There is nothing quite like growing produce for your own family, it tastes better, smells fresh and is made with love. Getting the family involved with garden chores is a great way to make light work of those difficult tasks in the garden and when it comes to picking apples you will have several willing helpers.
Managing a large estate means I get involved in growing, picking and producing tasty fruit and vegetables for the house and it’s occupants but you don’t have to have acres of orchard to enjoy fresh homegrown produce. In-fact a single fruit tree will often provide enough apples to feed your family and during a heavy harvest you may even have apples left for pressing into pure apple juice.
Pressing your own apples is much easier than you’d think and with a little investment you will be bottling your own apple juice in no time at all.
Once you have careful picked your apples to avoid bruising you will need to carefully wash and quarter them removing any damaged pieces of fruit.
Next crushing the apples into a bucket, there are several grinder options on the market and whilst the initial cost may seem to out way the results it may be worth considering asking some friends or family to form a apple pressing community or alternatively hire out your equipment to neighbours.
Crushing or grinding the apples maximise the amount of juice you are going to squeeze out of each apple, creating a pulp that can be pressed and filtered to create your fresh apple juice.
Once you have grinder your apples to a pulp into a sterilised bucket, you need to set up your apple press with a straining bag and carefully pour in your apple pulp.
The pulp can sit in the press for a couple of hours or overnight as you gradually apply pressure more and more delicious fresh juice will seep throughout the straining bag and collect ready for you to bottle.
Remember if you can resist drinking the fresh juice immediately and are planning to store your apple juice, for any length of time then you will l need to preserve the bottles and juice and accept that the nutritional value of your apples will quickly diminish.
Fresh is best, juicing apples and drinking the juice fresh, provides you will all the benefits without losing any of the nutrients that will reduce over a peroid time. Bottling apple juice in sterile glass screw cap bottles, prolongs the life and useability of the juice, similarly adding vitamin C extract can futher improve the nutrient quality of the juice.
Fill clean (a dishwasher without detergent will sterilise these bottle quickly for you) glass bottles with juice and seal the tops loosely, place them in a large pan, fill the pan with water to the required level and heat to 75°C.
Set a timer to 25 minutes. Once the juice inside the bottles has reached temperature, start the timer for 25 mins, turn off the heat and allow to start cooling next the caps on the bottles can be tightened, and the bottles carefully removed and allowed to cool. 
The shelf life of each glass bottle of pasteurised apple juice is up to 1 or 2 years but drinking it much sooner will ensure you get the best vitamins and minerals from your juice. Bear in mind that a little sediment may occur this depends on the combination of apples you use, this is completely natural and safe to drink simply shake the bottle before serving a delicious chilled glass of fresh apple juice.
Stephen raised on a farm in Mid Wales, trained in horticulture under apprenticeship with the National Trust and has worked in several prestigious locations around the world. Today as Head gardener for a large private estate on the outskirts of London, a keen plantsman, horticulturalist and nature lover. Managing large formal gardens, growing a huge range of fruit, vegetables and homemade produce for the estate residents. Stephen with assistance from a team of professional garden and farm staff, cares for livestock, including cattle, sheep, poultry and horses, completes property maintenance and grounds management.
Stephen believes knowledge is to be shared and thanks to some amazing mentors in his career path hopes to be able to share this knowledge with others like you and your friends all he asks in return is that you find the time to leave a brief comment and share socially with your friends.
Grow with me on
Stephen Pryce-Lea
Head Gardener and International Horticultural Consulatant
“It’s a beautiful thing when a career and a passion grow together, when you find it in a Garden it’s like finding Paradise“
iGrowHort – A Head Gardener’s Horticultural Journey of love, life and learning.
Here in the Philippines, majority wanted to eat the fruit freash than juicing it. But I think, you make vinegar out of apple juice. Fernando Lachica
Eating apples is our first choice but often we have far to many apples and storage is a problem unless you have the perfect conditions. Instead surplus apples are pressed for Juice or Cider but apple cider vinegar is also very popular in the UK.
Will the juice turn brown and oxidise like apples? I think nutrients are lost as times passes so it surpises me when you say the shelf life is 1-2 years!
If the juice has to be stored then use glass containers and make sure the bottle is filled to the top then seal, this stops any oxidation and helps retain the original colour. You are quite right pure apple juice is best served immediately as it soon looses nutrient value, you can add Vitamin C before preserving. During a heavy cropping year we have a large quantity of apples to juice and we still have some bottles that are 18 months old and taste and look as good as the day they were pressed. I agree the nutrient valve is minimal but still a refreshing drink on a hot Summers day and saves all those apples from going on the compost heap.
Wow. You manage an estate? We use a juicer at home. Quite convenient in making juices.
Yes 35 acres just outside London, the apples are just a small part of our produce range, we also make jam’s, chutney’s, and sauces from fruit and vegetable grown in the kitchen garden plus last year we made cider for the first time! A great success plus we rear our own beef and lamb for the residents of the manor. Thanks for dropping by my blog is only a few days old and I hope you will drop by again soon.
We make our own apple juice when we have a lot of apples in the house. But the main problem is that it turns brown so fast.We end up just drinking it all up iimmediately after making.
We use discovery apples which are the first to ripen in the orchard, these produce a beautiful pink apple juice. We make over 200 bottles a year for the estate and it is by far the most popular and keeps it colour well due to the pasteurisation process and glass bottles that we use. Thanks for dropping by!
I don’t own apple orchards but I would surely try this method of making apple juice… nothing like making fresh fruit juice on your own!
Oh. I like how the tips are very practical and easy to do. Will follow this since I’m juicing.
Keep posted lot’s of advice and tips to follow! Thanks very much for you comment, I hope you will call by again soon.
You’re so lucky to have your own estate! The apple juice looks really good in its glass bottle packaging. We mostly have them in cartons here. Does this affect the taste in any way?
Glass bottles is by far the best it helps preserve the apple juice for longer and stops it from discolouring.Thanks for visiting my new blog and hope you will follow my posts.
I do not like apples. Neither juices made from it. 🙂 But I would surely take this tutorial to my mother. She would love to make it.
This sounds like an incredible amount of work but I bet the end result us delicious. Glad to connect with you here.
never thought of making apple juice myself. but by the looks of it, you need a lot of space. my apartment isn’t suited for that
You could always use a juicer, the principle is the same but you will want to drink it fresh and within a day or two of making it as the juice will oxidise and will quickly discolour.
It must be super nice to be able to pick your own produce! That’s a dream that I’ve always wanted to achieve, but it’s kind of difficult when I’m staying in the city. =(
My son loves apple juice and drinks a lot! This might be a better way to save some money in the long run and keep him happy, LOL
I lke apples, I even bring an apple in our class when I was in college.. I want to make an apple juice myself, but I guess this kind of equipment is expensivE?
Depends on how much juice you plan to make, we make 400 bottles a year so the cost of the equipment is minimal, their are often local apple pressing companies that will do small quantities for you, or you could be a juicer a make a fresh glass for college everyday. Thanks for reading by article I hope you enjoy my latest blog posts.
Do you also include any essence or any chemical ingredients to keep it preserve for a long time?
No the only thing added is extra Vitamin C, the pasteurising process helps keep it preserved as does the sterilised glass bottles. Thanks for dropping by hope you enjoy my newest blog posts.
I love apple juice because it is so refreshing, here we call it cider, and I buy it from the stores but it would be wonderful to make it at home, then I would know that it contains only natural ingredients. Wonderful tips!
wow looks like a lot of work! but this is suddenly making me very thirsty 🙂
Apple juicing is good, but I prefer eating it raw.