Leigh Erwin: Using A Juicer

Hello readers!  Leigh here!  I’m back from my wedding/honeymoon adventures!
Remember how I thought we would have been moved by now?  Well, we’re not….yet.  We at least know now that we are not staying in the state where we live currently.  Because of this, I’m holding off on any major home winemaking purchases as I can’t really start any new wines right now and it’ll be a pain to have to move more than we really need.
I don’t want to lose the momentum I had earlier regarding my desire to make my own wines, so I’ll spend some time thinking about my next major steps and talking with you about what I would like to do and how I plan to do it.
One thing that just popped in my mind, actually, is related to one of the wedding gifts we received.  Someone had purchased a juicer for us so we can make our own homemade juice.  I’m certain they had random fruit juices to drink in mind, but I’ve been thinking—could I use this same juicer to make a bunch of juice to be fermented into wine? Does anyone have any experience with using a juicer for winemaking?
I did a little digging around the ECKraus website, and turns out there is someone else who had the exact same question that I did!  Can we use a juicer for winemaking?  To some up in one phrase, the answer was “sort of”.
When you use this type of a juicer for red wines (i.e. one not made with winemaking in mind), the resulting wine will be lacking in body and color.  Wines get most of the color from the skins, seeds, and pulp of the fruit, and the juicer will just end up separating all that.  However, the juicer could be used for white wines (white fruit) since you don’t need the skins and seeds for that process!
Cool!  So, while the gift giver did not have winemaking in mind, I’ll certainly be using my juicer for making white fruit wines until I upgrade to a more appropriate piece of equipment like a grape press.
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My name is Leigh Erwin, and I am a brand-spankin’ new home winemaker! E. C. Kraus has asked me to share with you my journey from a first-time dabbler to an accomplished home winemaker. From time to time I’ll be checking in with this blog and reporting my experience with you: the good, bad — and the ugly.