Fresh orange juice

[WhiskerBiscuit]

I ordered a case of Valencia oranges to satisfy a craving for fresh squeezed OJ.  I used a traditional electric juicer and it was fairly decent.  Not great, but I suspect it is a bit early in the Valencia season.  However it does take quite a bit of time using this method.  So I bought a pomegranate press.  Reviews of various presses said it gets all of the juice from the fruit.  Not really, quite a bit is still left over after pressing.  But even ignoring the inefficiency, I noticed the juice was bitter.

 

I’m assuming the press is getting the bitter oils from the peel into the juice.  How do stores/restaurants that sell fresh juice do it?

[heidih]

Couple comments;

 

Yes the press is probably getting some of the bitter from the pith

Valencias originated here in California - more of a novelty act as they produce during spring/summer versus winter and the juice has an appealing deep color. Flavor-wise - not so much for me. So yes February is early

Growing conditions- absolutely vital to levels of juice and flavor intensity. In the attached images are some of my tangelo crosses with my personal favorite "juicer" - a fork inserted and twisted. Wow that press was pricey.  Before the rain we had 2 weeks ago these were much paler and the level of juice and flavor intensity was markedly lower. To state the obvious - not a neat precise manufactured product. That is why the big juicers blend. 

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

There are several juicing topics.  Here is one:

https://forums.egullet.org/topic/149279-commercial-grade-manual-citrus-presses/

 

I've had my Hamilton Beach since 2015 and I use it daily.  Mostly for limes and lemons -- plus the occasional Valencia when I can get one (which is usually never).  I very seldom have a problem with bitter juice.  Occasionally a batch of juice is on the bitter side but then I add more rum and blame the fruit.

 

To the best of my knowledge the Hamilton Beach juicer has been sold since the 1920's and they still offer spare parts.

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Here is another:

https://forums.egullet.org/topic/143263-best-juicers-for-cocktail-preparation/

 

[Nancy in Pátzcuaro]

We finally replaced our faithful Braun citrus juicer with a Proctor-Silex--much cheaper and much noisier, but it works well enough. The Braun had too many broken parts that couldn't be replaced. Right now our juice oranges are perfect, but in the summer we'll stop buying them because the juice is pale yellow and flavorless.

 

Nancy in Pátzcuaro