In this article we’ll look at some more interesting juicing tips and specifically how to prepare your produce for juicing.
Rich’s Juicing Tips
I recommend washing everything thoroughly before juicing. You can use a commercial wash solution or something as simple as sea salt. Add one teaspoon of sea salt for every cup of water used to fill the sink. (I’ll be the first to admit that when I’m in a hurry I will just rinse my produce. That’s really sufficient with me if it comes from my garden.)
Pat dry everything and then it’s almost ready to juice. Some produce requires the pit or stems removed. Other produce requires the skin peeled.
Juicing Tips – List of Produce
Here is a general list:
• Apples – Use the entire apple peel and all. Many other juicing enthusiast recommend removing the seeds and the stems. However, I personally don’t remove the seeds. If this is a concern for you, then you can core the apple before juicing.
• Apricots – Remove the pit, juice.
• Beets- We do not skin our beets for our juice recipes. We just cut off the small tail part of the beet if there is one left and also cut some of the top part off where it is or was connected to the beet stalks, which extend to the greens. If you’re getting the beets with stems and leaves you can wash everything thoroughly and juice all of it.
• Bell peppers – Rinse and remove the stem. It’s fine to juice the seeds.
• Blackberries and Blueberries – Juice it all.
• Broccoli – Juice it all.
• Carrots – You can juice your carrots with the greens and skins still on.
• Celery – Use the entire celery stalk (even the tops).
• Cucumbers – Cut the cucumber in half and push through juicer. No need to peel unless coated with wax (See below).
• Grapefruit – Peel and keep as much of the white pith on as possible since the pith is nutritionally good for you.
• Grapes – Remove the stems and juice.
• Kale – Just wash and juice.
• Lemons – No need to peel if organic and when juicing the peel experiment with how much you use. I normally peel mine leaving as much of the white pith on as possible (See below).
• Limes – Same as lemons.
• Melons – Cut into wedges and remove outer skin (netting on cantaloupe) with a knife or peeler.
• Oranges – Peel and try to keep as much of the white pith on as possible.
• Peaches- Remove the pit and juice.
• Pears – These can be juiced whole or slice to fit into your juicer.
• Pineapples – Twist the top off. Slice lengthwise, cut out the woody core, peel the skin, and juice (See below).
• Plums – Remove the pit and juice.
• Raspberries – Wash and juice.
• Spinach – Was and juice.
• Strawberries – Wash and juice.
• Sweet potatoes – Was and cut into pieces.
• Tomatoes – Remove stem and any leaves.
• Watermelon – Cut into wedges and remove the skin and rind. You can keep the seeds in.
• Wheatgrass – Wash and juice.
These are not hard and fast rules – juicing tips.
For instance, sometimes I juice the skin of my pineapple when I’m using my masticating juicer. The skin helps push the pulp through.
I hardly ever de-seed apples. Seeds may fall out when I’m cutting them in half. 😀
I almost always peel my cucumbers, unless I grow them myself. It really can depend upon the recipe to. If I think it warrants the strong flavor of the skin I’ll leave it on. So cucumbers, peel if waxy. If organic leave it on if you think the recipe will be better with it.
Lemon and lime. I almost always peel mine. It’s hard for me to find organic ones and if I do, the skin is still very strong, so I might use the peel but less lemon than the recipe calls for.
How about you? Do you have some juicing tips when it comes to preparing produce for juicing? Please leave me a comment below. As always, thank you for reading and Juice On!
On a side note, I’ve also been guest blogging on another site. See my article, “Why You Should Avoid Processed Foods”
Juicing Tips: Preparing Your Produce For Juicing
(Choose the VRT350 for a heavy duty screen, but at a higher cost)
(Good all around juicer, lowest price, but not good for leafy greens)
(Excellent for beginners)