Can You Freeze Juice: A Guide to Storing Your Fresh Cold Pressed Juice
Juices, especially cold-pressed ones, are a fantastic way to nourish your body with essential vitamins and minerals. But when life gets hectic, finding the time to make fresh juice every day isn’t always realistic. So, what if you could prep in advance and have your juices ready to go when you need them? Is it possible? Can you freeze juice? Let’s find out.
That's what we will answer in today's blog.
Can You Freeze Juice?
Yes, you can freeze juice to preserve its flavours and nutrients. According to a report, since nutrients, minerals, and enzymes are better retained in cold-pressed juicers versus conventional juicers, the demand for cold-pressed juicers is on the rise. Even though some nutrients might be lost in the freezing process, if you freeze cold-pressed juices, the overall nutrients you gain on drinking such juices are higher than those in commercially packed juices.
In addition, there are numerous reasons why you should freeze such juices, which we will cover below.
Benefits of Freezing Juice
Some other benefits of freezing juices include:
1. Nutrient Preservation
According to a research post published in the International Journal of Fruit Science, fresh fruit stored at room temperature for a longer time experiences more nutrient loss (ascorbic acid) than frozen fruit. That indicates freezing helps with nutrient retention. This benefit extends to juices as well.
2. Highly Convenient
Having a stock of fruits and vegetables to brew fresh, cold-pressed juice is not always possible. A simple solution to this problem is to freeze cold-pressed juices in advance.
That way, you just defrost the frozen juices. The point is that it's highly convenient to freeze juice and have it whenever you want.
3. Less Wastage
Many times, you might have excessive fruits and vegetables at your home. If you don't utilize them, eventually, they will rot, and discarding them is the only option.
A much better approach is to brew cold-pressed juices and freeze them. Doing so helps you have those juices for months to come, and you don't have to worry about wastage.
Types of Juices You Can Freeze
By now, you might be thinking about which juices you can freeze. Can you freeze orange juice? Can you freeze pomegranate juice? and so on. We will answer all these questions below by sharing a list of the juices you can freeze.
1. Citrus Juices
The acidic nature of Citrus juices helps preserve their flavor, nutritional value, and colour.
According to this report, acidic pH levels inhibit pathogen growth, which means Citrus juices prevent bacterial growth.
Citrus juices have low fiber content, making their density uniform and perfect for freezing and thawing. So, if you are thinking of freezing orange, lemon, grapefruit, or lime juice, you can go right ahead.
2. Apple Juice
Apple juice is high in natural sugar, which works as a preservative. Once again, its low pulp content and uniform consistency also make it easy to freeze.
The mildly sweet flavor of apple juice is retained after freezing and thawing, making it suitable for freezing.
3. Berry Juices
Berry juices like those made from blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries are perfect for freezing.
The primary reason is that these berries are high in antioxidants, Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) which prevent bacterial growth and helps retain nutritional value.
Another reason is the low water content, so you need not worry about ice crystals forming while freezing. Consequently, the texture and consistency of the juice are maintained after thawing. Once again, the high sugar content helps preserve Berry juices.
All these reasons make berry juices perfect for freezing.
4. Grape Juice
Grape Juice made from black, green, or red grapes is suitable for freezing. The sugar acts as a preservative. The strong fruity flavor is retained after freezing and thawing. Its uniform consistency also makes it perfect for freezing.
In addition to that, the aesthetic appeal of Grape juice makes it a great option for freezing.
5. Carrot Juice
The sweet flavor profile of Carrot juice is immune to freezing and thawing. Smooth consistency is another reason why carrot juice is perfect for freezing. After thawing just stir it to restore its original texture.
With its high nutrient preservation, there is no reason carrot juice can't be frozen.
6. Beet Juice
Beet juice contains numerous nutrients, such as potassium, folates, antioxidants, and vitamin K. When frozen, it retains its earthy flavor and color, which is an added advantage.
With minimal texture change, it is another great option for freezing if you want another option to lead a healthy lifestyle.
7. Green Juices
Green juices are usually made from celery, cucumber, kale, spinach, and parsley. Freezing helps retain the numerous nutrients these ingredients offer.
Green juices spoil quickly at room temperature due to the enzymes, but freezing them helps preserve them for 3 to 6 months.
