A steamer juicer and a strainer like a squeezer? Other than the method is there a big difference? Does anyone have both and use them? Wanting to make boysenberry juice with no seeds for fruit leather
3 Likes
A steam juicer uses heat to rupture the cell walls of the fruit, releasing the juice, whereas a press or electric juicer use a crushing action to rupture the cell walls. Presses and some electric juicers are also squeezing the juice out, while other electric juicers spin the juice out of the pulp. Hard fruits like apples and pears need to be crushed by a separate device before being put into a press, but the electric juicers handle it one operation.
I don’t know if there’s a significant difference in yield, but a steam juicer will typically yield clearer juice. The downside is that it will have a “cooked” taste. This is fine if you’re looking to can the juice or make jelly, since you’d be cooking it anyway. If you want to make wine or cider, the finished product might not be what you’re looking for.
3 Likes
i have both but i prefer to leave the pulp and seeds in my jam so i don’t use them that much but like Jay said if you want a clear jelly or to make juice either one of them will do the job. with apples i use the steamer and crush them with at potato masher as they soften. i then strain the pulp mix for juice or cook it it down for applesauce. my chics love the leftover pulp residue.
2 Likes
I have both but my squeezer is on a very large scale and it’s hard to work with, messy and takes a long time. Steamer is easy but still takes time but it isn’t time tightening the presser.—it’s time you can do other things. Supposedly the con with the steamer is diluted juice from the steam. If your going to boil your berries before you juice them then IMO there is no issue as you add water anyway. One of my forum members made wine both ways and he said there was very little difference in taste of two wines from the same fruit with one steam juiced and one pressed. He said if you didn’t tasted them side by side you would not know them apart. So……. I steam juice. Everything from apples to grapes.
You’re going to be concentrating your juice to the max anyway so I would think a steam juicer would work well for you.
2 Likes
If, for your fruit leather, you would prefer all parts of the soft berry fruit except for the seeds, an auger-type low-speed juicer will produce a thick seedless puree (using the proper settings). The pale core of the Boysen fruit is pulverized beyond recognition.
2 Likes
Ok thanks for all the replies looks like I have more options than I thought I’ll do some research and find out what’s in my budget.
I have a masticating juicer like LarryGene uses, and a steam juicer.
They are each great at some things, and each have shortcomings.
The steam juicer is less work and faster for larger quantities. I’ve only used it for juice to drink, and think its great for stone fruit. Don’t have to remove the pits, and it produces a good yield of full-flavored clear juice. It may be suitable for jelly, but probably not leather since you don’t get much solids for body.
I don’t make jelly because I prefer jam with solids, or syrup if clear.
For fruit leather, a blender and a sieve, or a food mill are also options. I think LarryGene’s description of using the low speed auger type masticating is essentially using the juicer as a food mill.
I think for fruit leather you want a consistency like apple sauce or fruit butter for the step before dehydration.
1 Like
What do you use for jelly making?
im not sure but i know i want one of these.
1 Like
i find that wasteful. most of that pulp and seeds if left in the blackberries, makes excellent preserves. alot more than just the juice. if you want just juice i guess its ok but im betting that leftover pulp still has a lot of juice still left in it.
thinking outside the box… a man could spoon in that ‘wasteful’ stuff into his preserves and use the other for jelly/jam.
1 Like