Pomegranate Juicer in action

[lemniscate]

Since I didn't want to derail @Smithy's travel thread with more juicer and citrus talk, I decided a new thread might be a better idea.  My neighbor just so happened to gift me a bag of pomegranates off his bush.  He doesn't seem to use them.  My bush did not fruit this year, probably because I pruned it heavily since it was out of control.  Here are the pomegranates being cleaned.  Maybe 30ish?

 

 

I did the smallest ones first.  Some years the pips are very light colored, other times deep red, these are in-between.  They are probably not completely ripe since there are none that are starting to crack.  Heh, I'll take them anyway.

 

Ready for battle.

 

About 10 of the smallest ones (3" diameter) got me this much juice.

 

 

Here's what is left from the press.  It does not get all the pips, but a large percentage.  These pomegranates are ignored backyard fruit, variety unknown, not the beauteous commercial types.

 

 

About 2.5 quarts was the result.  Does it taste just like store bought POM juice?  No.  It's a bit thinner in viscosity and less sweet.  It also picks up a slight tannin flavor from the pith.  I like it.  The household likes it.  So it's worth doing.  The detritus gets put out for the fruit eating birds too.  They like it.

 

 

P.S. Since I do grapefruit and lemons with this juicer, here are some of the jars of the juices I canned mentioned in the previous thread.  Grapefruit in the quart on the right.  Left is a light colored lemon syrup, center is a lemon syrup that caramelized as a happy accident.  All are good.

 

 

 

Edited November 22, 2018 by lemniscate
spellingx2 (log)

[heidih]

Nice    Have you ever reduced to make your own pom molasses?

[lemniscate]

6 minutes ago, heidih said:

Nice    Have you ever reduced to make your own pom molasses?

 

I have!  I forgot about that.  I liked it, but I never quite could figure out how to use it.  

[heidih]

Clearly you need to head to the library or Amazon and check out Yotam Ottolenghi's books like Plenty!  Plenty: Vibrant Vegetable Recipes from London's Ottolenghi  Very inspiring even if you don't follow recipes exactly.

Edited November 22, 2018 by Smithy
Adjusted Amazon link to be eG-friendly (log)

[blue_dolphin]

21 minutes ago, lemniscate said:

 

I have!  I forgot about that.  I liked it, but I never quite could figure out how to use it.  

 

This link should take you over to Eat Your Books and a list of online recipes that call for pomegranate molasses.

Edited to add that there are over 900 recipes in that list.  You can filter further by recipe type or other ingredients.

Edited November 22, 2018 by blue_dolphin (log)

[chromedome]

One quick rule of thumb is to experiment with it anywhere you'd otherwise use (run-of-the-mill) balsamic vinegar. The pom molasses has a pretty similar balance of sweet and tangy.

 

I love it with a roasted beet salad, for example. Very tasty, and it doesn't spoil the look of the beets as balsamic will.