A fresh cold-pressed juice from locally grown organic pomegranates, deseeded with our bare hands, is one of the healthiest and tastiest choices you should not miss from our little shop if you happen to visit Rhodes during the fall season.
Pomegranates attract a lot of attention from the academic community for their longevity effects, as they are rich in flavonoids and other health promoting micronutrients, but here we will focus on their sweet, mellow flavor and unforgettable color and leave the rest to the nutritional researchers.
How to deseed a pomegranate (for home use):
-Wear a pair of clothes that you couldn’t care less if they get stained.
-Pomegranates will splash. Find a spot in your kitchen that you can limit this. Have a wet clean cloth close to you to clean your wall and surfaces as soon as this happens. If you act quickly, you will avoid stains.
-Clean your hands with soap under running water and wear a new pair of food grade gloves.
-Clean thoroughly under running water and dry your pomegranates. Have a careful look for bruises or holes.
-Gently score with the tip of a knife the fruit horizontally in half. Inside a big container gently split it into two parts using both hands, taking care that the arils are remained intact.
-Visually inspect that there is no sign of bruises or any other deformation.
-With your fingertips try to detach the arils, one by one, making sure that they remain intact. Avoid squeezing them or knocking them with a spoon like you see in popular videos, unless you plan to immediately proceed in making a juice and are in a rush. You must hear a very characteristic pop-out sound while deseeding.
-In case a small part of the pomegranate is deformed, generously remove with your knife. If in doubt, it is better to discard the fruit, clean the knife and move on with the next fruit. It surely costs, but safety first.
-Once completed, gently remove any hard parts and pieces, so that you have only the arils left. Pat them gently with single use kitchen paper towel until you are sure that there is no humidity left.
-Transfer the pomegranate arils to a clean and dry air container, ideally with a vacuum function.
-The gentler you are in keeping the arils dry and without being squeezed during deseeding or transfer, the longest their self-life in the fridge.
-Pomegranate arils can safely be refrigerated in a vacuum container for more than 2-3 days, but please use your common sense. If you see or smell something unusual, discard and start again.
ow to juice pomegranates in a slow juicer (for home use):
-Remove from close vicinity knives, spoons, forks and any other item that might accidently fall inside the juicer and destroy it. Keep only the original tamper. Nothing else.
- To our experience, after fresh ginger root and red cabbage, pomegranate seeds are maybe the most difficult ingredient that can easily harm the motor of your slow juicer and destroy it. Please read the instructions manual of your juicer for the best practices.
-We recommend that you proceed adding the seeds in very small quantities and slowly. Use your eyes to observe and ears to listen. If you add more, or quicker than you should, you will hear the juicer increasing in noise. Please lower the quantity and the frequency.
-We don’t recommend using your juicer for more than 5 minutes continuously with pomegranate arils, but make sure you use your touch to feel the juicer’s temperature. If you smell anything unfamiliar stop immediately and let the juicer relax overnight.
-With clean hands wear food grade gloves and start slowly adding in your juicer 10-15 arils in the chamber. Wait approximately 10 seconds until the noise dissipates and repeat the process.
-Abstain from using the tamper to push the arils inside the chamber. If you need to do so due to a jam, try to place the least force possible.
-Consistently observe the pulp that comes out from the outlet. If the flow stops, stop adding new arils and put the gears in reverse mode for 3-4 seconds. Start the juicer again, if pulp hasn’t resumed coming out, it means that you have reached the maximum capacity of your juicing chamber and it has blocked from leftover pomegranate aril paste. It is time to clean it, let the motor rest and start again later.[As you might have understood so far, juicing a pure 100% pomegranate juice is difficult for a slow juicer. At Rubisco we love to combine pomegranate arils with other ingredients to make the process easier and why not, more flavorful. How about Orange? Red delicious or maybe Smith apples? For us though, the best combination is with locally grown organic Watermelon from the southwest part of Rhodes!]
-Almost ready. Pass your juice through a strainer if you prefer a smoother texture and you are ready to enjoy this pink delicacy from heaven!
-Pomegranate juice refrigerated in a clean jar, ideally under vacuum, can be preserved for at least 2-3 days, depending on produce and how meticulously you followed food hygiene practices.
-Don’t forget that whenever you juice fruits or vegetables in your slow juicer that have starch, like ginger, pomegranate or unripe apples, to name a few, after a while you see something like a powder to form in the bottom of your jar. Don’t worry. This is totally natural and really good for your gut too. Shake well but softly and enjoy!
[In case you are lucky enough to have a true cold-pressed juicer (congratulations) and reading this, please avoid putting the pomegranates directly to the press with the skins on as many manuals and books suggest. Deseed first.]
You can find in our little shop in Rhodes Old Medieval Town juices from fresh premium pomegranates imported from Peru, Israel and India. If you are lucky to visit Rhodes during Fall though, you will enjoy local organic varieties from Apollakia and Pastida villages.
[All our juices are freshly pressed from fresh fruits and vegetables inside our shop. We never buy or use frozen or concentrated juices.]
Fresh pomegranates are hand-deseeded in our little shop. You can find 100% pure pomegranate juice, as well as mixed in three fantastic combinations: With orange, with red or green apple and with Watermelon.
Enjoy them on a daily basis (open mid April to mid November) from our shop or order a delivery through Wolt or Efood.