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One message I recently received (from Wendy in the UK) asked about how I store my juices. I’ve previously been asked this question via Facebook, so I thought I write a quick little post to answer this and a couple of related frequently asked questions.
Can I store my juices?
In an ideal world we would all drink our juices fresh, juicing just the right amount every time we fancied a juice. We don’t live in an ideal world and I, no doubt like many of you, find I often need to prepare my juices in advance. Although juices are are at the nutritional best immediately after they are extracted from the vegetables and fruits, if they are stored in airtight containers and kept cool they will last for up to 72 hours depending on the type of juicer used. Personally I would advise drinking juices made in a centrifugal juicer with 12-24 hours, but if you have a masticating juicer, then juices kept in the fridge can be good for up to 3 days. If you need to keep your juices even longer then you can also freeze them!
How should I store my juices?
There are a few things that can cause the nutritional value of our juices to deteriorate. The main ones being oxygen, heat and light.
Oxygen
In order to prevent oxygen affecting our juices it is important to store them in an airtight container and to completely fill the container so that no oxygen is left inside. If your juice doesn’t quite fill the container then I would suggest topping up with a little filtered or mineral water.
Heat
To protect juices from heat we ideally want to keep them in the fridge, but I appreciate this is not always possible. When no fridge is available (for example when travelling) it can be a good idea to put ice in the container with the juice. It is then important to keep the juice in the coldest available place. When travelling I like to use insulated flasks or bottles as these will help to keep the juices cold. I tend to use bottles made by the Swiss manufacturing company, Sigg.
Light
Many people use glass Mason or Kilner jars to store juices. Indeed, I myself often use them for juices I am storing in the fridge. If you are using glass jars, then it advisable to wrap them in aluminium foil unless they are being stored in darkness. The foil blocks light from getting to the juice.
Money Saving Tip!
One other thing to note is that you don’t need to buy specific glass jars – any airtight glass jar will do, so before you rush out and buy Mason or Kilner jars you may just want to wash out old pasta or jam jars instead :-).
