Fruit steamers are a brilliant addition to any busy kitchen
Posted by Fiona Nevile in Kitchen equipment | 47 comments
Photo: Lakeland fruit steamer
For years I longed for a Vigo fruit press to process our apples, pears and fruit for wine, juices and cordials. They are beautiful objects but too expensive to justify occasional use.
Then one lucky day last year, Ronald Hayles left a comment about the wonders of the Mahu Liisa.
I had never heard of this type of extraction steamer before but they clearly would be very useful for processing juices. Basically these special steamers extract fruit juice using steam, this also pasteurises the juice which can be drawn off into sterilised bottles and heat processed. Cordials can be made by layering fruit and sugar and drawn off in the same way. The juice produced is pure and clear and doesn’t have to be dripped through muslin for hours before making jellies. In fact Ronald also steams chickens, hams and produces great stock. I was in love with this versatile steamer until I spotted the price £125.00. Argggh.
Then Pamela noticed that Lakeland were selling their own steamer at half price for £36.20. I ordered it and it has made an enormous difference to the production of wine and preserves at the cottage. They seem to taste better too – something in the steaming process seems to enhance the flavours. Last year I made very few as I just didn’t have the time. This year our larder shelves are groaning with produce that took a fraction of the normal time to produce.
The bad news is that Lakeland has sold out of their steamers. I did see this BEKA steamer on Amazon discounted by a third to just under £90 with free shipping. If you are travelling to France I believe that they are much cheaper out there.
Update: I’ve found this link to the instruction manual/cookbook of the Mahu Liisa. Also I’ve discovered that Westfalia are selling a 15 l Multi-purpose Pan. The Westfalia save 10% might still be valid (SAVE10).
Update: January 2011 Westfalia are selling a Stainless Steel Juicer, 9 Litre for just £49.99!
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Help, advice needed! Apologies to all you expert preservers for stupid questions, but I’m a total novice. I bought a Westfalia steam juicer to deal with a glut of apples, and have made a lot of completely delicious juice. I’ve also used it for steam cooking and all was fine. However, my first attempt to make apple and rosehip jelly has just gone horribly wrong! I have a pan full of increasingly thick and nasty juice which isn’t even thinking about setting.
Yes, I used way less sugar than in the recipes, but a) the Westfalia booklet said to do that because sugars would be kept in the juice, and b) the apples are all eaters and the juice was sweet to start off with. I wanted a nice sharp jelly that could go with cold meats as well as on toast.
I didn’t use a thermometer but so many people said to me not to bother that I thought it would be OK. Alas, not.
The Westfalia booklet firmly says ‘you will need to add a setting agent,’ so maybe that’s the answer and I have to add pectin? Or do I just need to bung in the recipe amount of sugar next time?
At the moment I’ve put the gunge into jars in the hope that it may set while I’m not looking. But I still have tons of apples so intend to try again (rosehips all gone, though). Any advice gratefully received.
Thank you Maura,
I wanted to try because I found the following:
http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/grapevine/general-chitchat/mehu-liisa-steam-juicer_34740.html
But although she says she uses the steamer to make a jelly marmalade she doesn’t say how. So, since the fruit I have is free I’m trying it anyway. I’ve cut the fruits in half and filled the steamer.
I’ll let you know what happens.
I liked your idea of a ‘thread’ for steamers. They are new to me and I’m really interested in any tips people have. The Mehu Liisa booklet I think is fairly limited and I’m sure there’s more we can do with them. Trial and Error I think.
Regards
Katy
Katy – I have just found these comments about juicing oranges on another forum. I’ll copy and paste the relevant bits.
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Citrus: I have never juiced citrus. Years ago my father always told folks not to juice citrus in the Mehu-Maija (precursor to Mehu-Liisa) because it was make of aluminum and the acid could pit the metal. Nowadays the juicer is made of stainless steel and perhaps this is not a problem. You should just go ahead and try it out and let me know the results. I think I would peel the fruit though as that is where a lot of the bitter oils are. Try it both ways and compare. Always use a strong simmer, not a full boil as you may risk boiling dry and ruining your water pan. I would think upward to one hour processing time would be sufficient, perhaps less. In any event check at 30 minutes (after boil starts) and decide how much longer to process.
