You might want to know if you can juice frozen fruit or not. The answer is yes; you can definitely juice frozen fruit. Frozen fruit juice and drinks are nice to drink, especially on a hot day.
Juices help you to intake the absorption of nutrients from both fruits and vegetables and help you consume an ideal amount of fruits in a short time. Given our active lifestyle, it’s essential to take valuable nutrients and enough vitamins to boost our health in every possible way.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a beginner or if you have been juicing for ages now, there are perhaps certain things you must know about how to proficiently utilize your juicer.
For some time now, most people have been in doubt over juicing frozen vegetables and fruits. This is because they don’t know what exactly a juice extractor can do. We’re here to answer all such questions for you!
Is It Likely to Juice Frozen Fruits?
Can you put frozen fruit in a juicer or can you juice frozen vegetables? The answer is yes. Theoretically, you can place frozen fruits and vegetables in the juicer similarly to fresh fruits. They can be juiced like this too.
However, the outcome can be different as compared to juicing natural and fresh fruits. This means that it may not be as efficient as you suppose it to be. This is because the real taste can change after freezing vegetables and fruits.
For example, freezing the items can destroy around two-third of the nutrients of the fruits.
- Additionally, it can also rupture the cell membranes of the fruits, hence changing their consistency. This means that the juicing produced won’t be as high as expected. A lot of your frozen fruits and vegetables may end up as pulp in the compost part.
- Another necessary thing to note is that frozen fruits are cold, and if you drink the cold juice, you might imbalance your complete gastric system and end up spoiling your health and body. This is the reason it’s recommended to defrost the frozen fruits before juicing them.
Finally, depending on your juicer type, some of them might not even juice frozen fruits or vegetables.
Why Use Frozen Fruit?
Fresh fruits are picked up and then frozen immediately. This freezing process locks in all the fruit’s nutrients.
Adding frozen fruit to your smoothies and juices is an easy way to consume all your daily recommended servings of fruits.
Don’t worry about frozen fruit getting rotten if you don’t use them right away. If you buy several bags of frozen fruit on a sale, you can store it for weeks in your freezer.
You can always buy frozen fruits from a supermarket or buy fresh fruits and freeze them yourself. Let’s decide which one is better for you? Commercially frozen fruit or Home-frozen fruits.
1. Store-bought Frozen Fruits or Commercially Frozen Fruits
Commercially or store-bought frozen fruits are picked depending on the level of ripeness which is also the state where they can provide you with the best nutrients. After being harvested, they are washed, bleached, cut, frozen, and packed within a span of a few hours. That way, their nutritional value, and freshness are preserved.
Some studies show that fruits in a frozen state increase their nutritional value, and the value even goes higher when they are in a frozen state.
Fresh fruits undergo a different journey. They are picked before the prime state and ripen during the travel from your farm to the supermarket, then finally to your home. Then at home, you have to keep them for a few days before consuming them. This entire journey takes around 3 days to even months for some type of fruit.
2. Home-Frozen Fruits
There are times when you have to or prefer to use frozen fruits at home. It can your own personal preference or a way to extend the life of left-over fruits, or maybe you have overbought them as it was a buy 4 get 2 offer at your store.
Both ways, home-freezing is a perfect way to reserve your favorite fruits and avoid wasting them.
But, if you wish to freeze fruits at home, make sure to add a pinch of ascorbic acid or lemon juice to prevent them from turning brown or oxidizing. Then, put them in a vacuum-sealed bag or airtight container. Make sure the freezer’s temperature is at 0 degrees F or lower and avoid leaving the freezer door open so that the temperature inside it varies as this will affect the quality of the home-frozen fruits.
And most importantly, don’t leave them in the freezer before using them. Since they didn’t undergo the commercial processes of bleaching and quick-freezing, they might have been exposed to air and other things in the environment. This can lead to the growth of bacteria and fungi. Therefore, it’s best to use them within a few hours or the next day.
Remember to cut them into smaller pieces before juicing them. You will need to defrost them before cutting as even the best chef knife would not cut a solid frozen fruit.
Now since you’re ready to juice the frozen fruits, which one should you opt for?
We mentioned that commercially frozen fruits are hand-picked according to their ripeness, so they pack in the essential nutrients of this state from the farm to your house.
On the other hand, fresh fruits take a longer time to reach you and them ripe on their own, without preserving the nutrients from their plant or tree. By home-freezing, you might suffer a lot of deterioration in nutritional value.
I guess our main idea of explaining the difference between commercially frozen fruit and home-frozen fruit is to expose the idea that commercially (store-bought) frozen fruits are not as healthy as fresh fruits. Besides, some fruits may be only available to you in a frozen form which is actually more nutritious.
But remember that juicing frozen fruits might not yield the same consequences. For one, the output won’t be consistent since freezing deeply affects the fruit’s cellular and nutrition composition.
So, if you ask me, I would recommend both. Besides, some fruits might be available to you in frozen form. At least you know that frozen ones are more useful for you. So, next time you visit the market, don’t just drop only by the fruits area and give frozen fruits the importance too, because they are beneficial as well!
Tips to Juice Frozen Fruit
Can you juice frozen fruit in a juicer or maybe can you juice frozen berries? These questions might usually be roaming in your mind. As stated earlier, the answer is yes! Also, if you want to extract juice from frozen vegetables or fruits, you need to defrost your juicer.
