No one wants to take the ominous sniff test that into the orange juice to make sure it’s alright.
And equally so no one wants to take a drink of orange juice expecting a nice refreshing beverage only to get a big mouthful of slightly vinegary OJ….
Not good.
So today I wanted to share some of my knowledge on how long orange juice is supposed to last, how to store it, how to check if it’s still ok (without tasting it) and all that sort of good stuff.
Hope you enjoy!
Freshly Squeezed Vs Store Bought
As with everything, how long your orange juice will last depends on a few different things, firstly whether you made it yourself or bought it in a store. Store bought orange juice contains more preservatives so will last a lot longer compared to orange juice you squeezed yourself at home.
How Long Does Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice Last
Ideally, you want to drink freshly squeezed orange juice you made on the same day you made it, that’s when it’s at its freshest and most delicious.
Otherwise, if you made it using a citrus press it should last about three days if you keep it in the fridge, if you used a centrifugal juicer (one with a spinning blade of some kind) then it will likely only last about 2 days because it gets heat up while it’s juiced which can affect its shelf life.
So best to have the same day but usually about 2-3 days depending on how you make it and how fresh the oranges are, if the oranges are starting to go off themselves then they won’t last very long as juice either.
Read on to find out how to check if your juice has gone off.
How Long Will Store Bought Juice Last
Unopened some store-bought juices can last up to a year which seems crazy, that’s what the expiration date is normally in reference too, there’s usually an extra bit hidden somewhere in small print saying to use within x amount of time once opened.
But how long is X amount of time? About 1-2 weeks.
It again depends on everything like brand, how long it was before you opened it, was it in the fridge before you opened it. So go with 2 weeks as a rough max and be wary about opening it after that.
How To Tell When Orange Juice Has Gone Bad
It’s normally fairly obvious when your orange juice starts to turn for the worst but here are the things to look out for.
You Can See Something Floating In It
Bad orange juice starts to go mouldy and little spores start to grow inside of it, so if it’s a clear bottle you’ll be able to see them floating around. If your orange juice is in a carton then give it a shake and pour it into a glass, that way you’ll be able to look out for anything that looks like it shouldn’t be there.
Bad Smell
If it starts to smell acidic at all then it’s either gone or going bad, and I’m talking acidic in a vinegar sort of way rather than a citrus sort of way. If you smell it and it smells at all different I’d be wary, likewise if you’re not sure probably best to steer clear.
It Tastes Bad
Hopefully it won’t come to this but if you’ve taken a drink and it does not taste right then it probably isn’t. But what happens when you drink bad orange juice? Read on.
What Happens If I Drank Out Of Date Orange Juice?
It again depends, this time on how out of date it is, if it’s just a day or two past it there’s a good chance you’ll be fine. But if it a long way out of date and you manage to drink a lot of it without realising (which I’m pretty sure you would) you’ll get normal food poisoning symptoms, Nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea.
http://www.netwellness.org/question.cfm/78235.htm
So it’s not dangerous per se, but it certainly isn’t good for you to drink out of date orange juice.
Best Way To Store Orange Juice
If you want your orange juice to last you’ve got to store it properly.
In the Refrigerator
Bit of an obvious one but I feel like it needed saying anyway, if you keep it in the fridge it’s going to last longer!
Especially if the sun is shining outside and the temperatures getting up, the less time spent out the fridge the better.
Clean Bottles
This is if you’re squeezing your own orange juice, you want to make sure you’ve got a proper juice bottle to keep your juice in. Make sure you thoroughly clean it between uses so that everything is completely cleaned from the inside otherwise you’ll be more likely to spoil it sooner.
For the material of bottle you want to go with a BPA free plastic or a glass bottle.
Tins in cool dry places
If you have tins or even cartons of long life orange juice you’re going to want to keep them in a cupboard out of direct sunlight and preferably somewhere cooler, if they start getting too hot they’ll spoil before you can open them.
Then of course once you open them make sure you put them in the fridge.
Tips For Making Orange Juice Last Longer
Mentioned a couple of things but wanted to bring it all together here so you can keep your orange juice fresh for as long as possible.
Use Fresh Oranges
As I said before you’re going to want to use oranges that are as fresh as possible, but you’re also going to want to keep them in the fridge before you juice them, if you’re doing it manually it’ll make it a little more difficult but if you’ve got an electric citrus press then you’ll be fine.
Using cold oranges just helps keep the temperature down through the whole juicing process so that nothing bad can start to grow or take hold while you’re juicing.
Proper Storage
I talked about it above but to sum up you want to keep it stored in the fridge, inside a clean bottle.
Conclusion
So that does it, store bought juice will last 1-2 weeks, freshly made orange juice will last about 2-3 days.
Hope this was helpful! I shall see you for the next article.
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