Amazon.co.uk Widgets
MyHomeSelection, a community-backed site, may earn a commission from purchases via our links. Learn more here.

Cold Pressed Juices; So Hot Right Now!

Published by: Chef Braam Botha • Updated: October 27, 2023 • Checked By: Chef Matty Riedel

Cold-pressed juices are all the craze now and for a good reason! Not only are they incredibly nutritious, but they are also tasty as hell! 

Cold-pressing fruits and vegetables retain more vitamins, minerals, enzymes and antioxidants than traditional juicing methods. This method results in a healthier and tastier beverage — why then compromise?

The Low Down Cold Press Juices!

How Do You Make Cold Press Juice?

A simple two-step “Chop & Squeeze” process will produce deliciously nutritious cold-pressed juice. 

Start by chopping your fresh produce into manageable sizes and adding them to your juicer. Start the grinder function and let it run. The grinder function will slowly break the produce into a pulp-like substance and catch it all in a ‘press-bag’. By slowly pulverizing the fibres, you extract the nutrients without applying any heat. 

The press bag acts as a filter and will keep any seeds, pulps and unwanted fibres out of your final product. You can enable the press function once you’ve processed the fresh produce into the press bag. The press will slowly apply pressure to the contents of the press bag, extracting all the deliciously nutritious juices. 

Possibly, the most important thing to remember when juicing is to ensure that you thoroughly clean your produce.

What Makes Cold Press Juice Better Than Regular Juice?

Conventional juicing involves a centrifugal juicer spins a blade at an incredible speed. This astonishing speed generates a large amount of heat, and as we know, heat breaks down a lot of essential vitamins, minerals and enzymes.

The Downsides To Cold Press Juices

Most people argue that adding juices to your diet is a surefire way of losing weight and improving overall health. While much of this is true, one should instead substitute them for other foods in your diet. When merely adding juices to your diet without removing anything else, you drastically increase your total calorie consumption, inevitably resulting in weight gain. 

Fruit/ vegetable juices have a higher glycemic index than whole fruits/ vegetables. This results from removing most of the essential fibres from the fruit. Fewer fibres also make drinking juices less satiating than eating fresh/ whole produce. 

The Upsides To Cold Press Juices

While juicing is not all doom and gloom, it has a few great benefits when used in a calculated and balanced diet. Most cold-pressed juices consist of several fruits and vegetables. They muster a more comprehensive array of essential nutrients than a single piece of fruit/ vegetable. 

Oxidation occurs over time and will break down a lot of essential nutrients. Therefore, it is best to enjoy freshly prepared cold-pressed juice. As most cold-pressed juices are freshly prepared, they retain more fruit or vegetable vitamins and minerals. 

Incorporating juices into your daily diet will help you meet your recommended daily intake, especially if you struggle to find the time to prepare every meal. Introducing more raw and organic foods into your diet can protect you from the onset of circumstantial stress.

Conventional store-bought juices usually contain a lot of added sugars, colourants, and artificial sweeteners, whereas freshly prepared cold-pressed juices are 100% natural.

Is It A Good Idea To Drink Juice Fast?

ABSOLUTELY NOT!

A great piece of advice I’ve received from a nutritionist regarding juices, smoothies or blended foods;

Do not drink liquidised foods faster than you would’ve been able to eat the whole ingredient.

If you are drinking a blend of orange and apple juice, you should try to consume the beverage in the same amount of time it would’ve taken to eat the apple and the orange.

And besides, why not savour the moment and enjoy the tasty beverage? There should be no urgency.

Should I Invest In A Cold Press Juicer?

Centrifugal juicers are affordable, and if you want to make the occasional juice, they will do the trick. However, if you are looking to become a serious juice master and benefit from all that cold-pressed juices have to offer, I would highly recommend investing in a proper cold-press juicer. 

The number of benefits you stand to reap is endless. Not only do they preserve nutrients, but they also produce juice more efficiently, resulting in less waste. 

Storing Cold Press Juices

Since raw cold-pressed juices do not have any added preservatives nor undergo pasteurisation or high-pressure processing, they will only last about three or four days in the fridge when properly stored. Making cold-pressed juices can be labour-intensive, and we don’t always have the time to make them daily. You might want to consider freezing them. 

Freezing is the only viable, safe storage for cold-pressed juice that won’t compromise the nutritious qualities of the produce. I like to prepare at least two weeks’ worth of juices in advance, and since you can freeze them for up to six months, they will still be perfect once thawed.


My Favourite Cold Press Juice Recipes

Although I urge you to try and create your own recipes, here are four of my favourites to get you started. Build off these recipes; you can swap out some ingredients for others or add pretty much anything. 

These recipes will produce one portion each; you can scale the recipe as needed. Always ensure to remove citrus peels and cut your produce into manageable chunks. 

Beautiful Beets

Ingredients

  • 1 Large Beet
  • 1 Large Carrot
  • 1 Large Green Apple
  • Fresh Ginger (optional, as needed)

Ginger Punch

Ingredients

  • 1 Large Carrot
  • 1 Large Orange, peeled
  • ½ Lemon, peeled
  • Small knob of Ginger
  • Cayenne Pepper (optional, as needed)

Green Goddess

Ingredients

  • 1 Cup Spinach
  • ¼ Cucumber
  • ½ Green Apple
  • ½ Green Pear
  • ½ Lemon, peeled
  • ½ Celery stalk

Vitamin-Sea

Ingredients

  • 1 Orange, peeled
  • 1 Grapefruit, peeled
  • ½ Lemon, peeled
  • 1 Tangerine, peeled
  • ¼ Pomelo

Can I Use Cold Press Juices As Part Of A Detox/Cleanse?

Are you looking to do a short-term cleanse after a few days of indulging? Before you start a new diet or when you are looking to hit the reset button on your health, slowly wean yourself off all the toxins you ingest daily, reduce the amount of caffeine, sugar, alcohol and fried foods you consume and start replacing them with fresh juices. After a few days of reducing the toxins you consume, you will be ready to hit the reset button. 

Start your cleanse with a three-day juice fast. This means you should only consume fresh juices and water for three days. This will give your digestive system a much-needed rest. After your juice cleanse, you will find it easier to eliminate all your nasty eating habits; you will feel less bloated and experience less cravings for fried food, sugar and caffeine. 

Please keep in mind that I am not a dietician or a nutritionist. If you are unsure whether a juice cleanse is right for you, or if you have any comorbidities, please consult your physician before doing this. 


Cold Press Juices: Conclusion

Even if you are not looking to adopt the juicing lifestyle, you can still benefit from regularly enjoying proper cold-pressed juice. Cold-pressed juices retain more nutrients and produce far less waste than regular juices. If you are looking to occasionally make yourself a juice just because you like it, you do not necessarily have to invest in a cold-press juicer. A conventional one will do the trick. 

Play around with a few ingredients; don’t be afraid of experimenting with weird combinations and foreign ingredients. You might surprise yourself. Always ensure that you clean your produce before putting them in your juicer. 

Before you consider doing a juice cleanse, please consult with your physician or nutritionist, and remember that you won’t necessarily lose weight or improve your health if you start drinking a lot of juice. Juice must be incorporated into an active, healthy and balanced lifestyle.

Chef Braam Botha