John Myers
On a hot summer’s day, there’s nothing better than a tall glass of cold apple juice. But is there a difference between apple juice concentrate and apple juice? And if so, which one? And how is apple juice actually made? You can find out here.
The precursor: apple juice
The classic apple juice is a fruit juice and is made by pressing fresh apples. You need about 1.3 kg of apples for 1 liter of juice. Apples are often used for this that have dents and otherwise do not look good enough for sale. After normal pressing, the apple juice is naturally cloudy, so it still contains a lot of pulp. In this state, it is already edible. However, this juice can also be clarified afterward. However, healthy ingredients are lost through the clarification.
The origin of the apple juice concentrate
Where the production of clear apple juice ends, that of apple juice concentrate begins. Water is removed from the apple juice using a vacuum in a very gentle process. Due to the now much thicker consistency, apple juice concentrate is also called thick apple juice. Due to the careful removal of water, the majority of the vitamins and the taste of the apple are retained in the concentrate. In order to turn the concentrated apple juice back into apple juice that is ready to be enjoyed, the whole procedure is simply reversed. Similar to a syrup, water is added back to the concentrate. In addition to juice and concentrate, there is also nectar. We explain the difference between juice, nectar, and concentrate.
Tip: In order to recognize apple juice from concentrate, you have to look closely. This is often only printed in small print on the label.
Benefits of apple juice concentrate
Due to the dehydration, the concentrate has only about 1/6 the volume of the original apple juice. As a result, the extracted apple juice concentrate can be transported much more easily and in larger quantities. This makes transport and storage cheaper, which ultimately also affects the purchase price.
In addition, different apple juice concentrates can be mixed to balance the tastes of different apple varieties. Always the same production also ensures certain quality assurance, since the apple juice that is recovered afterward always tastes the same.
Apple syrup can be quickly and easily processed into cider. This is of particular benefit to the wineries, as they only need a small number of raw materials for this reason.
The relatively high amount of natural sugar ensures a long shelf life.
Make your own apple juice concentrate
If you want to know exactly what is in your apple juice concentrate, you can easily do it yourself.
What do you need for that:
- 1/2 kilo of apples
- juice of a lemon
- 100-150g sugar
- 700ml of water
Now cut the apples with the peel into small pieces and put them in a pot together with the remaining ingredients. Let everything simmer for 15 minutes and then pass through a sieve and fill into bottles. Later mix with water and enjoy apple juice made from your own concentrate.
Tip: You can also freeze the apple juice concentrate and defrost it if necessary. It keeps for about 1 year in the freezer.
