How to Juice a Pomegranate on A Citrocasa Juicer
You can juice pomegranates. In addition to juicing, there are many ways to enjoy a fresh pomegranate: eating or drinking.
- You can peel them and break out the arils and simply eat the juicy arils.
- You can add pomegranate arils to different dishes, like salads, or to deserts.
- You can remove the arils, squeeze them for their juice, and then eat the seeds separately.
- You can cut the pomegranate in half and juice it like an orange on a manual citrus press at home.
- You can use a fully automatic commercial citrus juicer to juice larger amounts of pomegranates for your operation.
SUPER-HEALTHY POMEGRANATE
Recently, pomegranates have been getting a lot of attention. They are believed to possess many healthy and beneficial qualities and are even referred to as a “superfood” due to their high nutritional value. As described in an article in HortScience, pomegranates were already used for their medicinal properties in early history. Hippocrates (400 BCE), for example, used them to reduce skin and eye inflammation and as an aid to digestion. Their popularity and reputation as a superfood today is primarily due to their antioxidant content. Antioxidants may lower blood pressure, decrease the risk of heart disease, and slow cancer progress.
10 Health and Nutrition Benefits of Pomegranates (Healthline)
- Packed with Nutrients
- Rich in Anti-oxidants
- May keep inflammation at bay
- May have anti-cancer properties
- May offer health benefits
- Support urinary health
- May have anti-microbial properties
- May improve exercise endurance
- Good for your brain
- Supports digestive health
Pomegranates contain an impressive list of nutrients. They are high in potassium, folate, vitamin K, and vitamin C. Pomegranates have anti-fungal and anti-viral properties, which may be useful against common diseases of the gum. It may even be beneficial against some forms of arthritis. Even though more studies are needed with regards to its medicinal and healing properties, there is no doubt that pomegranates can be a valuable addition to your diet!
LONG HISTORY OF POMEGRANATE
The Pomegranate, or “seedy apple” when translated into English, has actually been around for a very long time. It is believed to be one of the oldest cultivated fruits and closely connected to the ancient cultures of the Mediterranean, where it was a symbol of fertility, immortality, and love.
Pomegranates are native to the region from Iran to Northern India. They had made their way to the United States (or the area that was going to become the United States) by the early 1700s and were grown in the missions of California by 1770. Today, California is still a major producer of pomegranates in the US. More recently there have also been efforts in Florida to cultivate the fruit and there is now a young enthusiastic pomegranate community in the Sunshine State as well as in Georgia.
DIFFERENT WAYS TO ENJOY POMEGRANATE
In most grocery stores, pomegranates are available as whole fruits or as aril packs (the aril is the juicy part surrounding the seed). The arils of most pomegranates available in stores and markets have a reddish to deep red color, but there are also varieties that are much lighter. Some are pink, clear or even golden-colored.
Pomegranates can be a bit daunting and messy to eat, because of the seeds inside the arils. The seeds actually represent about half of the weight of the whole fruit! So, once you have gotten through the fleshy, juicy part of the fruit, should you eat the seeds or spit them out? Depending on the variety, some seeds are very hard and some are softer, but they all contain valuable dietary fiber. Whether you eat them or not is completely up to personal taste and preference.
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A FULL MENU WITH POMEGRANATE
There are many recipes that call here pomegranates. Here are a few selections from a full menu, compliments of the Pomegranate Council:
- Appetizer: PAN-TOASTED BRIE WITH A POM REDUCTION SAUCE
- Cocktail: RECIPE FOR POMEGRANATE MARGARITA
- Entry: ROASTED SALMON WITH POMEGRANTE-AVOCADO SALSA
- Desert: CREAMY CHEESECAKE WITH POMEGRANATE TOPPING
There are many more recipes available. This is just a small selection of amazing recipes using fresh pomegranates and fresh pomegranate juice.
