Cold pressing the perfect batch of juice takes a bit of technique. Just like learning how to make the perfect shot of espresso – there’s a bit of a learning curve.
One of the biggest struggles of learning how to cold press is trying to press certain ingredients and ending up with the press overflowing and the ground-up produce ending up on the counter (our Hummingbird juicer will detect an overflow before this happens, but it still slows down the process and hourly production capacity). This can be extremely frustrating to the beginner cold presser.
Here I’ve attempted to put together a complete guide to getting the perfect press every time and never ending up with the press overflowing.
Avoiding Press Overflow
Avoiding press overflow – The Mushy Spectrum
Press overflow— or as we call it in the industry, “losing the press”— is almost always due to attempting to press a full batch of soft, mushy fruits. When you’re designing a recipe – you want to keep in mind that you’re going to be applying thousands of pounds of force onto the mixture.
If the mixture doesn’t form a fibrous cake so it can be pressed, it will end up squeezing up and out of the press instead of allowing the juice to be extracted. If something’s soft enough to mush in your hand, it probably won’t press very well.
The perfect mixture includes some soft, some fibrous items. Think a green recipe – apples, leafy greens, ginger, a small bit of citrus. This recipe will press perfectly every time without worry.
On the mushy end of the spectrum would be a recipe that’s 100% citrus, pineapple, and berries. This recipe will overflow from the press bag every time without fail. The ingredients in this recipe are better off being a small part of different recipe, or as a puree / smoothie. If you must press them, fill the press no more than 1/3 full.
Whenever there are some ingredients of the “mushy” type – you must make sure to limit the amount in the recipe. Below is a list of fruits that must take special care:
Item | If it’s the only ingredient | If it’s a small portion of a mixed recipe |
Citrus | Simply cut the citrus into quarters with the peel on, and place directly in the press (do not grind). | Peel the citrus, then grind and press along with the other mixed ingredients. |
Pineapple | Leave the peel on, grind, and only fill the press up about 1/3 full. | Leave the peel on, grind and press along with the other mixed ingredients. |
Grapes and Berries | Grind only, fill the press up about 1/3 full. | Grind and press along with the other mixed ingredients. |
Mangos, Bananas, Papayas | Do not press, puree with blender then add to juice. | Do not press, puree with blender then add to juice. |
Rule of Thumb
I call this the “mushy third” rule: never fill the press more than 1/3 full of mushy fruit. If the mushy fruit is part of a recipe, make sure it doesn’t make up more than 1/3 of the recipe. If you follow this rule of thumb, you will generally be ok.
For items in the safe zone, you can fill the press to 2/3 or 3/4 full without overflowing – depending on how fibrous the recipe is.
Over time, you will get a feel for this and won’t need to think about it much. When designing a recipe you will instantly know, intuitively, if something will work or not. Need some sure-fire recipes? Check out our recipe section.
Where To Go for Help
If you need help – come over to our Goodnature Juicing Facebook Group to join the discussion, or drop us a line directly by submitting a support inquiry. We always love to hear from fellow cold pressers and are happy to help.
Of course, you can always leave a comment or question below!
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About The Author
Charlie Wettlaufer
President and CMO - Goodnature Host - Cold Pressed Truth and Goodnature Radio Creator - JuiceCon
I’ve been around juicing all my life. My Dad built his first hydraulic juice press in 1976 and founded the company Goodnature Products, Inc. I have incredible memories of having “cider parties” when we would invite all the people in our rural neighborhood over to make apple juice. To this day, when I taste apple juice made on a Goodnature press, a rush of nostalgia runs through my body. I pride myself on guiding our clients into the world of cold-pressed juice and showing them how much fun this industry can be. I love talking business, technology, and marketing. My missions is to carry on my Dad's goal - one day make Goodnature a house-hold name.
Comments
Thank you
I am a total newbie
In my head I was thinking of pressing each fruit by itself and then mixing the juice together so you get the exact percentages each time otherwise if one fruit was more juicy than the last time of pressing you would get a different mix
Or am I totally off the mark
Some people choose to do it that way for consistency, but most just mix all the ingredients together. Here'a another article for you: Mixing Produce or Grinding Separately
Hello!!
Sometimes my juicer has juice coming from the bottom which of course is a mess. Is this a result of over filling the press as well? I don’t want to cause damage to my machine
Hi Onyia,
I don't know exactly what you mean by the fact that your juicer has juice coming out of the bottom. Is this on a goodnature machine? If it is, can you please contact support?
Hi, I had some issues with pressing the defrosted berries (raspberry, blackberry, blueberry). It didn't go up and on the walls, but yield was very bad and juice just won't come out of the pressing bag, like there is a "wall"of milled berries that prevents juice from leaking. Yield is like 30%, but I've read that it should be 80-90% for berries. After removing the berries from the bag, they were full of juice.
Note that after defrosting berries were pressed once the temperature of mass was ambiental.
Thanks!
Hello, So berries a not very high yielding like other mushy produce, You might get a higher yield for berries using a masticating or auger style juicers since its pressing and forcing the product through a screen and will have a lot thicker consistency since it basically is turning into a puree. When you freeze berries the water content expands, then when you thaw it, the berries will have a much weaker cellular structure which will lead to a higher yield. Also what type of juicer are you using for this, Sometimes with softer items like berries, it is much easier to use a larger grind or sometimes even leaving them whole.
How do I get the juice to stop squeezing out of the sides spraying my walls and equipment. Oranges are the worst!
Hi Bryan, it sounds like you are trying to grind and press a full batch of citrus. As it says in the article, you should cut the orange and place them directly in the press if doing a full batch of citrus. Try it out!
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