Orange Juice

The Great Taste Of Fresh Homemade Orange Juice!

Oranges are best known for their vitamin C content, which helps activate our own detoxification processes. Vitamin C has also been known to help fight osteoporosis. Most Americans today get the majority of their vitamin C from oranges. The fiber content in oranges also helps prevent the risk of developing colon cancer. Even orange zest contains skin-cancer-fighting compounds. Juicing oranges may also help fight and prevent lung and breast cancer. This is because oranges are very rich in a compound called citrus limonoid. A small orange (roughly five ounces) contains large amounts of folic acid, potassium, and thiamin. Oranges can be added to various cooked or cold dishes, eaten as snacks, or squeezed for their delicious juice.

• One orange contains about 50mg of vitamin C. That is about 2/3 of our daily need.
• Fresh, homemade orange juice is an excellent source of calcium.

Room-temperature oranges will yield more juice than oranges that are refrigerated. Using your palm to roll the orange around on the countertop a few times before squeezing the fruit will help extract more juice. Also, microwaving your oranges for a few seconds will help to loosen up the juice inside so that you are able to get more of the juice while making fresh oranges. You can store freshly made orange juice in the refrigerator for one to two weeks.

Orange Varieties

Valencia oranges Great for juicing. They have a thin peel, which can be a greenish color, with vibrant orange flesh that gives a wonderfully sweet juice.

Pineapple Oranges Another great juicing orange. This orange is larger that other juicing oranges. It has a rougher peel with sweet, juicy flesh.

Hamlins These oranges are pale yellow to green in color. They are seedless, with a thin peel and tart flesh. They are good for juicing and they bring a zap of acidity that makes them hard to resist.

Amber sweets A new Florida variety. They are easy to peel like Navel oranges, but they have plenty of juice and a vibrant orange color. Not as many seeds as other juicing varieties, which makes these lovely oranges an absolutely delightful choice for juicing.

Blood oranges Imported from Sicily. They are medium-sized with thick flesh and reddish-orange in color. They have a very distinctive flavor that is well known. They are candy-sweet, with a balanced acidity that makes them excellent for eating and especially juicing.

Honey tangerines They have a yellow skin with a greenish tinge. They also have a very distinctive aroma. There are many seeds, but still hold a delicious, sweet, favorable juice.

Honey bell tangerines A special variety usually only available for 6 to 8 weeks. Also known as the Minneola. They are seedless & honey-sweet, with a thin, tight skin. They have a heavenly aroma, and make an elegant glass of orange juice.

Jaffas Also known as Shamouti oranges. They are a Mediterranean orange mostly known to come from Israel. These oranges are very fragrant, and are heavenly sweet.

Washington oranges The biggest, most well known navel variety. There are also newer oranges being discovered including such varieties as Becks, Tule Gold, Atwood, Fukumoto, and Lane Late as well as the older Skaggs Bonanza.

Navel oranges From California, they make for a better eating orange than a juicing orange. This orange is seedless, oval shaped, with a thick peel that is fairly easy to remove. When juicing this orange, be sure to add sweetener or drink the juice immediately to avoid bitterness

Selection & Storage

When selecting your oranges, you should look for ones with a shiny skin, with no blemishes, wrinkles, soft spots, or mold. The oranges should feel heavy for their size, because this means that they are full of delicious juice! To find a plump, juicy navel orange, select oranges with small sized navels. Oranges with larger navels means that they were too ripe when they were picked.

To keep your oranges lasting longer and staying fresher, you should store them in a cool place (not the refrigerator), like in a fruit bowl on the countertop. You should try to juice your oranges within a few days of purchasing them for maximum juicing and flavor. If you are going to place your oranges in the refrigerator, place them in a plastic bag prior to refrigerating them.