How to make juice from red currants using a press
The berries of red currants are quite juicy and lend themselves well to pressing. Let's consider the main methods of juicing berries using a press.
Figure 1. Juicing whole red currant berries using a press
Method 1 - Direct pressing
1. Before juicing, sort and rinse the berries in cool water.
2. Crush or mash the berries (you can also use whole berries, but the juice yield will be 40% less in this case).
3. Extract the juice using a press.
Figure 2. Juicing red currants using the VP-3 screw press (Manufacturer: APPLE PRESS LTD.)
If the berries are not crushed, the juice yield is 350-400 ml per 1 kg of berries. Many berries will remain whole.
If the berries are mashed into a puree before juicing, the juice yield is about 600-700 ml of juice per 1 kg of berries.
You need to use a filter bag with a coarse mesh so that the juice can seep through with a small amount of pulp. A fine mesh bag will clog quickly.
Figure 3. Juice filter bag with coarse mesh (Manufacturer: APPLE PRESS LTD.)
Method 2 - Maceration of crushed berries in water
1. Sort and rinse the berries in cool water.
2. Crush the berries using an electric grinder or meat grinder.
Figure 4. Crushed red currants using a masher
3. Pour drinking water over the berries at a rate of 0.5-1 liter of water per 1 kg of crushed berries. Place the container in a cool dark place for 1-2 days (refrigerator or cellar). This way, the berries give not only juice but also color and aroma from the skin to the water.
Figure 5. Red currants with water
4. Strain the resulting mass using the press basket, tray, and a filter bag with a coarse mesh (100% polypropylene), and press the remaining berry mass using the press.
You need to use a bag with a coarse mesh so that the juice can seep through with a small amount of pulp. A fine mesh bag will clog quickly.
This way, you can extract more juice, and the juice will be richer in color, taste, and aroma.
Method 3 - Adding enzymes
For effective juice extraction from red currants, you can use special enzyme preparations containing pectinases — enzymes that break down pectins in the skin and pulp of the berries, facilitating pressing and increasing juice yield.
How to use (general scheme):
1. Sort and rinse the berries in cool water.
2. Heat the crushed berry mass to ~40–50 °C (if permissible).
3. Add the enzyme according to the manufacturer's dosage (for example, 0.02–0.1% of the raw material weight).
4. Let it sit for 1–2 hours, stirring occasionally.
5. Extract the juice using a press and a filter bag with a coarse mesh.
Enzymes are usually used in industrial juice production as well as in winemaking. Soaking berries in water is the simplest, most accessible, and 100% natural method.
Juice extracted - what next?
Figure 6. Juice from red currants obtained using the VP-3 screw press (Manufacturer: APPLE PRESS LTD.)
Undiluted currant juice is too acidic to drink straight away. If the juice was extracted using the direct pressing method, it should be diluted with water and sugar added to taste. For this, pour part of the extracted juice into a pot, add the necessary amount of sugar for the total juice volume, place it on the heat, and heat the juice while stirring until the sugar dissolves. Then pour the juice with sugar back into the container with the cooled juice and mix.
This juice can be consumed fresh for 1 week (when stored in the refrigerator).
The juice can also be pasteurized and bottled in glass bottles. In this case, sugar can be dissolved (added) during heating.
Figure 7. Pasteurized red currant juice in glass bottles
How to preserve juice for winter – 9 methods – read more
Currant juice can also be frozen in ice cube trays. Such a juice cube can be added to a glass of water. The juice will quickly melt and dissolve in the water, resulting in a vitamin drink. This way, the juice in concentrated form will take up much less space in the freezer.
Vitamin mors recipe from currants:
The pomace should not be thrown away either. It should be divided into bags and stored in the freezer. In winter, you can make a vitamin mors from the pomace and juice, which will help with colds or simply boost your immune system.
Figure 8. Pomace left after pressing red currants using a press
Vitamin mors recipe that can be made in winter from any berries:
1. Thaw the pomace and juice from the berries
2. Pour the pomace with water, add sugar to taste, and boil for 10-15 minutes
3. Strain the mors and let it cool
4. Add the thawed juice from the berries to the cooled mors
Up to 90% of vitamins are preserved during freezing. Therefore, such mors in winter is almost on par with fresh drinks made in summer.
© APPLE PRESS LTD. All rights reserved.
Copying, distributing, and using the text, images, or any other materials from the site without the written permission of the copyright holder is prohibited.
