How To Prepare Ingredients For Juicing

To peel or not to peel? I get these types of questions a lot! Here are my tips on how to prepare ingredients for juicing and help guide you along the way to becoming a pro juice master.

Jump to:

• General preparation tips for cold press juicing
• Preparing fruits for cold press juicing
• Preparing vegetables & spices for cold press juicing
• What kind of juicer should I use?
• Order Now & Get Juicing!
• More slow-juicing resources
• Slow juice recipes to try
• Do you have any questions about any specific ingredients? Or have tips you would like to share?
• FAQ
• Feedback

General preparation tips for cold press juicing

1. Always wash ingredients thoroughly and use an antimicrobial wash or baking soda and water. When serving raw juice you want to make sure the product is as clean as possible and free from any soil.
2. If the peel doesn’t affect the flavor or color of the juice – don’t peel it! There is a large concentration of nutrients in the outer layer of many fruits and vegetables.
3. If the seeds are the size of a cherry pit or larger, remove them – pits and large seeds can add a slightly bitter flavor to juice, as well as damage the blades of your juicer. (Grape seeds are ok)
4. For large items (pineapples, celery, beetroot, carrots, and other larger ingredients), I prefer to cut them into smaller pieces – this will make it easier to process the ingredients at a more consistent rate.

Preparing fruits for cold press juicing

• Apples & Pears: You can keep them whole and unpeeled. I like to cut in ¼ and take the seeds out.
• Berries: I recommend using a blender to blend into a puree, then add it to the juice.
• Cucumbers: For light-colored, non-green juices, I peel the cucumbers – otherwise, I leave the skin on.
• Grapes: Take the grapes off the vine. Small seeds are generally ok to go through a good quality juicer.
• Lemons & Limes: When juiced whole, I find the peel bitter so I like to peel the outer pith.
• Mangos & Papayas: These do not contain a lot of juice – I recommend blending in a blender and then adding to the juice.
• Melons: Peel the outer skin and cut it into chunks. I like to de-seed honeydew and cantaloupe, as you get a slightly bitter flavor when you grind or process the seeds.
• Nuts: Soak overnight in water and rinse before juicing.
• Oranges & Grapefruits: I prefer to peel these items and then grind & press due to the bitter flavor in the peel.
• Pineapples: Remove the green crown and cut into quarters, but leave the skin on.
• Passion Fruit: I like to add passion fruit juice to the finished juice by cutting it in half, scooping out the seeds, and mixing them into the juice.
• Tomato: Remove from the vine and cut large tomatoes in half.

Preparing vegetables & spices for cold press juicing

• Beetroot: Remove the top ends and clean the bottoms thoroughly. If the beets are a little old I like to remove the skins. You can also leave the skins on, they will need a good wash. I cut the beets into small pieces so they are easier to go through the juicer!
• Carrots: Peel if non-organic, otherwise leave the skin on and cut into small pieces to help the juicer.
• Leafy Vegetables: In general, do not remove the stems, they typically contain a lot of flavor and nutrition. Coming from the farm, leafy greens usually have the most dirt on the leaves and need to be thoroughly washed.
• Broccoli: Chop or break into small pieces.
• Ginger: The outer peel can be a little bitter. You can peel before juicing. This is a personal preference.
• Turmeric root: Simply wash and juice - take note, turmeric will leave behind a vivid orange / yellow color. You will need to give your juicer an extra good soak and wash! (Always wear gloves when juicing turmeric!)

What kind of juicer should I use?

If you’re just starting out with juicing, the first thing you’ll need is a good juicer! There are two main kinds of juicers out there:

1. Centrifugal (AKA: fast)

The standard juicer you grab from the store is probably a centrifugal juicer.

The disadvantages of these kinds of juicers are pretty numerous.

• They aren’t very efficient at extracting juice.
• They don’t do well juicing leafy greens.
• They are very loud.
• Some of these juicers get hot enough that they actually break down the nutrients in the juice.

The advantage of these kinds of juicers?

• They are affordable - you can grab one very cheaply. If you only want to juice occasionally and not for nutrition purposes (like say for cooking or baking), a centrifugal juicer will do you fine.

2. Masticating (AKA: slow or cold-press juicers)

If you really want to get into juicing and get the most flavor and nutrients out of your fruits and veggies, a slow juicer is the best way to go.

The “slow” is a bit of a misnomer, because while slower than a centrifugal juicer, slow juicers are still very fast with a high output of juice with minimal effort.

Slow juicers are quiet, easy to clean, and give you the best quality juice. But, they aren’t cheap. To get a good quality slow juicer (like the Hurom Slow Press Juicer I recommend), you’re going to be spending upwards of €‎400. But if you plan on juicing regularly, it’ll be money well spent and a wise investment with an invaluable ROI.

And since Hurom Juicers are so powerful, you can do a lot more than just juice in them. I regularly use it to make nut milk and smoothies. It’s a piece of kitchen equipment that has earned a prime spot in my kitchen and gets regular use!

Order Now & Get Juicing!

Avail of a 10% discount and free delivery on Hurom Juicers to Europe and the UK with my discount code: HOLISTICCH10

This post contains an affiliate link. As an official partner of Hurom Europe, I receive a small commission if you purchase a juicer from Hurom. I only promote products that I can confidently recommend to my best friend to purchase.

More slow-juicing resources

• Health benefits of cold press juicing
• How to juice cleanse - safely
• 3-day juice cleanse program

Slow juice recipes to try

• SuperGreen Juice
• Golden Glow Juice
• Beet It Juice
• Ginger Shot Immunity Booster
• Turmeric Jamu Juice

Do you have any questions about any specific ingredients? Or have tips you would like to share?

Let me know by commenting below...

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