Juicing pears

by Ginnie Gibson
(Harrisburg, PA)

Q:I just bought a Breville Juicer it seems to be one of the better ones (800 watts). When I juice pears (skin on) the juice is tan/brown and it doesn't taste very good at all. Am I doing something wrong?

A: Hi Ginnie! You are not doing anything wrong :)

It's fine and normal to juice the skin but be sure to remove the core and seeds of the pear. If the seeds or too much core got in the juice, this would be part of the taste. Also, yes, the juice does turn out a brown color. This is partly because of the pear and partly because of the oxidation that occurs once the fruit is juiced. Totally normal.

I agree with you, pear doesn't taste great when juiced alone. I prefer to pair it (no pun intended :) with an apple. Even just one apple will help the taste significantly and makes it a very sweet juice. If it's too sweet for you with the added apple, add some water.

The type of pear that you use will make a difference. The best pears for juicing that I prefer are the crisp green bartlett or bosc(but these are softer). Stay away from juicing the asian pear varities- I find that those types aren't as yummy.

I'm not sure if you are new to juicing, but if you are, it might take some time for your taste buds to get use to the flavor of "real" juice. The stuff in the store is chock full of sugars, syrups and flavorings. For some of us(including myself), it takes time to develop a new palate and discover what the real stuff really tastes like! I've had the store bought pear juice before and it tastes nothing like the fresh. So if you don't like the fresh pear juice or even the apple and pear juice, definitely try some new recipes!

Congrats on the new juicer!!! It is a good one!