If you’ve had a bumper crop of fresh fruit and you’re wondering what to do with it you might start wondering whether or not you can freeze your juice.
Or you might be a bit fed up of having to make fresh juice every day, and start to wonder if maybe it’ll be easier to make a big batch of juice and then freeze it off.
I decided to do some research into whether or not you can freeze your juice and it turns out that you can. But, the problem is that you do start to lose some of the nutrition over time although it’s not as much as you’d expect.
I read a study on frozen orange juice and it found after 24 months 20% of the vitamin C was lost. Fortunately, the enzymes don’t actually disappear because they only get affected by high acidity or heat so when frozen they actually stay completely fine and intact.
I couldn’t find anything about the other vitamins but I imagine it’s a similar situation that they disappear over time.
So you do lose something nutrition and fresh is always best but if the choice is freezing your juice or throwing it in the bin and it’s a great solution.
And if you’re in doubt about whether or not to do it remember frozen vegetables, Frozen peas are marketed as being extra healthy because they’re frozen as soon as they’re picked which is meant to be better than having them some weeks later by the time they make it to the store. So presumably they don’t lose that much nutrition otherwise the FDA would be all up on them to change their practices.
What You Should Freeze Your Juice In
So what should you freeze your juice in? Can you freeze juice in a mason jar? Or are you better with a plastic bottle?
The truth is, that either work fine, you just want to make sure you using BPA-free materials and that you leave a little bit of space in the top of the bottle (about half an inch)because the juice expands slightly when frozen and can burst the container it’s kept in. trust me, nothing is harder to clean than frozen juice all over your freezer.
Another fun way to store juice in the freezer, is to pour it into an ice cube tray and freeze that giving you little ice pops of fresh juice that can be really refreshing on a hot day. it’s not the most space efficient but a fun little trick so I thought I’d include it.
You can even add these juice cubes to fresh juices you’ve made to cool them down and add an extra layer of flavor as they melt.
How Long Does Juice Last In The Freezer
If you’ve decided to go ahead and freeze your juice, I’m sure you’re wondering how long it’s going to last in there. Well, the study I mentioned before with the orange juice actually ran over 24 months which is a sign that it can last a really long time.
But, I would say about 3 to 6 months is as long as you’re going to want to leave it, that way lots of nutrition will still be there, and it definitely won’t have gone off.
What can happen however is that the juice tastes different, a lot of people I’ve spoken too have talked about defrosting juice than having to throw it away because the taste changed.
I can’t seem to put my finger on why but I assume it has to be something to do with not mixing it properly once it’s defrosted. It can separate while it thaws so you need to give it a good stir or a shake if it’s inside a bottle before you drink it.
How Long Does Juice Last When Not Frozen
I’ve actually got a more detailed article on this which I encourage you to check out. But the short version is, it depends what type of juicer you’ve got, juice from a centrifugal juicer doesn’t last long and will only last about 24 hours before it starts to spoil.
Masticating juicers, however, can make juice that lasts about 2 to 3 days, they’ve got a slower juicing process which stops the oxidation of the juice itself and so allows it to last longer.
This is assuming it’s kept in a clean bottle inside the fridge, so if you’re looking to make juice the night before or batch make the juice so you can have a few days at a time then you’re going to want a masticating juicer.
Tips For Enjoying Juice From Frozen
- Make sure it’s defrosted properly – It’s a bit weird if you don’t defrost it properly, the water defrost first and the fruits and vegetables second so it’s left as partially ice and partially juice which just tastes a bit strange and goes a bit funny. Best to just defrost properly and thoroughly before you drink it.
- Drinks soon after defrosting – Once it’s defrosted you’re going to want to drink it pretty quickly, how long you have will depend on what type of juicer you used to make it and how long after you made it you froze it. But generally, you want to drink it within a few hours of defrosting but certainly that day or if you’ve defrosted it in the refrigerator overnight then drink it by the end of the day it fully thaws.
- Leave it long enough to de It depends how big the bottle was you froze it in but if it’s a standard size then about 2 to 3 hours on the countertop or 6 to 9 in the refrigerator.
Are there any juiies you can’t freeze?
Not that I’ve found, you can freeze celery juice, tomato juice, carrot juice, lemon and lime juice, apple juice, orange juice, you name it, you can even freeze green juice, watermelon juice and any other juice you can think of.
But the same rules apply, it will expand so leave a little room at the top of the container which should be clean. And make sure you drink it within about 3-6 months. And always stick to making it fresh if possible.
Can I freeze my juice during a juice cleanse?
You could, but I wouldn’t recommend it. During a juice cleanse you going to want all the nutrition you can possibly get because you’re going to be having fewer calories than normal so you don’t want to lose any of the nutrition.
Unless of course, you’ve bought pre-made juices become frozen for a juice cleanse (see my raw generation review for more), these are flash frozen to preserve nutrients in a way that you can’t manage with your own freezer.
While I’m on that, I’ll say that freezing is the much better choice to pasteurizing, especially high-pressure-pasteurizing of juice because this can heat up the juice and that’s what causes it to start losing the healthy enzymes inside.
But, if you’re looking to save time I recommend cutting up and preparing all your vegetables beforehand and putting them interindividual ziplock bags or Tupperware. This way you can just take it out and it’s good to go in the morning off and you can make your day’s worth of juice and keep it with you.
Conclusion
And that sums it up! You can, in fact, freeze your juice but I would only do it if you have to. Because you do lose some nutrition, and the longer you leave it frozen the more you will lose. But if the only alternative is wasting it by having to throw it away then it’s perfectly fine to freeze it.
Just be aware that it can affect the flavour so you might even want to try a test batch that you freeze for a few days and then thaw and drink to see how it is if it’s going to be a strategy. However, if you have some made now you need to freeze then go ahead, it’s worth a shot after all!
If I’ve missed anything or you still have questions let me know in the comments below.
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