I grew up in one of those places where freshly squeezed orange juice was regularly on our table. After all, the groves were no more than a football field away, so it made sense for us kids to go out and get a sack of fresh oranges when we wanted them. We’d pretend we were stealing them, but I figure that the grove owners were simply turning a blind eye saying that kids will be kids.
Anyway, back to the orange juice. Freshly squeezed orange juice will make even the most dour person smile – and the already happy might even start to laugh. It’s ambrosia, nectar, sweet, sweet wonder… everything that can be considered good in a drink can be found in freshly squeezed orange juice.
Why ‘from concentrate’ isn’t the way to go.
When you pasteurize anything, as the orange juice processors do, you’re basically heating it up so that none of the creepy crawly bacteria can get inside. Unfortunately, that kills a lot of the potency of the nutrients that the orange juice naturally has.
It’s like the difference between punching a wall and punching a really giving pillow. There’s not as much of an effect.
How to get freshly squeezed orange juice
First, get the best, freshest oranges that you can find. I personally prefer getting the navels to the valencias, because the peels of the navel come right off with almost no hassle. Also, they don’t seem to have as much zest.
After you’ve picked the best oranges, get out your manual commercial citrus juicer and slice the oranges in half. You don’t necessarily have to peel these, as you can just balance them on the tip of the juicer and press down.
Now, you’re not limited to only oranges. There are many places that you can go with this. You can use a grapefruit in the mix, perhaps a tangerine. Experimentation makes for better chefs, after all.
Special thanks go out to Gyorgy Weil on Flickr for the Creative Commons use of his picture