The lack of pulp works in favor of these juices. With the flavors retained after thawing, there is no reason why you shouldn't freeze them.
How to Freeze Juice?
Time to now understand how to freeze cold pressed juices.
Step 1: Brew the Juice
Brew the juice using our Cold Pressed Juicer (Click here to check it out). Our masticating juicer is designed to make the entire process easy and help the juice retain most nutrients since it is not subjected to heat.
Step 2: Fill the freezing bags
Fill the freezing bags with juice up to 70%. The rest of the space is for them to expand.
Usually, when you store them in the refrigerator, you have the freedom to fill the jars up to the brim, but not in this case.
Step 3: Freeze it directly
The best way to freeze such juices is to use a blast freezer. It helps retain a significant amount of nutrients, making the juices more effective.
If you don't want to buy a separate freezer, you can use the standard refrigerator freezer by setting it to 0F or lower.
In either of these gadgets, simply keep the bags flat without stacking them one on top of another. The more surface area exposed to air, the faster the freezing process.
Once the process is complete, you can stack the freezer bags.
Pro tip:
Avoid stacking them in the freezer door as that area experiences more temperature fluctuations. Keep them in the refrigerator freezer.
How to Thaw Frozen Cold Pressed Juices?
When you want to thaw the juices, move the freezer bag to the refrigerator for 24 hours. Thereafter, you can drink the juice.
Tips to Follow While Freezing Juice
When freezing such juices, follow some additional tips to do it right.
1. Use the Right Storage Mechanism
You might have noticed that we recommended using freezer bags above instead of airtight jars or any other storage mechanism. Freezer bags are better as they prevent freezer burns, are airtight, are space efficient, and have little to no probability of breakage.
Additionally, they are more affordable than glass-based jars or other storage containers.
2. Label Every Container
Freezing cold-pressed juices can help you store juices for longer. However, you can't store them forever. Ideally, you should consume them within 3 months. At the most, you should consume them in 6 months, depending on the type of juice you're dealing with.
But how will you know when the freezer bags are nearing this time?
This becomes a problem, especially when you have frozen juices at different times.
The simple solution to this problem is to label every juice bag with its freezing date and best-consume-by date. Additionally, you can mention the juice's ingredients. This information helps you consume juices when they are still in proper condition.
3. Freeze in Smaller Portions
We understand that dividing juices into single-serving sizes and storing each portion in a separate bag isn't easy. However, doing so is necessary. If you have thawed a juice bag but can't consume it fully, you won't be able to refreeze it.
A better solution is to freeze them in smaller portions. When you thaw a freezer bag, you can consume the entire juice inside.
FAQs on Freezing Juice
Does Freezing Juice Affect Nutrition?
Freezing juices retains the majority of the nutrients. There is a slight reduction in nutrients, but often, it is less than refrigerating the juices for long periods of time. So, freezing is indeed the best option if you want to consume juices at a later date.
What is the Best Juice to Freeze?
Apple, grapes, and orange cold-pressed juices are the best to freeze. Additionally, you can refer to our list above of juices that you can freeze.
Does Freezing Juice Affect Taste?
Frozen juices usually don't result in taste variation. This is especially true for 100% cold-pressed juices. If the taste changes, chances are you haven't done something right while freezing or thawing.
Is It Ok to Refreeze Juice?
No, refreezing juices isn't advisable, as it changes their taste and nutrient profile. Once you have thawed the juice, it's best to consume it in its entirety.
How long does cold-pressed juice last?
Cold pressed juice can last anywhere from a few hours to a few weeks. Homemade cold pressed juice should be consumed within a couple of rooms if stored at room temperature. Store it in the refrigerator and you can store it for 48 hours. It increases significantly when you freeze it. In that case, you can even thaw and consume it after 3 months.
How do you store lemon juice in the fridge for long?
Simply store Lemon juice in the fridge for a couple of days. However, freeze it and store it in the refrigerator. In that case you can store it for a couple of months as long as you want in an airtight container or freezing bags.
Buy a Premium Juicer & Begin Your Juicing Journey Today
So, the answer to the question, can you freeze cold pressed juice? Is a definite yes. It ensures you always have a supply of healthy cold pressed juices to gain nutrition from.
Don't know how to start? Simply Purchase our Cold Pressed Juicer & follow the get above to get started.
Sources:
https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/cold-pressed-juice-market.asp
