When I tried juicing orange for the first time, I didn’t peel off the skin, and it tasted horrible, the bitter flavor overpowered every other ingredient I put in.
Orange juice is one of the more popular drinks in America. But did you know that store-bought OJ is not the same as freshly squeezed?
A lot of stores bought orange juices are pasteurized (which means lowers nutritional value). And most of these products have artificial sweeteners like corn syrup.
Also, the method of extraction is most likely done with a reamer or press style juicer. Nothing wrong with it, but it only extracts the watery part called “orange water.”
The downside to this method of extraction is that it doesn’t extract any juice from the skin that contains the most nutrients.
These include antioxidants, phytochemicals, and flavonoids like Hesperetin and naringin that improve our body’s immunity, reduce HDL (or bad cholesterol), help prevent cancer, plus it is an anti-inflammatory.
Here are some benefits of orange
- Protects us from viral infections
- Contains dietary fiber that relieves constipation
- Regulate blood pressure
- Help lower HDL or bad cholesterol
- Lowers risk of liver cancer
- Reduces risk of heart disease
Unfortunately, the orange part is very bitter and contains indigestible chemicals that can give you gas if eaten in large quantities.
When was the last time you ate an orange with the skin? The only time you eat orange peel is if you scrub it against a grater and taste its zest on desserts like chocolate cake.
The best oranges to use in slow juicers are the navel oranges because they are big and juice well in these types of machines. If you want to use reamers, try using Valencia oranges.
The key here is shaving the orange part off while leaving the white pity part intact. This way, you still get the most nutrition but not the nasty bitter flavor.
Step 1:
Chop both ends off.
Step 2:
Use a knife to shave off the orange part, make sure to shave as thin as possible, leaving most of the white pity part intact. You can use a peeler if you’re more comfortable with that.
Here’s how it looks like after peeling everything off.
Step 3:
Slice the orange into eights, so it fits through the feed chute of your slow juicer.
There you have it with these three easy steps you can enjoy a glass of nutrient-rich orange juice, not just orange water. I like to combine orange, apple, and beet with a leafy green like spinach, it tastes good, plus the orange seems to take off the earthy flavor of beet.
Also, oranges have a high amount of sugar, so I’d only use it to add flavor to green juice.
Have you added orange in your green juice recipe? If you, I’d like to hear from you.
The last couple times we’ve gotten oranges they seemed a little on the dry side. It’s been a while since I had a good juicy orange. Is the pith not bitter as well? The juicer we have looks just like #4 on your other post. DH didn’t think it was good for orange juice. He wanted it mainly for carrots and apples.
Nope, the pith isn’t bitter at all. If you’re making pure orange juice without other ingredients, the 8006 will struggle because it needs something hard and fibrous (e.g. celery or carrot) to push the pulp through the entire screen and out the ejector port.
Hi Garrick,
Thanks for the great article! I haven’t juiced an orange yet if I did, it never would have crossed my mind to peel it first – at least until I sipped it. My friend swears by her OmegaNC 800, but I went for something a little cheaper as I don’t use it as much as her. I purchased a Zweissen Manual Slow press. I’d love to hear your opinion on these types of juicers.
Thanks,
Liz
Is this the right way to juice orange manually? and i would like to know what is the other way to juice. thank you for posting. it gives me another knowledge good day!!
What do you do about seeds though? My slow masticating juicer told me to remove them before juicing citrus fruit.
Hi,
When I make orange juice in my hurom slow juicer (2nd gen) i do it exactly like this but once I chill it it turns almost into a jelly. Like crazy thick… But I don’t want to strain it cause I enjoy pulp in my orange juice why does it turn so thick once chilled does anyone else have this issue.
Thank you
Ryan
You do realize that HDL is considered good cholesterol and people try to raise it. LDL is the bad cholesterol and if it is high, should be lowered. I think you have this reversed in your bulleted benefits.
You asked to hear from people that add oranges to their green juice and I do all the time. I also add apples and lemon. We love it. I do like it without as well but it adds a little sweetness to the mix.
I want to prepare orange juice at home, but using mixer grinder it becomes bitter coz of seeds, what is easy, less manual way out?
Purchased my first juicer, a Cuisinart juice extractor. We have an orange tree in our backyard that yielded about 100 pounds or more of navel oranges. They taste great right off of the tree but I’ve picked them all now because we’re getting into freezing temps at night. I’m hoping to extract the juice and possibly freeze it as I think it would be too much to consume all at once. Do you have any pointers on storing the juice or does this defeat the purpose of juicing altogether?
for keeping the juice alive, freezing is good. in florida, when the oranges will freeze, they spray water on them. It creates an igloo like environment where it keeps the oranges at freezing temperature, especially if it gets below freezing there.