Fruit steamers are a brilliant addition to any busy kitchen
Comments(47)
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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ooh we’ve got an ancient one of these, disrespectfully referred to by the children as the maloola mahaha – wonderful thing, extracts the juice from rosehips without running the risk of choking on the hairs. :0)
like this one
http://tinyurl.com/kkjk8k
I bought mine here in Latvia at around the £30 mark but so far have only used it for steaming my veg ready for the freezer – not enough fruit this year for cordials but we will get there sometime, I am determined to get some fruit on the piece of land we working on. Now I just have to find out where I can get some good quality bushes from
You mean like this one…
In France, they are available from most agricultural coop shops and most supermarkets.
I picked up my Lakeland Steamer last year reduced from £80 to a whopping £19.99 from their store in Guildford , the juice it provides for cordials is just heaven.
A slight aside – does anyone know if its possible to hire (or borrow) a fruit press. Am looking into producing apple juice from the surplus of apples on my tree and dont really want to go to the expense of buying a new fruit press (they are over £100 on Vigo)
We’ve got this in our house when I was young. I didn’t know what it was called then. But I can’t see it now.
I have just inherited one of these fruit/juice steamers from my Danish mother in law in Danish its called a “Tutti Frutti ” i have made apple and plum juice and its fantastic !! very easy and no peeling or de pipping needed i would deffinately reccomend it !!
Hi Jackie
Yes, it would be perfect for rosehips. Thanks for the tip.
Hi Joanna
Thirty quid! Lucky you.
Hi Claudine
I can’t understand why they are so much cheaper in France?
Hi Native Zebra,
Wow, you got a real bargain.
Hi wendyjh
A lot of councils have public presses for use in the harvesting season. I’ve heard that there’s one in Cambridge. Might be worth ringing your local council.
Hi Ronald
I’d never heard of these until last year.
Hi Jo
Yes I can’t believe how good these are. I’ve made some great jellies and fruit cheeses using the leftover pulp.
Can the apple juice acquired from that be used to make cider, or would I be best to press?
thanks
Jane
Hi Jane
I have no idea but I know that they are used to extract juice for wine so I don’t see why not.
I have just aquired a Beka fruit juice steamer. The instuctions say to reduce the added sugar because the process extracts the maximum natural sugars but does not make it clear by how much. Is there a “rule of thumb”? I’ve had very mixed results.
I’ve just used my new Beka steamer to produce the fruit juice for my first cider – you can follow the process here…
http://hollygrovekitchen.blogspot.com/2010/10/juicing-fruits.html
And it was this Cottage Smallholder post that inspired my purchase.
I have just been given a Beka juicer for Christmas! How do you do rosehips? Just chuck the whole lot in, hairs and all? And how do you know how much water to put in the bottom pan? Am also puzzled about sugar to fruit ratio for cordials/syrups. It will have to be a fair bit to ensure preservation I presume? Final question – can you do elderflower cordial, and if so does the pasteurisation process prolong the shelf life of the cordial. Stop me now! Am very excited about this as you can tell, I’m sure!
Hi Hedgewitch
Lucky you – what a super present. Re rosehips just bung them in whole. I put a fair ammount of water in the base but remove the juice when the hips have gome soft and pulpy – if you leave them in too long you’ll get more ‘juice’ but it will be thin and take ages to set. I have never tried making a cordial all at the same time in my steamer so I can’t help you on that front. I make my elderflower cordial in the conventional way – seeping in a large container. The pasterisation should prolong the shelf life of the cordial but if you use corks it can happily store for ages in a cool dry place – fermentation will happen but we like the buzz of year old EFC at the cottage!
Many thanks for your advice – can’t wait for the spring now!
Hedgewitch
Hello,
I’ve just ordered the version of the steamer that is available from Amazon (which has just been reduced again to £60). I am really looking forward to using it so I really need to thank you so much for blogging about it and making my preserving life so much easier.
I was wondering is there any books out there I could buy on how to use them. These things always come with a selection of uses but its always good to have something a bit bulkier to read.
