TIPS ON JUICING
The right technique
When juicing a variety of ingredients with varying textures, start with the softer texture ingredients on low speed and then gradually change to high speed for the harder textured ingredients.
If you are juicing herbs, sprouts or other leafy green vegetables, either wrap them together to form a bundle or juice them in the middle of a combination of ingredients on low speed to obtain the best extraction.
NOTE:
If juicing herbs or leafy green vegetables on their own, the juice yield will be low due to the nature of centrifugal juicing. It is advised to juice them with a combination of other fruit and vegetables.
All fruit and vegetables produce different amounts of liquids. This varies within the same group i.e. one batch of tomatoes can produce more juice than another batch. Since juice recipes are not exact, the precise quantities of any juice are not crucial to the success of a particular mixture.
To extract the maximum amount of juice always push the food pusher down slowly.
Getting the right blend
It is easy to create great tasting juice. If you have been making your own vegetable or fruit juices, then you know how simple it is to invent new combinations. Taste, color, texture and ingredient preferences are a personal choice. Think of some flavors and foods – would they work well together or would they clash. Some strong flavors could over power the more subtle flavors of others. It is however, a good rule to combine starchy, pulpy fruit and vegetables with those high in moisture.
Using the pulp
The remaining pulp left after juicing fruit and vegetables is mostly fiber and cellulose which, like the nutrients in juice, are necessary for the daily diet and can be used in many ways. However, like the juice, pulp should be used that day to avoid loss of vitamins.
Some of the uses of pulp are to bulk out rissoles, thicken casseroles or soups or in the case of fruit, simply placed in a bowl topped with meringue and baked for a simple dessert.
Apart from consumption use, pulp is great to create compost for the garden.
NOTE:
When using the pulp, there may be some pieces of fruit or vegetables remaining. These should be removed before using the pulp in any recipes.
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