We totally understand why you want to put frozen fruit in a juicer. Who would not like strawberry juice on a chilly winter morning? However, frozen fruits require different measures before you can put them in your juicer.
Note that, on average, the frozen packages travel 1500+ miles before they reach the local market. This is why we recommend some tips before you purchase and juice frozen fruits:
- To get more nutritional value, try to buy frozen fruits that are free from additives.
- If you’re planning to purchase frozen fruits, try to buy a package with loose pieces.
- Many manufacturers freeze fruits after the expiration too, so look out for that.
How to Juice Frozen Fruit?
Juicing frozen fruit is where the main game comes into play.
You can’t just pick the fruit out of the freezer and put it into the juicer as you could damage it if it’s too hard.
So, allow the fruit to soften a little.
Don’t worry about cutting frozen berries, pineapple, cantaloupe, or any large fruit into smaller pieces as that was done before and during the freezing process.
Once the fruit has softened a bit, put it in the juicer and juice it.
Some juicers can really juice frozen fruits and turn them into puddings.
For example, Omega horizontal grinding juicers come with superior attachments that allow you to do this.
1. Try to defrost the frozen vegetables and fruits
Too solid frozen fruits and vegetables can damage the juicer’s blades. Defrosting frozen fruits reserve their moisture and you can adjust the juice consistency afterward. This is why we suggest putting the frozen fruits in the kitchen sink under running water for around 15 minutes.
As the vegetables and fruits are softening, their cell walls start crumbling. This will give you a signal that the texture is somewhat mushy and hard for cooking. However, for juicing, it is an ideal technique.
2. Try making a puree of frozen fruits before placing them in the juicer
You can crush the already-defrosted fruits in a blender or food processor. This way, you can simply extract the juice from them. However, if your juicer or mixer is powerful with 2000+ rounds per minute, you can smash your fruit in it without softening.
3. Cut frozen fruits into small pieces and try not to remove their outer covering
Peeling vegetables and fruits results in decreasing their nutritional value as many of them are found in their skin. For example, carrots or apples should be juiced with their skin.
To extract more juice, try cutting them into bits of pieces that are around 1 cubic cm. in size.
Types of Juicer Best for Frozen Fruits
To come to a decision, which juicer works best for you, firstly know how they work.
A centrifugal juicer has a small inbuilt mesh basket with tiny metal teeth.
This basket spins at high speed and uses centrifugal force to pull the frozen fruit through the teeth, and slicing it to a pulp by extracting the juice.
It will produce juice quickly; however, you are still left with a lot of fluid in the mash.
On the other hand, the masticating juicer grinds the fruit as it passes through.
It uses a squeezing action to extract the juice from the fruit’s pulp. It works somewhat slower than centrifugal juicers, but you can collect more juice from this juicer.
In this case, masticating juicers work best for frozen fruits.
Frozen Fruit Mixtures That Works Well Together
There are different pairings to try with different types of frozen fruits. Here are a few picks to consider.
- Pair the juice from defrosted frozen grapes with raspberries, lemon juice, or strawberries.
- Enjoy a refreshing juice for warm days by combining frozen honeydew melon with mint and cucumber. It’s an amazing drink to treat yourself on an “at-home spa day.”
- You can also combine frozen cherries along with raw baby spinach.
Check out the different Smoothie recipes that will become your new obsession.
Try Out These 3 Frozen Fruit Juice and Smoothie Recipes
1. Mango Tango Smoothie
Ingredients
- 1 cup of frozen mango
- 1 ½ cups of coconut water
- ½ fresh pineapple pieces
- 1 teaspoon of agave syrup
Instructions
- Let frozen mango soften slightly and juice it.
- Juice pineapple pieces.
- Now add mango juice, coconut water, pineapple juice, and agave syrup to the juicer.
- Blend until a smooth juice is formed.
2. Mint Strawberry Lemonade
Ingredients
- 1 cup frozen honeydew melon
- 4 lemons
- 1 cup of frozen strawberries
- 1 cup fresh mint leaves
Instructions
- Let frozen melon and strawberries defrost slightly.
- Peel off the lemons.
- Feed melon, strawberries, lemons, and mint leaves through the juicer.
- Pour juice over ice, and yes your smoothie is ready!
3. Black Forest Smoothie
Ingredients
- 1 cup frozen cherries
- 2 cups raw baby spinach
- 1 scoop chocolate protein powder
- 1 cup unsweetened milk
Instructions
- Combine all the above ingredients in a juicer and combine until the smoothie is obtained.
Conclusion
So finally did you get answers to all your questions! Can you juice frozen fruit? Or can you juice frozen blueberries? Or can you put frozen fruit in a juicer?
We can say that frozen vegetables and fruits aren’t dangerous to you or to your juicer if you follow some precautions. Juices are definitely beneficial for you, and you can consume them and their nutrients in a large amount even when they are out of a particular season. Their storage life is long as well.
Therefore, consuming juice is advantageous for you, and it will keep you and your immune system healthy. A regular intake of vegetables and fruits is vital for your body. This is why it is the best option to consume any fruit in any form, frozen or fresh.