Fresh Pomegranate Juice

A couple of weeks ago, my father-in-law stopped me in his kitchen while I was preparing the Thanksgiving meal and had asked me if I was interested in taking a box of pomegranates from him that he recently purchased. My reaction was quick, and as I answered yes, I began to reflect back to when I was a kid, and making an attempt at attacking this fruit for its wonderful interior.

If you have never had a pomegranate, you should. It can be a task to get to the seeds, and as I recall my mom reminding me to where an old t-shirt when getting to the seeds (a tiny bit of the juice was easy to stain your nice clothes), but once you get to the seeds, every bite into these tangy seeds was well worth it.

As I looked at these four, large pomegranates, I decided to make fresh pomegranate juice. The process only took about 25 minutes to complete, but there was nothing like a fresh glass of juice.

Let’s get started.

Yields about 4 1/2 cups

Ingredients: [Print this Recipe]

• 4 pomegranates
• Large bowl of water
• Honey, to taste
• 1/3 cup of water

Start by putting on an apron, or an old shirt that you will not be bothered by if it gets juice on it.

Then take a knife and slice a pomegranate into quarters, or into smaller segments, being careful not to slice all of the way through. Take that pomegranate, and with the slices being face down, place in the bowl of water. Let it sit in the water, softening the outer walls of the pulp, for about 5 minutes. As you wait, quarter the rest of the pomegranates.

With your hands in the water, slowly begin digging the seeds out of each quarter. You will see that the seeds sink to the bottom while the pulp will float to the top. Keep repeating for each quarter of the pomegranate. Carefully flip over the pomegranate, and remove any remaining seeds left in the walls of the pomegranate. With a large slotted spoon, skim the pulp from the top, and discard. Take the slotted spoon and remove all of the seeds, placing them in a blender.

Repeat this process for each pomegranate.

When you are ready to make the juice, add the additional 1/3 cup of water, place the lid on the blender, and pulse, breaking the seeds which produces the fine juice.

With a fine mesh strainer, place it over a bowl, and slowly pour in the mixture from the blender. Your goal is to filter only the juice, and leave the extract behind. Push down on the extract with a spoon which will allow you to get more juice. Repeat until you have extracted all of the juice.

Taste. If the juice is too sour, add about one tablespoon of honey, or more, until you get  your desired taste.

Serve over some ice and enjoy. Simple, and fresh squeezed pomegranate juice yields nothing but pure delight, plus you know that not only are you drinking the freshest of juices, but also that it is packed with great antioxidants!