How would you like to have juice produced from your own fruit?
As well as making the most of your harvest, your own juice will add something special to your parties and summer barbecues. Giving a bottle of juice made from your own fruit makes a unique and personal gift for friends and family.
We offer a service to create juice from your own fruit. We think we have answered all the frequently asked questions below, but if you need any more information just contact us.
The Fruit Pressing Service is now closed for the 2024 season. If you would like to join the mailing list for 2025, please send us a message via the contact form. Bookings for 2025 will go live in August 2025 via this link click here.
What apple varieties can I use?
Should I bother pressing my cooking apples (like Bramley)?
What about Pears?
How do I pick my fruit?
How do I know when the fruit is ready to pick?
What quality fruit do I need?
Can I use windfalls?
What should I bring my fruit in?
How much fruit do I need?
Where do I bring my fruit to?
How does the service work?
How much juice will I get from my fruit?
Will I get my own juice back?
Do you add anything to my juice?
How long will my juice last for?
Why do you pasteurise juice?
Will you provide me with un-pasteurised juice?
What does the Fruit Pressing Service Include?
How much will it cost?
Can I bring my own Glass bottles?
Can I bring back my juice bottles from last year for reuse?
Is there a minimum charge?
How can I pay?
What apple varieties can I use?
Great juice can be made by mixing different types of apples, as in cooking and eating or different varieties of eating apples. Some eating apples make a really great single variety juice. It really depends on your personal preference. If you like the apple to eat, you are likely to enjoy it as a drink! Back to the top
Should I bother pressing my cooking apples (like Bramley)?
Like everything it’s all down to personal taste. A Bramley juice can be sharper and zingier, a welcome change to the sweeter juices, particularly good at breakfast time instead of orange juice or for cooking with. Back to the top
What about Pears?
We can press pears as well. On their own some people find that they are too syrupy and sweet. If you bring apples and pears we can press them together for a lovely taste that is hard to beat. Eating pears are a lot sweeter than apples which makes them good for blending with cooking apples. Some pears are very hard and don’t taste very good to eat, but these can make a really good tasting pear juice so can be worth experimenting with. Pears need to be pressed within a couple of days of having been picked and should be hard. Back to the top
How do I pick my fruit?
Picking your trees can be great fun, the easiest way to do it is to put a sheet(s) on the ground under the tree and then gently shake the tree, (watch your head!). Collect up the fruit and bring it to us as arranged. You can also get telescopic fruit pickers, (a basket on a stick), for hard to reach fruit. The RHS recommend that “If you prefer to pick by hand, hold the apple or pear in the palm of the hand and, without finger pressure, lift the fruit slightly and gently twist it. The fruit should come away from the spur easily with the stalk intact.” Further information can be found at www.rhs.org.uk/ Back to the top
How do I know when my fruit is ready to pick?
Avoid juicing under ripe fruit. The best and easiest way to tell if your fruit is ready is to taste it. Apples should be firm and crunchy, pears should be hard but sweet. You can also check the pips, they should be dark brown / black when the fruit is ripe. Back to the top
What quality fruit do I need?
The fruit you bring should be of good enough quality that you would be happy to eat it. Rotting or badly bruised fruit produces poor tasting juice. IMPORTANT – Please note: If fruit is ‘turning’ or partially rotted, (going brown), we won’t juice it. We may need to store your fruit for a few days from date of delivery, if it is in poor condition a lot of wastage can occur which will reduce the quantity of juice you receive. Back to the top
Can I use windfalls?
We really don’t like food waste, so we are happy to press windfalls for you if you want us to. They must be in good condition. However, please note the section on fruit quality above. It is also worth noting that windfalls are more likely to contain higher levels of patulin which can be very harmful to health. If the batch looks dubious we reserve the right to reject it.
Apples can be prone to particularly high levels of patulin. Normally patulin only occurs in fruit on which mould has grown, although the spoilage may not be obvious. It is possible for the fungi to grow within the fruit, entering via insect or other damage, (such as bruising), or in some varieties, to enter the core early during the fruits’ development. This is the reason why we will reject suspect apples. Back to the top
What should I bring my fruit in?
Any strong container will be fine. Baskets, boxes or trays. Do not use black bin sacks / carrier bags as they tear easily and rubble bags are too heavy to lift by hand. If you want to take your bottles home in reusable crates, it makes sense to bring your apples to us in those crates. Back to the top
How much fruit do I need?
We operate on a minimum of 40kg of fruit because otherwise the loss of juice in the pipework of the bottling system would mean you got very little juice back. As an approximate guide:
About 10kg – Large bucket full
About 20kg – Animal feed sack, Large Rubble Tub, Full size supermarket delivery crate
About 30kg – A dustbin full
Where do I bring my fruit to?
