While a fully self-sustaining kitchen garden (à la The Good Life) isn’t a reality for most of us, growing a fruit tree is a more achievable goal.

Apple trees are among the most popular to grow, and though eating your apples fresh or baking them into a scrumptious crumble might be the first ideas that spring to mind when considering how to use your harvest, you shouldn’t forget about making your own apple juice!

In this blog post, we’ll be squeezing (well, pressing) every last drop from the topic of how to make apple juice. But first, it’s worth knowing just which varieties are best for making your own.

Jump to:

• Which varieties are best for juicing?
• The benefits of home-pressed apple juice
• Harvesting your apples
• Juicing your apples
• Preserving your apple juice
• Apple recipes

Which varieties are best for juicing?

When it comes to juicing apples, the varieties that are best are, unsurprisingly, those that are particularly juicy (shock horror). Varieties that are especially good include (but aren’t limited to) the following: Gala, Ashmead’s Kernel, Fiesta, Katy, James Grieve, Falstaff, Spartan, Discovery and Worcester Pearmain.

Each has a slightly different flavour profile (from dry to sweet) so make sure to check out their product pages to see which is right for you. If you want more information on apple taste, check out this video from Chef Jess Rose Young, in which she breaks down the different flavours an apple can boast:

The benefits of home-pressed apple juice

Besides the incomparable satisfaction of making apple juice using your apples, are there any other benefits to going home-pressed, rather than store-bought? Well, the most obvious answer is that apple juice made at home won’t contain any of the chemical preservatives or additives that are often found in commercial juices, and the juice itself will, of course, be fresher.

How to make your own apple juice using homegrown apples

Harvesting

To determine whether your apples are ready to harvest, gently hold it in your hand and try to lift and twist the apple away from the tree. If the apple comes off easily, then it’s ready and raring to go. If there’s a bit of resistance, however, then it probably needs to be left to ripen for a little bit longer.

Some varieties are more prone to bruising than others, so take care not to exert too much pressure with your fingers as you harvest your apples. If your tree is big enough to warrant a step-ladder for harvesting, then make sure you have someone with you to hold the ladder steady.

Juicing

Once you’ve collected your bumper harvest of apples and your trug is overflowing, then it’s time to get down to juicing. There are a few methods you can employ, ranging from the traditional to more convenient modern alternatives.

Traditional juicing method

To make apple juice the traditional way, you need to first crush and pulp your apples, before pressing them. The crushing process creates something called pomace, which is then fed into the pressing machine, which does the work of releasing the juice. You will need both an apple crusher and an apple press (either manual or hydraulic) for this method. Often, the two are sold as part of a package deal.

Using a juicer

If you don’t think you’ll be making apple juice regularly (or you want something a bit more convenient) then an electrical juicer is a good option. While costs vary, for a decent juicer you can expect to pay at least a couple of hundred pounds (with some high-end machines being sold for upwards of £500).

Making apple juice manually

Although probably the least common of the three methods listed here, there’s no reason why you can’t give hand-pressed apple juice a go! Grate your apples and then place the resulting pulp into a muslin cloth, and squeeze as much juice through the cloth as you’re able.

You can use a blender to get your pulp, and then, again, put it through something like a cheesecloth to try and strain your apple juice. While this is the most labour-intensive of the options, it’s also the cheapest, so swings and roundabouts.

Credit: Flickr

Preserving

Bottling

The bottling process for juices is similar to that used for jams and preserves, in that the bottle is first sterilised in order to properly retain your juice’s freshness and stop it from spoiling. Check out this article from BBC Good Food on how to properly sterilise your bottles.

Freezing

The freshness of home-pressed apple juice is both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because of how darn good it tastes, and a curse because it won’t keep for as long as a bottle of apple juice you pick off the supermarket shelves. To combat this, however, you can freeze your apple juice. Apple juice can be frozen and kept for up to a year.

Pasteurising

Named after 19th century French chemist, Louis Pasteur, the pasteurisation process involves heating your apple juice to a temperature of 75°C and maintaining it at this temperature for 15 to 25 minutes. This helps kill harmful pathogens that may be within the juice. If pasteurised and properly bottled, your apple juice can last between one and two years. Check out this guide from Orchard Link for more information on pasteurising apple juice.

Credit: Flickr

Apple recipes

Want some apple-based foods to go along with your freshly-pressed juice? I know I do. How about some cheese and apple scones or apple and walnut cake? Alongside breaking down different apple flavours, Chef Jess also curated a collection of apple recipes – for both sweet and savoury palates alike.

Final thoughts

making your very own apple juice. Lush. We’ve previously written guides on planting, pruning and training apple trees, as well as how to store your apples once you’ve harvested them, so make sure you check those out. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got more pressing matters to attend to…