Homemade Apple Juice

Homemade apple juice is a treat in our home. Learn how to make apple juice using the delicious apples from your orchard.

Don’t let anything go to waste. We have a neighbor who couldn’t use all the apples growing on their apple trees. They let us pick the excess, and we made gallons and gallons of yummy juice.

Make the determination to use everything the Lord gives you. You’ll be surprised and grateful for the miracles as you work on gathering and storing your food.

Two Ways to Make Homemade Apple Juice:

Turning Apple Cider into Apple Juice

Apple juice is apple liquid that has been processed. Apple cider is unprocessed apple liquid. If you have access to some kind of apple press, extracting the cider from the apples goes pretty fast. But to preserve apple cider you need to freeze it.

Here are two reasons for processing your apple cider instead of freezing it: #1 you don’t have the freezer room, or #2 you don’t want to store too much juice in the freezer in case the electricity goes out.

You can process your apple cider in a boiling water canner, and it will become apple juice. Homemade apple juice stores well on the shelf.

Click on the link to learn how to make apple cider.

Making Apple Juice Using a Steamer Juicer

Using the steamer juicer is a great way to make homemade apple juice if you don’t have access to a cider press.

Equipment and Supplies
Fresh Apples
Steamer Juicer
Jars & Lids
Lid Lifter

• Wash your jars and lids with hot soapy water. I reuse my lids that are in good condition see Canning Jars, Lids, & Rings.


• Cut your apples into quarters. Don’t worry about taking out the core of the apple. Cut out any rotten spots or bug holes. Making apple juice is a great way to use up those apples that are less than perfect.

• Wash the apples after cutting them.
• Fill the bottom section of your steamer juicer with water and turn the heat on high. Keep an eye on this bottom section so that the pan doesn’t run dry.
• Fill the top section of the steamer juicer with clean, quartered apples and put the lid on top.

  Just keep putting apples into the top basket. The apples will cook down and shrink as the juice is steamed out of them. The next morning, throw your apple pulp onto the garden. It makes great fertilizer.
  See Types of Soil.

• As the apples cook in the steamer juicer, the juice will collect in the middle section. Drain the apple juice by unclamping the rubber hose after a couple quarts have collected in the middle section.

  If the middle section gets too full, the apple juice will spill over into the boiling water below. Keep an eye on this.

• Leave a ¼” – ½” headspace between the top of the juice and the top of the jar. Put on the lid and ring after you fill the jar.
• Process your homemade apple juice in a boiling water canner. See the boiling water canner page for complete details and processing times.
• Make sure to check your lids for a seal before storing your jars of apple juice. If you’re not sure how to do this, click checking your lids for a seal.

Also see making grape juice. The process for making grape juice is very similar to making apple juice.

Return To:

Home Canning from Homemade Apple Juice
Making Apple Cider
Canning Applesauce
Dehydrating Apples
How to Store Fresh Apples
Growing Apple Trees
Pruning Apple Trees