Photo: healthline.com
As an avid juicer, you may need to know how much juice in one orange to plan your purchases accordingly. This article answers the question and explains the factors that affect the juice yield. It also gives important pointers on how to increase juice yield from oranges.
In this post:
How Much Juice in One Orange?
To get one cup of orange juice, you need about 3 oranges. This is because, on average, one orange contains between ¼ and 1/3 of a cup of juice.
The amount of juice in an orange is highly dependent on the variety of the orange and even the climatic conditions under which they are grown. The level of ripeness is also a factor in this.
Factors Affect Juice Yield
1. Variety
There are many varieties of oranges available in the market. You may not differentiate them based on looking only but some are labelled to make identification easy.
The variety affects how much juice an orange produces. For instance, the Valencia oranges produce more juice than all other oranges, all factors remaining constant. Some other great varieties to juice include the satsuma, blood oranges, and navel oranges.
Read More: The Best Oranges for Juicing
2. Fruit Size
Bigger oranges have a higher chance of producing more juice compared to smaller oranges. For instance, the bigger Valencia oranges produce more juice than the smaller Clementine and mandarin oranges.
3. Method of Extraction
Depending on how you extract, you might miss out on a lot of juice. If you decide to use your hands to squeeze out the juice, the oranges may not produce much juice. A hand juicer may extract more juice.
Using a centrifugal juicer is not very appropriate because it may leave a lot of pulp and this may make the juice bitter.
The best one to use on oranges is the masticating juicer because it can extract much more juice than any other juicer. In addition, it removes the pulp from the juice giving it a better consistency.
Read More: The Best Citrus Juicers
4. Ripeness
Ripe oranges produce more oranges than unripe ones. Make sure to choose the ripest ones, for a better juice yield.
Some Tips for Getting The Most Juice
Photo: Shutterstock
1. Warm it Up
You can use your microwave or warm water because this expands the water/juice molecules inside the orange and makes it easier to extract. This is because the expansion breaks down the membranes in the flesh of the fruit.
2. Roll it around first
Rolling the oranges firmly on a hard surface is a known technique for getting more juice. This is because the act breaks down the membranes that surround the orange’s flesh. It makes the release of juice contained in the flesh easier.
Rolling the citrus fruit on a firm countertop before trying to juice it will break the membranes around the capsules in the fruit’s flesh that hold all the juice.
3. Cut it into quarter
Cutting an orange into quarters will expose more surface area. This will make juicing easier and ensure more juice is extracted from the orange. This produces better results than cutting it into half.
Conclusion
In conclusion, an orange can produce up to 1/3 of a cup of juice. The factors that affect the juice yield include the variety, ripeness, and size of an orange, in addition to the method of extraction used.
You can increase the juice yield by rolling the orange on a hard surface, warming it up, or cutting it into quarters.