Alright, so this probably shouldn’t be classified as a recipe as there is only one ingredient: Oranges.

I became hooked on fresh orange juice when I was in Europe. When I came home and tried my go-to Tropicana I could not enjoy it to the capacity that I used to. I turned to making my own and am satisfied knowing that there is definitely no added ingredients or unnecessary sugar.
One ingredient aside, here is how I go about making myself some fresh OJ.

Step 1: Roll those oranges!

Press your palm down onto the orange while rolling it on the counter. Other options include juggling, playing catch, or other activities that your mother probably told you not to do in the house. What this does is helps breaks the cells that are containing all the juice. It will make future steps easier.

Step 2: Microwave the citrus

No, this is not to create warm orange juice/orange tea. Microwaves work by exciting water molecules in our food. By exciting those molecules, the cells don’t stand a chance at holding in that juice. A good 10-15 seconds should be adequate.

Step 3: Cut in half

In order to get the juice out of the orange, one must cut the orange. Cutting it in half will provide the best results for the next step. Depending on how soft your orange has become, you may want to cut the orange in a bowl or somewhere where you can catch the initial juice that comes out.

Step 4: Extract Juice

I have a manual juicer that I picked up at Winners’ for less than $10. Because it is slanted, it makes it super easy for me to get the juice out of my oranges. I simply press the oranges onto the juicer and turn it with steady pressure to get all the juice out. It makes a bit of a mess in the colander portion of the juicer because of all of the pulp. Before moving onto the next half of orange, I will pick out the large chunks of pulp. As the built in cup fills up, I pour it into my juice jug. If you want to avoid even more pulp, you could put a mesh colander over the juice jug and slowly pour the juice.

Step 5: Enjoy!

Taste your efforts! If you find it to be a little strong, go ahead and add some water to the jug. If you want to change up the flavour, try different kind of oranges (blood, tangerine, navel, etc.) or even another citrus fruit mixed in (grapefruit, pomelo, lime, etc.).

Let me know in the comments if you like to juice and if there is anything that you make yourself because its better than store bought.

Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day!