Thanks
Hi, just managed to get hold of a fruit steamer, thought i’d have a go at making wine with it. Anybody have any idea on what ratio of juice to water per Demi-john i should use?
Hi just reading some of the comments, i am a manager of a pressing company nr canterbury kent, family run business and we do a lot of mini contracts for people who have there own apple trees and either want juice or cider.
any more info needed email me at binka1000@hotmail.com
Hi, I am intrigued and would love to but one as we have crab apples in the woods nearby and a cooking apple tree in the garden. Could you please answer just one question for me? Do you get the same sort of quantity of juice as you do when you drip through a cloth?
Many thanks
Ooh, so pleased to see so many of you with steam juicers. I have just bought one from Westfalia and am raring to get juicing. I mainly bought it to make jellys from the juice to save all the straining through jelly bags. I would love to know how to make jam from the left over pulp tho so if anyone can help me with this I would be very grateful.
Just read your comments on the fruit steamer,whilst looking for inspiration to use up my crab apples. wow what a revelation i’m def’ going to try and get one. thank you. this site is brilliant.
Jut a quick update on my last pot.
I have been busy trying out the steam juicer and can only say “Get One”. It is a real revelation from the jelly bag method and so far I have produced 8 jars hedgerow jelly, 4 jars rosehip jelly, 6 jars ginger and plum jam, 6 jars victoria plum jam, 8 jars purple plum jam, 5 jars Bramble jelly,and just in process of making more mint jelly and rowan jelly today. Got fresh raspberries from garden and wild blackberries and damsons in the fridge. This is all in the last 3 weeks – I just couldn’t have done all of this without the steamer. Our larder shelves are groaning under the weight of it all but I am giving it away to friends and family and it’s being very well received. Only diaster was a beetroot recipe I tried which basically went to toffee – my fault entirely, the steamer had produced lots of lovely juice from the beets but I messed it up. So easy to use and keep clean I wouldn’t bother with jelly bags any more (although I do keep a very small one for tiny amounts like redcurrant jelly.
Sorry – the above should have read quick update on my last ‘post’!
The letter s on my keyboard sticks…..makes interesting reading sometimes
Just found the instruction / recipe book for Mehu Liisa here.
http://www.juiceland.co.uk/Steam_Juicer_Recipes.pdf
I think I am going to get one!
Hi MerryB – you wont regret it. I have the Recipe instruction booklet saved on favourites. It’s a lot to take in at first but I refer back to it all the time. Just one point I would mention in case space is an issue for you – it is big (well the Westfalia version is) and it really only works for large batches of fruit – but no more than you would normally use in a conventional pan. I steamed a kilo of soft fruits last night and extracted 2 pints of concentrated juice. This juice has no added water like you would get with fruit cooked in a pan so has a very intense flavour. If you want to drink the juice then you may want to dilute it down and also add some sugar during the steaming process (book explains it all in detail). I only use it for jam and jelly making (so far). Good luck and please let me know if you buy one…..us ‘steamers’ need to unite
Josie – only just noticed your post on 31st July. I would say you get more juice using a steamer than jelly bag but I have to admit to limited knowledge of both as only started making jam a year ago and jelly this year. It seems to extract almost the last drop of juice from the fruit whereas the pulp I had left over from the jelly bag seemed very wet and still full of juice even after 24 hours of straining. I didn’t feel I wanted to squeeze any more juice from the steamed fruit but the jelly bag was very tempting! Hope this helps. It is a large investment but if you search around you should be able to get one for between £45 & £55 and I also use it for cooking meals. I’m hoping I’m not kidding myself but I think it will pay for itself eventually as only uses one ring on cooker and I’m making so much more jam/jelly than I would have done with jelly bag.
Just been researching the fruit steamer! apart from the Mahu have found the westfalia site with there’s for £54.00.
Does anyone know if there is a difference in this one to the Mahu, apart from the price that is.
Would be grateful for any feedback before I make this purchase.
Amazon have no stock of the BEKA, and BEKA haven’t even bothered to reply to my email to let me know whoelse stocks it!
Thank you all.