Well, being impatient and having a bag of (free!) oranges, I tried it my way first.
Well it didn’t work!
I ended-up with very watery juice and all the ‘strength’ retained in the skins, so I had to put ’em all through a ‘traditional’ lemon squeezer and mix the results.
This gave me 2 litres of an acceptable strength, but I had to add some sugar to make it drinkable.
I can’t go through all the hassle of peeling them all, so in future will do what I usually do…peel ’em one at a time and eat ’em whole!
It was just that my (absentee) neighbour’s tree needed picking, so I had a bit of a glut.
I guessed there was a reason why citrus were always absent from the lists of fruits suitable for steam juicing 🙂
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Sorry Katy I can’t help you with this one – I guess its a case of trial & error. I have searched through the entire copy I have of the recipe book for the Mehu Liisa steamer and there was no mention of citrus fruits. Have you tried to Google anything? I found this just now – not very helpful for your query but has other tips.
http://www.juicer-steamer.com/fremehrec.html
Hi, I’m new here, but bought the Westfalia steamer a few weeks ago. I’ve had great success with making grape juice from our own grapes. Very good flavour and amazing colour.
But I could do with some advice, I’ve seen somewhere that the steamer can be used to extract juice from citrus fruits, has anyone done this? I’ve been given a load and I’d like to make jelly with them.
Any thoughts or advice greatly appreciated.
Definately will do, And thanks once again.
I searched everywhere on lots of websites and forums for other steam juicer users and only Fiona here on The Cottage Smallholder had made any reference to using one. At the time I was looking the only other users were in US (some videos on You Tube) but it sounded so much easier than using the jelly bag method which I hate, that I took the chance to buy one. I have suggested we have a section on here for Steam Juicing but as there are so few of us it doesn’t warrant it at the moment. I suggest we maybe start a ‘Thread’ all about our experiences and hope it becomes useful for other Steamers 😉
Please keep in touch and let us know how it goes.
Maura
Thanks Mauramac for the hints and tips always useful when using for the first time.
Made the decision to order mine today, it’s lovely to hear from people with the same interests.
Gloria
Sorry – should have said. I always remove tube to give it a good wash when I’ve finished steaming but it can be a bit tricky to get it off the spout.It has to be a tight fit to stop leakages and maybe other people leave theirs on but I am a bit paranoid about keeping it all clean and sterile. Good luck and ask anything you want – I’m still learning with mine as well but happy to help if I can.
Maura
Yes it comes with one tube and one clip. You might need to order a spare tube/clip later but I haven’t done so yet.
A couple of tips for you – sorry not stating the obvious but might be helpful.
Make sure you attach the tube before you start the steaming – the pan gets very hot indeed. As do the handles and the knob of the lid.
Make sure you attach the clip to the tube so it is fully squeezed shut (press both sides and it opens, slide it onto tube and release to close it) then peg it up onto one of the handles. It is a bit fiddly but you soon get to work out which way to fit the clip.
Keep a close eye on the water levels in the bottom pan – it can run out quite suddenly.To do this I have a kettle of boiling water ready and using oven gloves I lift the top 2 sections up to have a look. If it needs refilling then place them onto a metal tray to catch any drips, fill up pan with water and then place top 2 sections back again.You usually only need to refill once but depends how much you are steaming and what type of fruit etc.
After you have steamed for a while check juice collector pan and if enough juice in there then find a tall jug or bowl (I use stainless steel bowl that fits my food mixer)and lower tube into it,release clip to let the juice flow into bowl. You only need to let it run long enough to sterilise the tube with the hot juice. Be very careful doing this for the first time because it is scalding hot) Let the clip fasten back onto the tube and hang it up on handle again. Then slowly pour the juice back over the fruit to go through steaming process again. It sounds a lot but only takes a couple of minutes when you get the hang of it. I suggest turning the heat down under pan whilst doing any of this otherwise you will struggle with heat & steam.Now your tube is nicely sterile and you can let it all continue.