How to Extract Prickly Pear & Apple Juice

Apples and prickly pears can both be made into juice

Apples and prickly pears flourish in the fall, and both can be transformed into sweet, delicious juice. Each fruit requires a different juicing process, however; since apples are harder than many fruits, expensive, special equipment is required to extract their juice. Prickly pears don't need any special equipment, but as they are part of a cactus plant, their painful spines must be taken into consideration.

Things You'll Need

• Cider press with grinder
• Thick gloves or metal tongs
• Large soup pot
• Potato masher
• Colander

Instructions

Extracting the Juice from Apples

1. Cut the apples in half and feed them into the apple grinder attached to your cider press.

2. Turn the wheel of the grinder to reduce the apples to pulp, which will fall into your pressing tub. Continue adding and grinding apples until you have as much as you want, or until the tub is full.

3. Slowly turn the pressing screw to extract the juice from the pulp.

Extract the Juice from Prickly Pears

1. Place the prickly pears into a large soup pot with one inch of water for each fruit. Use tongs or thick gloves.

2. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

3. Wait for the fruit to cool, then mash the fruit with a potato masher.

4. Scoop the fruit into a colander and throw away the skin.

5. Press the fruit through the colander to remove the seeds.

6. Serve chilled.

References

• Pick Your Own
• AZ Central: Make your own prickly pear juice, syrup
• Wilderness Way Magazine: Prickly Pear Cactus