Whoops sorry me again, meant to ask does anyone know where I can buy some reasonable priced nice Glass bottles for my Liquers?
Hi Gloria
Lakeland stock glass bottles! I’ve heard no bad feedback about the Westfalia one.
Hi Gloria, I love my Westfalia Steamer but have no idea how it compares to others. It fitted my budget as I was concerned it might be a white elephant and that I wouldn’t use it as so often happens with kitchen equipment. Couldn’t have been more wrong – I use it a lot. They are all about the same size – which is big so be prepared for it to take up some room on the cooker and in for storage. I find Lakeland a bit pricey for jars and bottles. I have posted on forums about 2 companies you could try. One is called freemanharding.co.uk and the other is the jamjarshop.com Both charge for postage obviously but still work out cheaper than Lakeland although if you only want one or two then maybe not. Hope this helps. Look at some of my posts in forums about the steamer.
Thankyou FN & Mauramac for the feedback, really helpful. Does the westfalia one come with the pipe or is that a seperate attachment?
I have just found a new company who are going to send me out a sample as my last supplier has got to expensive this company also does jars.
I sell my produce so am always looking for the best price in jars and bottles to keep the retail cost down for customers.
Not a big company, only me! which gets a bit hectic at times, something like a one man conveyer belt!!!
Hoping to set up my own website next year.
I really like this site so helpful to meet other like minded people.
Happy preserving.x
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.
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
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
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
Definately will do, And thanks once again.
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.
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
Katy – I have just found these comments about juicing oranges on another forum. I’ll copy and paste the relevant bits.
————————————————
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
————————————————–
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
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.
Barbara,
I had a similar experience with crabapple jelly and my steamer so I would be interested in the answer.
I don’t find the various steamer/juicer recipe books very informative so will keep looking for some good information on how to use the juicer.
Maura,
I had a go at making marmalade with my citrus fruits (I think they are Clemantines) The first lot wouldn’t set and I over cooked it and so have a delicious toffee flavoured orange sauce.
I had another go using jam sugar with added pectin and this time it wouldn’t set at all and I have more orange flavour sauce.
I must admit the sauce goes very well with ice cream and roast apples, but marmalade it is not.
I shall keep looking for information.
Hi Barbara and Katy
You need to use the proper amount of sugar for the jelly to set and keep well (sugar is a preservative). If your apples are sweet add fresh lemon juice to taste – this also ups the amount of pectin and helps with setting.
Use the steam juicer to extract the juice and then remove the juice to the base pan or a Maslin pan to make the jelly.
The rolling boil reduces the water in the juice – if there is a bit too much water it will take longer.
I use a thermometer to make jelly now to save so much schlepping back and forth from the fridge. Setting point for me is 203-204.
You can reboil jelly that has too soft a set and also tweak jelly that has set too hard.
Thanks for the swift responses! Katy, I’m glad I’m not the only one….
Fiona, thank you for the expert advice – I’ll try again with the recipe amount of sugar. I think maybe I have to get over the idea that sugar is Bad and to be used as little as possible, and accept it as Good when it’s preserving and making things set.
I love the steam juicer though, the apple juice is so good I’m going to try and bottle some to last through the winter, though it tends to disappear fast!
I had a steam cooker before, it’s a delight being able to steam a whole meal in it and the food tastes wonderfully fresh, though meat and fish can tend to be a bit bland compared with other ways of cooking, you have to counteract that.
One other thing to bare in mind is that I’m pretty sure that eating apples don’t contain as much pectin as crab apples or cooking apples so adding enough sugar and lemon juice becomes a necessity. I could be wrong about that but I’m sure Fiona will know and therefore have always made sure to add plenty of sugar (sometimes using a proportion of jam sugar) to juice extracted from eating apples. The lemon juice balances the sweetness.
Triumph! Lovely apple and rosehip jelly on toast this morning. Many thanks for the helpful advice! By the way, the bottom part of the Westphalia steamer was perfect for boiling up the jelly in.
The apple glut continues, so I’m making and bottling juice as fast as I can, using all the windfalls instead of just composting them, and I’m now boring everybody at work about the wonders of the steam juicer.