slow for large quantities.

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How to keep fresh-squeezed fruit juice?

Question

Is there any way to keep fresh-squeezed fruit juice (especially apple or orange) for at least one week without losing taste and vitamins in it? Would a jar with a tight lid be useful?

Answer

Some quick research indicates there are enzymes in freshly-squeezed juice that will degrade it fairly rapidly, and that they can be deactivated by heat. Of course, that also changes the flavor (especially since you're not going to be able to quickly heat and cool it, as it apparently only takes 30 seconds, but any method doable in a home kitchen will keep it hot much longer than that). So heat-deactivation is out.

Even commercially-produced (that is, both pasteurized and enzyme-deactivated) juice is only supposed to keep 6 days in the fridge, so that's out.

Your best bet, then, is to freeze it. According to the University of California's Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources Publication 8199, you can freeze in clean glass jars or rigid plastic freeze containers. They also note that navel oranges (and their juice) do not freeze well—they will become bitter.

Well, either that, or store the fruit instead, and only juice it as needed.

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How can I prevent pear juice from soaking into pastry dough?

Question

I'm baking a cheesecake with pieces of pears, using rich shortcrust pastry. The problem is that, during the baking, the pear juice is soaking the pastry. How could I avoid that?

Answer

Whenever you're worried about something crisp being made soggy by something moist, the answer is usually fat. Brush the crust with butter or oil before you add the pears, and the oil will slow the absorption of water.

Alternately, dry out your pears. Cook them a bit. Roll them in sugar to dry them out some.

I'm surprised the pear juice is making it through the cheesecake batter. Usually that stuff keeps the liquids locked up tight. Maybe try a drier cheesecake, or one with a bit more egg?

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Avoid pear juice soaking dough

Question

I'm baking a cheesecake with pieces of pears, using rich shortcrust pastry. The problem is that, during the baking, the pear juice is soaking the pastry. How could I avoid that?

Answer

Whenever you're worried about something crisp being made soggy by something moist, the answer is usually fat. Brush the crust with butter or oil before you add the pears, and the oil will slow the absorption of water.

Alternately, dry out your pears. Cook them a bit. Roll them in sugar to dry them out some.

I'm surprised the pear juice is making it through the cheesecake batter. Usually that stuff keeps the liquids locked up tight. Maybe try a drier cheesecake, or one with a bit more egg?

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Can you make orange juice with a blender?

Question

I have a box full of clementines. Can I make orange juice in a blender?

Answer

Sure, you can juice with a blender, as long as (a) the blender is of reasonably good quality and (b) you're not expecting the same kind of yield or quality you'd get with a juicer (electric or manual). You'll also need a very fine strainer, or cheesecloth if you're like me and hate any amount of pulp.

You'll have to peel them first, and try to remove the pips as well (clementines shouldn't have very many, and might even be totally seedless). The pith is less of an issue - some people remove it, some people don't, it's a matter of personal preference. Once the oranges have been "cleaned", start blending them on the lowest speed and gradually bring it up to high. Oranges should have enough juice to blend on their own, but regardless of what fruit you use, be prepared to add water if the blender doesn't seem to be doing much.

Once you've got a fairly consistent purée, pass it through the strainer and mash the pulp against it with the back of a spoon or the bottom of a glass jar. There's your juice. You can throw some pulp (purée) back in if you like that texture.

Fruit purée from a blender doesn't really have the best flavour - it tends to turn out somewhat bitter - so you'll probably want to add a small amount of sugar and/or citric acid to compensate.

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Do I need a juicer?

Question

A lot of the juicers I see are really expensive, which makes me wonder if they have any significant benefit over my current food processor. I found a few articles (e.g. this one) which seem like they're saying that there's no huge difference between the two.

Do juicers just exist for people who are ultra enthusiastic about getting the best juice possible, or does someone who just wants to make juice once or twice a week need one?

Answer

Depends on what you're juicing. If you're juicing something like a lemon/lime for lemon/limeade, you can just strategically slice and squeeze to get all but a couple mLs of juice.

If you're juicing something like an apple, you can cook it slightly and then use your food processor to make apple sauce, which can these be squeezed through a cheesecloth/pillowcase for a great deal of juice.

For everything else (practically at least), a manual juicer (like this) will do just fine and cost a maybe a few bucks.

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How do I start juicing?

Question

A recent question tipped me off about juicers. I have heard of them before, but I had always written them off as TV informercial gadgets that were not really useful. Is this true?

If I had and orange, a tangerine, and a grapefruit, could I just put them in a juicer and have my own fruit "cocktails?" Is there a special juicer, just for amateur cooks?

Answer

I recommend this juicer http://amzn.to/evZjOv I have it and use it every week to make lemonade:

Peel 6-8 lemonsAdd to juicerMixing in a large pitcher, add water and sugar to taste.Refrigerate

It's absolutely delicious. It's all I drink, no more soda.

Last week I made cherry juice. De-pitted the cherries and repeted the same steps as above.

I've also made carrot and beet juice, but they test very strong and work better when you mix them with other juices - orange juice for example.

My experience with juicing grapefruit is not good. The juice comes out very bitter and tastes very strong.

In general, to reduce the bitterness in citrus juices, peel the fruit first before adding it to the juicer. As in the lemonade example, I sometimes use the lemon peels to make Limoncello, or keep a few in the fridge to garnish my coffee. If you have no use for them, they will at least make your garbage smell very good.

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Maintenance

You need to clean the juicer after each use, which can be discouraging. If you have someone who lives with you, have them help. My husband peels and juices the lemons, I wash the juicer parts while he mixes the lemonade in the pitcher. It takes us about 15 minutes from start to finish.

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Experiment

You can throw anything in the juicer as long as you remove large pits and cut it to a size that fits the opening. It will fit a whole lemon but you need to halve an apple. The juicer - at least the model I have - also comes with a recipe book. Not that I ever used it. I just use whatever I have left over and try to make something tasty.

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I hope this helps! Deb

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Do centrifugal juicers destroy vitamins through friction?

Question

I've read that in a couple of places.

Answer

There are two explanations usually given for why centrifugal juicers lose some of the nutritional value:

• frictional heating, supposedly from the higher speed of the moving parts (although it's never clearly explained where this comes into play, maybe from the juice splatting on the container)
• aeration of the juice (since there's usually more frothing with a centrifugal juicer), which causes the juice to oxidize more and faster.

This page is fairly typical of the explanations.

I'm personally not convinced that either of these is a huge issue, but OTOH I do like the twin-gear masticating juicer we have because it can juice anything and doesn't suffer from those supposed disadvantages of the centrifugal type.

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