JUICING A POMEGRANATE
A good and easy alternative that will let you take full advantage of the many healthy properties of pomegranates is to juice them and enjoy them in liquid form. Pomegranate juice can be tart or sweet, depending on the variety. It can range in color from clear to pink and even golden-colored, but most ready-to-drink pomegranate juice available on the market today has a deep red color and a smooth taste. If you find the juice too sweet or too intense, dilute it with some water or seltzer. A 12-oz. pomegranate spritzer made up of 8 oz. of pomegranate juice and 4 oz. of seltzer is refreshing, not too sweet and will give you a healthy amount of all the nutrients and antioxidants mentioned above.
Of course, we believe in freshly squeezed! You can prepare cold pressed pomegranate juice by squeezing pomegranates in a manual citrus press or by using a commercial automatic citrus juicer.
Video of Juicing Pomegranate on a Citrocasa 8000SB-ATS Advance Juicer with Large Pressing Kit
Manually juicing a pomegranate: If you’re just looking to enjoy some pomegranate juice at home and you have a citrus press, then it’s very easy.
- Simply trim the stem and calyx off of the fruit for easier juicing.
- Cut the fruit in half.
- Juice each half of the pomegranate, just as you would a grapefruit or orange
Enjoy your freshly squeezed pomegranate juice. There may be some arils that have not been juiced and are still left in the fruit. You can still remove these from the fruit to eat and enjoy along with the fresh juice.
Automatically juice larger volumes of pomegranate: If you’re going to juice boxes of pomegranate for a bar, restaurant, café, or bakery, then a commercial automatic citrus juicer, that’s durable enough to handle pomegranates, may be the best option.
Pomegranates come in many different sizes, which may determine what equipment and options you would have to use in order to juice effectively.
CLICK HERE to watch Patrick Kelly, of the Produce Industry Podcast, juice tangerines, oranges, blood oranges, grapefruit, and pomegranates on different Citrocasa citrus juicers during his visit with Citrus America. Go to about 8’30” in the video to see juicing pomegranate on the Citrocasa 8000SB-ATS.
From the Citrocasa line of juicers, we recommend the 8000 SB-ATS Advance. Depending on the size of the fruit, we’d recommend juicing with a Large Pressing Kit (LPK) for larger fruit. Some fruit are smaller and work find with the Standard Pressing Kit. The ATS feature on the 8000SB-ATS has a feature that automatically removes the seeds from the juice. This will allow you to juice without constantly having to manually clean the sieve.
Citrocasa Revolution With Pomegranates
If you have a nice supply of baseball-sized pomegranates, then we can also recommend a Revolution for juicing pomegranate. Sourcing this size of pomegranate can be difficult, but the juice is delicious. The Revolution is a great choice for lower-volume locations wanting to juice fresh pomegranate juice or freshly squeezed orange juice.
Regardless of which juicer and what size fruit, we recommend cutting off the longish ends (the calyx and the sepals) to make sure that the fruit can easily move along and pressing is uninterrupted. Trimming the ends of a pomegranate should help make them more round and flow through the machine better with a few fruit jams.
SUMMARY
Pomegranates have been cultivated for thousands of years and are extremely nutritious. In addition to eating pomegranates, you can also juice pomegranates. Regardless of whether you’re juicing pomegranates manually, or using high quality commercial automatic juicing equipment, you can enjoy freshly squeezed pomegranate juice with many different recipes. Straight up pomegranate juice, pomegranate mixed with club soda, or used to make some amazingly fresh pomegranate cocktails, the flavor of freshly squeezed pomegranate juice is amazing.
About Citrus America – Citrus America has been driving innovation and quality in the juicing segment for more than a decade in North America and the Caribbean. We’re the exclusive master distributor for Citrocasa and have driven many innovations and quality improvements in juicing equipment. In addition to equipment solutions, we provide tailored training and support strategies to help our customers earn Healthy Profits.
About Citrocasa – Citrocasa has been the pioneer in producing the most innovative and highest quality food grade stainless steel commercial citrus juicing equipment to the grocery, hotel and restaurant since 2005 across Europe. The Citrocasa 8000 Series was launched in 2005, with the 8000XB and the 8000SB. The 8000SB-ATS was launched in 2013. The Citrocasa Fantastic Series was launched in 2010 with the Fantastic M/AS. The Fantastic F/SB followed in 2011.
