 HOW TO USE A STEAM JUICER TO PROCESS JUICE EASILY
What a long title for such an easy process! I am really into capturing the taste and freshness of the produce we harvest in the summer and early fall and I know many of our customers feel the same way. I especially like to take advantage of the lower summer prices for fruit, and buy in bulk then to make the jams, juices and canned or dried fruits and vegetables for the fall and winter when they are more expensive. The question is how do you do that with the least amount of fuss and muss. (Goodness knows we have made enough fuss and muss doing other projects) I have talked about making jams in our last post and this time I would like to discuss making juice and preserving it for the fall and winter. The easiest way I know of juicing and canning at the same time is using a steam juicer.
This type of processing is not new. In fact I have seen much older, enamel coated units in antique stores and at Fall Fairs. They have been around a long time. The new ones though are made of good quality stainless steel with heavy plated bottoms (so that the bottoms don't warp if they run dry) and heavy duty tubing for the juice to run out. The fact is that they practically run themselves with no one around is one of the great assets of making juice in them. The other great quality is that when the juice comes out it goes straight into the hot sterile canning jars with a hot sterile lid and will seal themselves when they cool. This cuts out the step of having to can the jars in a boiling water bath after the juice has been bottled, saving 1/2 an hour right there. .
You can steam your own fresh juices without having to worry about peeling, squeezing, pitting or stemming, making your juicing experience a simple and pleasant one. We should note at this point that a steam juicer will also produce clear, nectar like juice that when sugar and pectin are added will make beautiful clear jellies.
Another feature of the steam juicers is that you can juice things that you would never dream of juicing in an electric juicer. For example black berries are in great abundance in the wild, all along the sides of the roads here where we live. In August we go and pick them for free and run them through the steam juicer and make the blackest, sweetness, FREE blackberry juice you would ever have. Among other fruits and vegetables that can be juiced in a steam juicer easily to make a nice clear juice are tomatoes, choke cheeries, grapes, plums, crab apples, elderberries, raspberries and even rhubarb. And we also do the regular types of juices like apple, peach, pear, nectarine or a mixed vegetable juice cocktail. You can also mix flavours by combining different fruits like Peaches and raspberries, or strawberries and rhubarb. Many of our customers grow grapes for wines in this area but these grapes can also be used to make a sweet clear grape juice with the steam juicer as well. Some of customers actually make wine with their steam juicer.
How do you use Steam Juicers?
First you fill the bottom water pan with water. Place this on the stove and leave to boil. Put the juice kettle on top of the water pan--this is where the juice will collect and be extracted via a hose. Next you place the rinsed fruit in the steam basket (no need to stem or pit!) and leave to steam with the lid on it.. You can now go away and work on another project or get your jars cleaned and boiled so they will be hot when you need to use them. Juice will begin to fill the juice kettle after 40 minutes, and the whole process should take about an hour. I normally come back in about 1/2 hour and place one of the hot jars in a empty sauce pan with a handle (something to hold the hot jar) and release the clamp on the front of the juicer and start filling jars. I place the hot boiled jar lids on the jar and the twist lid to keep it altogether and set is aside on a  tea towel to cool. At this point you could also add more fruit to the steamer basket. and check the water in the bottom pan. It takes an 1 1/2 to run off about 8 qts. of juice but remember you are not standing over it, the juice is producing juice all by itself with no moving parts. You could process the jars for 10 min. in a boiling water bath but we have found through testing that it isn't necessary.
Enthusiasts say that the juice from steam juicers is the best and smoothest they have ever tasted. You can use vegetables as well as fruit. And as well as juices, you can make delicious jellies, syrups and much more. Apples that have blemishes that won't keep in a root cellar, can be made into beautiful clear juice without peeling or coring them. My only caution is for making cherry juice. The cherries do have to be pitted as the pits are not good for us so you will need to remove them before putting the cherries into the steam basket. Some fruits like peaches and rhubarb you can add sugar, honey or Xagave to sweeten it as it being turned into juice. See Peach juice recipe below. You can also use the pulp left over to turn into jams.
It's a recognized fact in the food industry: Steam cooking makes fresh food taste great, particularly vegetables which don't lose their flavour or nutrients because they don't surrender them to boiling water.
Beside making juice, syrups and jellies, the steam juicers can also be used to steam Christmas pudding, clams, fish, or steam blanching vegetables in mass for freezing or dehydrating, or anything else that you would like to cook by using steam. The lid of the steam juicer will also fit over the bottom water pan with the thick base, turning it into another pan for your stove or roaster for the oven to cook roasts, ham, or casseroles.
PEACH JUICE RECIPE
5 lb. of fresh ripe peaches, cut in half and pitted
1 cup sugar (or 1/2 cup Xagave Natural Sweetener)
Process as above.
PEACH GINGER JAM
Put pulp left over from making peach juice about in a blender of a food straining mill. After it is strained, measure. You will need 5 to 5 1/2 cups of pulp. Mix with one piece (1 inch cube) of fresh grated ginger root, 1 Tbsp. grated orange peel, 1/3 cup orange juice, 1 cinnamon stick and 5 cups of sugar, (You can reduce the sugar by adding Ultra Gel thickener as talked about in our last post). Cook over low heat until mixture reaches 215 ° F. on a candy thermometer. Fill hot sterile jars and seal with a hot lid. Process 10 min.
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making your juicing experience a simple and pleasant one. We should note at this point that a 
of the water pan--this is where the juice will collect and be extracted via a hose. Next you place the rinsed fruit in the steam basket (no need to stem or pit!) and leave to steam with the lid on it.. You can now go away and work on another project or get your jars cleaned and boiled so they will be hot when you need to use them. Juice will begin to fill the juice kettle after 40 minutes, and the whole process should take about an hour. I normally come back in about 1/2 hour and place one of the hot jars in a empty sauce pan with a handle (something to hold the hot jar) and release the clamp on the front of the juicer and start filling jars. I place the hot boiled jar lids on the jar and the twist lid to keep it altogether and set is aside on a 
tea towel to cool. At this point you could also add more fruit to the steamer basket. and check the water in the bottom pan. It takes an 1 1/2 to run off about 8 qts. of juice but remember you are not standing over it, the juice is producing juice all by itself with no moving parts. You could process the jars for 10 min. in a boiling water bath but we have found through testing that it isn't necessary. 
fish, or steam blanching vegetables in mass for freezing or dehydrating, or anything else that you would like to cook by using steam. The lid of the steam juicer will also fit over the bottom water pan with the thick base, turning it into another pan for your stove or roaster for the oven to cook roasts, ham, or casseroles. 
