One of the first things I’ve done as part of my Sustainable Kitchen Project is to pull out, dust off, clean and actually use this very cool, very nice juicer I received as a gift years ago. Yes, years ago. I’ve thought many times how cool it would be to make juice. I have three kids and two adults, and we consume a lot of juice (even with me diluting the kids’ juices).

So, I was armed with a big bag of organic oranges, and this cool new-old kitchen gadget. I was pretty optimistic about the results. Here’s how it all went down:

It started with a bag of oranges…

Then lots and lots and lots of cutting, deseeding, etc. to get the good orange juiciness pieces…

Then stuffing lots of orange juice pieces into the electric juicer. It’s a little time-consuming, but definitely easy…

I’m feeling pretty good. It looks good, it smells good. I’m done. That wasn’t so tough. Now, for the reward for all this time, expense and effort…

Umm…. WTF? Seriously? All that work for 12 ounces of juice? A whole BAG of oranges results in 12 ounces? What a rip! And now look at all this stuff I have to clean up…

In all fairness, that 12 ounces of orange juice tasted very fresh (although a little bitter). But I couldn’t help thinking Tropicana really should start charging more for a carton of OJ. If you figure an hourly rate at $50, or even $25, I spent a good hour between preparation, juicing and clean-up. Plus, the expense of the whole bag of oranges (I think it was around $3).

Still, I am not ready to give up on juicing. But the stars are no longer in my eyes. I have a big book on juicing that came with my juicer. I might skim that or something. I also like the idea of making juices with multiple fruits and vegetables. I also think it probably makes sense to make a huge batch of juice at once to maximize the time spent, particularly cleaning all the little parts. I’ll keep you guys posted next time I play with my juicer to see if I get better return on investment.

Have any of you guys made your own juice? Did I do something wrong here? Let me know any tips you might have, or link to anything you’ve written on juicing!

Next in the Sustainable Kitchen Project, I’ll share some of the details (woes and wonders) of starting my first organic vegetable garden. Who knew creating a basic pile of dirt on a big 1-acre lot could be such a pain in the ass?