Bring your fruit to us at Welham Wold Farm. You can find a map of our location on our contact us page. Please make sure that each of your fruit containers is clearly marked with your name and, if we are not there when you deliver your fruit, please put it into one of the large wooden containers at the front of the buildings. Back to the top
How does the service work?
You drop your fruit off with us on the agreed date in clearly marked containers. We then wash your fruit to make sure that it’s clean. Once the fruit is cleaned it is pulped and pressed. A small quantity of ascorbic acid, (vitamin c), is added to the juice to prevent it discolouring before the juice is pumped into bottles, capped and pasteurised. In the case of Pear Juice, we may need to add a small quantity of citric acid if the pH of the juice is too high to pasteurise safely.
If you have chosen the optional to have your juice boxed up, we will do that for you. We will then email or ring you to let you know they are ready for collection.
We don’t filter away any of the goodness in your juice nor do we add in any nasty preservatives, water or sugar. We guarantee the juice you take away is from your fruit and your fruit only. Back to the top
How much juice will I get from my fruit?
The apple / pear to juice ratio varies from year to year and variety to variety as well varying due to the ripeness and quality of the fruit you bring, so we can’t easily advise exactly what quantity of juice you will get back.
Quantity of juice wise, approximately 1 kg of fruit will give 0.7 litre of juice.
So 50kg of fruit would yield around 40 – 50 75cl bottles. Back to the top
Will I get my own juice back?
We can assure you that you’ll definitely get the juice from your fruit. Back to the top
Do you add anything to my juice?
We add a very small quantity of Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C) to the juice to prevent it from discolouring. In the case of Pear Juice, we may need to add a small quantity of citric acid as well if the pH of the juice is too high to pasteurise safely. There is nothing else added to the juice. No water, sugars or nasty preservatives. Just as nature intended. Back to the top
How long will my juice last for?
Once bottled, your juice is then pasteurised so that it keeps for 18 months unopened. We recommend you store your juice in a cool dark place, like a cupboard or garage, and once opened it should be refrigerated and consumed within 3 days. Back to the top
Why do you pasteurise juice?
Fresh apple juice can contain bacteria, which can only be reduced to safe levels through pasteurisation or fermenting to alcohol (cider). Back to the top
Can you provide me with un-pasteurised juice?
Yes we will supply your juice un-pasteurised. You need to provide your own clean bulk container(s) for us to return your juice in. Back to the top
What does the fruit pressing service include?
Gently pasteurised apple juice with an 18 months best before date, in glass bottles which have been security sealed with a tamper proof cap.
Your pomice, (the leftover dry apple / pear), is ploughed back into the land across the farm as a soil enhancer.
We also supply a note with your batch code and Best Before Date displayed on it for peace of mind and traceability.
We use 75cl glass bottles. 25cl sized bottles are available for large contract customers. Back to the top
How much will it cost in 2024?
75cl bottle
0 to 100 bottles – £2.34 per bottle
101 to 250 bottles – £2.28 per bottle
250+ bottles – £2.16 per bottle
Unpasteurised Juice in bulk containers
(Customer provided container) @ £1.14 per litre
Extras
Cardboard boxes (12 x 75cl bottles) – £2.46 per box
All prices include VAT. VAT invoices provided. Back to the top
Can I bring my own glass bottles?
Due to the many different sizes of bottle available in the glass marketplace, we only fill our own bottles. This is because our equipment is set up to ensure the correct fill levels in the bottles, something that could not be guaranteed with bottles from other manufacturers. Back to the top
Can I bring back my juice bottles from last year for reuse?
Previous customers of Yorkshire Wolds Apple Juice Co can bring back their glass bottles that were provided to them by us for re-use. Bottles brought back will only be used for bottling your juice. Bottles must have had both bits of the plastic cap removed before return and have no trace of any label or adhesive on the bottle. We do not re-use caps.
This re-use service is operated on the understanding that the customer is responsible for thoroughly cleaning the bottles. We only cold water rinse the bottles before filling them. Bottles with any damage will be disposed of. Bottles that are not sufficiently clean will be returned unused.
For each bottle re-used, the customer will be credited with 5p off the invoice. Back to the top
Is there a minimum charge?
We have a minimum charge of £75 for pasteurised juice. This is less than the price we expect you would pay for 40kg of fruit to be pressed into juice, but covers our costs in the event of a customer presenting significantly less than 40kg of fruit. For reference, 40kg of fruit should yield about 35 75cl bottles, which would be a total invoice of £81.90. Back to the top
How can I pay?
Payment by cash or bank transfer please.
All prices include VAT.
Payment is due on or before collection.
Back to the top