How It's Made: Orange Juice
Vocab level: C2
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No one knows who came up with the idea of squeezing oranges to make juice.
The popularity of orange juice increased dramatically in the middle of the 20th century
as techniques were developed to extend its shelf life.
Today, many people start their day with a tall glass of OJ.
In its purest form, orange juice is fresh-squeezed and made with no preservatives or other additives.
The appeal is indisputable.
Fresh-squeezed OJ contains vitamin C, and the flavor is authentic.
Orange juice production starts in groves.
The trees take several months to bear fruit, and are harvested in early November.
Picking oranges is a job that's done entirely by hand.
An automated picking system could damage both the trees and the fruit.
The picker uses a bag made of vinyl composite that's lightweight and heavy-duty.
There are multiple types of juicing oranges.
This one is called the Hamlin.
Hamlin oranges are small and juicy,
The trees they grow on are productive and resilient to cold.
The picker plucks the fruit from the trees before they turn orange.
They may be green on the outside, but they are still sweet on the inside.
The fruits' size and condition are indications of maturity and flavor.
As the picker empties the bag into a bin, he examines the oranges.
Anything with tears or punctures may also have internal degradation,
but superficial flaws won't affect the quality of the juice.
The oranges are taken to a processing facility, and transferred to a sloped chute.
The gradient of the chute prevents damage
as the oranges tumble into a wash station.
A sprayer sprays soapy water onto the oranges
as spiraling nylon brushes scrub and clean while simultaneously moving them forward.
After the wash, another sprayer rinses them off
as the spiraling brushes continue scrubbing.
The oranges transition to a roller conveyor that takes them up and under drying fans.
As the oranges exit the dryer, an inspector checks them for any missed damage.
The oranges travel across more revolving brushes.
The bristles on these brushes are gentler than on the first group.
They buff the skin of the fruit and remove any residual dirt.
Finally, the oranges fall off the conveyor line into a bin.
Now cleaned, the oranges can be juiced
with no contaminants that could spoil either the product or juicing machinery.
As a final precaution, the juicing operator performs one last inspection.
If she's completely satisfied with their cleanliness and general condition,
she loads the oranges into the extractor.
There's no need to slice them beforehand.
She feeds them to the juicing machine whole.
The system feeds the oranges one at a time to the extractor.
The extractor punctures the fruit, and metal teeth peel away the skin.
It squeezes out the juice while simultaneously filtering out the seeds,
and the membrane between the flesh of the orange and the skin.
The juice flows into a vat.
A screen in the vat filters the pulp to the desired consistency -
there are several different filters for different amounts of pulp.
The juice is bottled in jugs.
The plastic jugs will accommodate any expansion of the unpasteurized juice due to fermentation.
Instead of pasteurizing this fresh-squeezed juice, it is chilled immediately.
The unpasteurized orange juice won't have an extended shelf life,
but the trade-off is an unaltered flavor and color.
Refrigeration will preserve the juice for a few days,
and after all, fresh-squeezed orange juice is a drink that's best served cold.
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