Juice Extractor
Brand: Cook N Home
My Story:
Our friends, Vicki and Mike, grow and sell fresh blackberries, and blackberry products. While searching for some time-saving methods, she came across this Juice Extractor at Amazon and ordered it. She was amazed at how easy it was to use. Knowing that I do a lot of canning, she bought me one as a gift. All it took was one batch of blackberries to know that I loved it.
How It Works:
It comes in five parts: The water pan, the juice ‘catcher’, the steamer basket, tubing (with a hook for the side of the catchment bowl – not included), and a lid.
Fill the water pan approximately half-way. Insert the juice ‘catcher. This piece has an open cone in the center to allow steam from the water pan to reach the steamer basket. Next, fill the steamer basket with washed and stemmed fruit. Be sure to only fill it to just below the top line of steamer holes. Put the lid in place.
Next, attach the hook on the end of the tubing to a large bowl. Be sure to position the opening so that the juice will flow into the bowl. (Sorry – I had to add this, as I learned the hard way!) Your bowl really needs to be large enough to hold 8 to 10 cups of liquid. I use a large 8-cup measuring cup that I purchased years ago from Pampered Chef.
Turn the burner on to low to medium heat. Depending on how full your steamer basket is, it can take from 1 to 2 hours to complete a batch.
When the juicing is done, pour your juice into one-gallon jugs. Be careful, as the juice may still be very hot!!! The jugs can then go in the refrigerator, or in the freezer for later use. If I have a lot of fruit to work with, I usually juice everything on one day, then can the next.
What I love about this steamer:
1. I don’t have to work around jelly bags and bowls on my counter or on my kitchen sink.
2. Working with a jelly bag can take half a day or more, just for the juice to completely drain.
3. Once your juice is ready, you have much less sediment.
4. While the steamer is doing its job, I can do other things.
5. It is simple to assemble and use.
6. Clean up takes about 10 minutes. I wash the separate pieces in hot soapy water, dry them off and put them away. Okay. Fair disclosure. It takes me 10 minutes, UNLESS I have spilled juice on the counter and down the front of the cabinets, like I did yesterday.
Thoughts:
The Juice Extractor is somewhat pricey, but if you do a lot of juicing and canning, it more than pays for itself in time saved. I consider it an investment well worth its price.
