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I bought pineapple and mango with the intention of making some juice out of them. I tried puréeing the fruit in the food processor and then mixed it with some water and lemon juice in the blender. The result was a really pulpy mess, yielded maybe a liter, if that, and was mostly flavourless.

I have two mangoes and a cored pineapple (like they sell in the grocery store in a container). What can I do this time to make my juice work out better?

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3 Answers 3

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The easiest way would be to use an actual juicing machine. Instead of just blending everything together, a juicer will separate the juice from the pulp.

You're looking for something like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Beach-67650-Mouth-Extractor/dp/B000FHQJ6C/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1292255706&sr=8-7

Juice goes out one end, pulp out the other.

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    Do you think it's possible to blend it all up and then drain the juice out with a cheesecloth? Spit-and-bailing-wire solution, I know...
    – Mrs. Garden
    Dec 13, 2010 at 15:58
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    Thanks for your answer, but if at all possible I'd like to find a solution that doesn't involve buying new equipment.
    – Daniel Vandersluis
    Dec 13, 2010 at 16:15
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    I attempted to make a large quantity of orange juice like this one once. It was very delicious, but some of my friends were weary of the pulp level. I simply took a very clean dishrag and poured the juice through it. I had seen things like this done with spinach to drain it on the food network. Make sure that your cloth does not produce lint though and that it smells odorless, or you might end up with some very tainted juice.
    – Naomi Campbell
    Dec 13, 2010 at 18:48
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    exactly. another great juice is from carrots, but nigh unto impossible to extract without a juicer. better to have the right equipment. for $25 it's affordable (even if not durable).
    – zanlok
    Dec 13, 2010 at 19:43
  • you may also use woman's nylon tights for filtering, works like a charm
    – ron
    Jan 31, 2011 at 21:25
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Because the juice is contained inside the cell walls of the fruit or veg and you will need to basically destroy them. A juicer works well for 2 reasons, one is that it totally ruptures the cell walls by using a really highspeed cutting head, and it has a built in extraction method to get the pulp away from the liquid.

Running the fruit through a food processor or blender can achieve the first part. But the extraction will be a pain. Cheese cloth works great for this. One issue is evaporation as you allow the liquid to drain off. So controlling the evaporation is a good idea.

One method that I have used before is similar to a coffee making setup. Pulp goes in the top with a filter over a catch container. Gravity will take time and you may need to change the filter a couple times. Another idea that is a little unconventional but cheaper is a coffee press. It forces the pulp to the bottom and allows the juice to come to the top. Not perfect, but it does work if you are trying to save money.

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  • Do you have a link with scientific info for the claim that juice comes from intracellular fluid? More likely, it's intersticial, but not actually within the cells?
    – zanlok
    Dec 13, 2010 at 22:23
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    Its not a claim. I have done the research, in a lab, using the test equipment. Take a look at an orange and cut one open. Where is the juice stored? Juice companies for years have used enzymes to aid in the cell wall destruction to maximize the yield of juice production. Even something as simple as using citric acid (yes lemon juice) can help with some juice extraction. Want to learn more? Try the experiments yourself. www-saps.plantsci.cam.ac.uk/worksheets/scotland/fruit.htm As most of us do not have the enzymes laying around, mechanical separation is the next best thing.
    – Doc Walker
    Dec 14, 2010 at 4:02
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What I ended up doing is puréeing my fruit in the food processor, and then pushed it through a fine mesh sieve, a bit at a time. Then I took the remaining pulp and ran it through the food processor a second time, and then back through the sieve. I also added the juice of half a lemon and half a lime. I ended up with about 2½ cups (625mL) of mostly pulp-free, sweet juice, and a container full of puréed mango and pineapple that has the consistency of applesauce (though I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it, and it seems to have lost much of its sweetness).

I tried cheese cloth as well as my sieve, but with the cheese cloth it seemed like I could not do very much at a time (though it was easier to squeeze juice out of the pulp when I could put the whole thing in my hand).

It was a lot of manual work for not a huge yield, however, so I don't know if I'd bother trying it again without a juicer.

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