When I was growing up, we lived in the country, on a farm where we had an orchard and a large garden. One of the things I remember well was my mother making home made juices and cordials from our abundant supply of fresh fruit that came every summer and autumn. Since then I have actually met quite a lot of people who seem to be reviving the art of steam juicing, which is the old fashioned way of making long lasting fruit juice. Not much has actually changed form the old steam juicer my mother used, except that newer models now come in stainless steel (a lot easier to clean and they look better too).
For those who don’t know, a steam juicer basically works by cooking the fruit of your choice, and releasing the natural juice inside. It consists of three parts – a lower pan (really just a big shallow saucepan) which contains water that will boil away, an upper pan that funnels the steam up and also has an inside rim to catch the juice, and a thirdly a large colander that hangs in the upper pan and contains your fruit. As the water in the bottom pan boils the steam rises, hits the fruit in the colander, which breaks open and releases juice. This drips into the upper pan – and is eventually tapped off into bottles.
A steam juicer is easy to use, and is great for anyone who has a few fruit trees or has access to a lot of fruit. It is an easier and faster way of preserving your fruit than a pressure canner is, and requires no other expensive purchases. You can fill your extracted juice into old glass milk or juice bottles, and provided you wash and sterilize these well, the juice will keep for a whole year for you to enjoy.