The fruit juices on the market very often contain fruit in very small quantities. On the other hand, they are rich in sugars and various stabilizers, not to mention dyes. For this reason, if you usually give your children fruit juices as a snack or consume them yourself as a snack, I recommend that you prepare them at home. The procedure is really very simple, and once ready, it is possible to keep them in sterilized jars. Take advantage of it when you find seasonal fruit on offer, and you will never stop preparing them. In addition, this will allow you to choose which sweetener to use and to what extent. Keep in mind that if the fruit is very sweet, there is no need to add more sugar. In this recipe, we will see how to prepare one of the most popular fruit juices at home:
Berry fruit juice
Sterilize the glass bottles and caps ( which must be new ). Wash the berries (if they are fresh). Take a large pot and put the berries, water, sugar, and the zest of half a lemon cut with a knife into it. Put the pot on the stove and bring it to a boil over high heat. As it starts to boil, lower the heat slightly. Cover with a lid and cook for 30-40 minutes. When we notice that the berries have lost their color and fall apart easily, we turn off the heat. Blend with an immersion blender until the mixture is smooth. Prepare the glass bottles and caps. Filter the still hot juice with a tightly meshed sieve to remove the seeds from the fruit. Bottle the berry juice with the help of a funnel. As you fill the bottles, cap and invert the juice. Wait for the juice to cool completely and then serve it at room temperature or place it in the refrigerator to enjoy it cold.
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Peach juice
The first thing to do to make homemade peach juice is to focus on fruit. You will need well-ripened peaches, in this case, yellow peaches. You will first have to remove the peel. Once this is done, cut the peaches into pieces. It will not be necessary to be very precise in this operation. Inside a saucepan, add the water and pour the sugar. Then mix with a wooden spoon so as to completely dissolve the sugar. You can now add the chopped peaches prepared just before. When the mixture reaches a boil, you can also add the juice of a lemon. You will then continue cooking for another 15 minutes at least or, in any case, until the peaches are very soft. When the fruit is well softened, you can blend it using an immersion blender. You will need to get a very smooth mixture. At this point, you can pour the peach juice into the previously sterilized glass bottles until they are completely full. Close with the cap, also sterilized. At this point, you can let the juice cool and then put it in the fridge, or you can boil the bottles for another 20 minutes in hot water to keep your homemade fruit juice longer.
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Pear juice
Peel the pears, remove the stalk and core, and cut them into cubes. Pour the water into a saucepan and add the sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Once it has boiled, add the pear and cook for another 10 minutes. Add the lemon juice, cook for a minute, and turn off the heat. Blend with the mixer. Filter if you want a more liquid preparation with a narrow mesh strainer in a glass. Leave to cool and serve.
Homemade fruit juices without sugar
Choose the ripe fruit on the market stalls to have the best available. Then wash the fruit and vegetables thoroughly by adding water, one tablespoon of lemon juice, and two baking sodas in a bowl, and leave to soak for 10 minutes. Then rinse it off carefully before moving on to the next step. Put the water in a saucepan on the stove. Meanwhile, peel the fruit, removing seeds and stones, as well as the cores and hard and fibrous parts. Then add the fruit to the water, waiting for it to boil, and cook until it is very soft, for 3 minutes, before turning off the heat. Then move on to squeeze the lemon and add it to the pot. Blend the mixture. If it is too thick and we prefer it to be more liquid, just add a little water and then blend again. Then filter the pulp with a colander. Then place them in airtight glass bottles after sterilizing them. Leave to cool to room temperature. Then put it in the fridge and drink it within 3 or 4 days.
Tips and tricks
We can store the juices made in sterilized glass jars to keep them for up to 1 year. It is sufficient to pour the still hot juice into sterilized glass bottles or jars, close tightly with an airtight lid, and turn them upside down. Leave them upside down until they have cooled. In this way, a vacuum will be created.
The dose of sugar varies according to personal tastes and also to the type of fruit used (more or less sweet, more or more ripe). We can also replace it with honey or a natural sweetener such as stevia.
To have a less dense juice, we can increase the quantities of water and filter with a cloth to collect all the pulp.