Homemade Apple Juice

More About This Recipe

• Ever wanted to make fresh, homemade apple juice at home? Surprise! It’s totally easy and the perfect way to toast the fall season.
  
  If you love fresh apple juice but don’t have time to trek out to an orchard this fall then have we got a trick for you; homemade apple juice is incredibly easy, tastes amazing, and only takes a few simple steps.
  
  Start with a 5-6 lb. bag of apples; you’ll need about 18 apples to make 2 quarts (about 8 cups) of juice. Scale up or down as you wish. Now, here’s a crucial tip: the apples you pick will greatly affect the taste of your juice. So, we recommend starting with a naturally sweet apple like Fuji, Gala or Red Delicious. Better yet, mix a few varieties of apples to get a more complex flavor.
  
  Other items you’ll need:
  
  Large stew pot Large bowl Fine mesh strainer Bowl strainer fits over (helpful if it has a handle) Clean jar or container and lid for storing the juice Filter (coffee filter or cheesecloth) Ladle Large wooden spoon
  
  First, wash and core the apples to remove the seeds (we’re huge fans of using an inexpensive apple slicer to save time on this step). Then cut the apples into slices; you can even leave the peels on. Note: leaving your peels on will affect the color of your juice and may give it a pink tint, depending on your apple variety.
  
  Add the apples to your pot and add enough water to just cover them. Adding too much water will result in diluted juice. Tip: it’s a lot easier to add water later if your final juice is too strong tasting.
  
  Slowly boil the apples for 20-25 minutes or until the apples are very soft. Place a coffee filter or cheesecloth in your fine mesh strainer and place over a bowl. It helps if your bowl has a handle when it comes time to pour into your storing container, but it’s not necessary.  
  
  Slowly ladle the apple-water mixture into the fine mesh strainer and gently mash the apples. The juice will filter through into your jar leaving the apple mush in the sieve. But don’t throw away the mush! Save it for later in a separate bowl. Keep repeating this process until all of your juice is in the jar.
  
  Once the juice has cooled, go ahead and taste it. Here is where you can adjust the sweetness to your taste by adding additional sugar (or the sweetener of your choice). Feel free to add in a little cinnamon as well if you want to spice it up a bit. If the juice tastes too strong you can add a bit of water to dilute it slightly.
  
  That leftover apple mush you saved? Turn it into applesauce by adding sugar and cinnamon to taste, pureeing to the consistency you like, and presto: homemade applesauce
  
  All that’s left to do is to enjoy the fruits (get it? sorry!) of your labor. Remember, homemade apple juice doesn’t contain any preservatives, so keep it refrigerated and use within a week. (Although, this stuff is so good we doubt that’ll it last that long.)