Orange juice is a popular drink that can be easily obtained, through juicing oranges yourself or buying juice. As with anything, being frozen can help orange juice last longer. Besides being delicious, orange juice also provides many health benefits.
Orange juice delivers essential nutrients to your body such as vitamin C, potassium, and folate. It can also improve heart health and reduce inflammation, and has high levels of antioxidants which are beneficial to our health in many ways.
Frozen orange juice can be used for many purposes. This could include smoothies, or adding an extra flavor to baked goods. Many people also like to drink frozen orange juice as is.
Can Orange Juice be Frozen?
Yes, orange juice can be frozen. Freezing orange juice extends its shelf life much longer than if it were just put in the refrigerator. In the fridge, orange juice lasts for around one week. But when it has been frozen, it can last for multiple months. Before being thawed, frozen orange juice can last for up to a year.
Often, we open a carton of orange juice and drink a glass every couple of days. Still, there may be more than you can consume in a short period of time in one bottle or carton of orange juice. So putting it in the freezer is a great way to keep orange juice fresh until you are ready to finish it.
Orange juice can also be frozen and refrozen as many times as you like. To do this properly, it should be first thawed in the refrigerator and consumed within two or three days. If you still have some left over, you can put it back in the freezer and safely repeat this process.
Can You Freeze Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice?
Freshly squeezed orange juice can be frozen. This is especially good news because when it has been freshly squeezed, the shelf life of orange juice tends to be shorter. Freshly squeezed orange juice lasts for around two to three days in the fridge, versus four months in the freezer.
The juice will expand as it freezes, so make sure whatever container you store it in has some headspace at the top. This should be about one half of an inch. It can be kept in any sort of container, but it must be airtight to ensure the freshness of the juice.
When kept at zero degrees Fahrenheit, freshly squeezed orange juice can last for quite extended periods of time. If you choose to thaw it in the refrigerator, it can last for another couple of days. If you defrost your orange juice in the microwave, though, it should be consumed immediately.
Can You Freeze Orange Juice in a Carton?
If you have bought orange juice in a carton, it is completely safe to freeze it in the carton it came in. Cardboard holds up in the freezer just fine. One thing to note is that you should not freeze orange juice in a carton while it is still full.
Liquid expands when it is frozen. So, if a carton of orange juice is all the way full when you put it in the freezer, it will expand enough to tear a hole in the carton. This would result in a sticky, messy, freezer.
Ultimately, yes, orange juice in a carton can be frozen. Just make sure you drink a couple ounces or pour some out before doing so to avoid the carton rupturing.
Can You Freeze Orange Juice in a Plastic Bottle?
Orange juice can also be effectively stored in a plastic bottle. As long as the material of the plastic seems sturdy enough and has no holes, you should be good. As with any other storing method, just make sure the bottle is not entirely full so the juice has some room to expand.
Some people also like to put orange juice in ice cube trays. This is a creative way to add sweetness to a drink on a hot day. It is certainly achievable as well, just don’t fill the sections all the way so the juice doesn’t spill over and create a mess.
Can You Freeze Store Bought Juice?
At a grocery store, orange juice can be found in many different types of containers. You might find plastic bottles or cardboard cartons of orange juice. Any of these can be frozen, there is just one rule to always follow. Make sure the container is not all the way full to leave room for expansion.
How to Tell if Orange Juice is Spoiled
Orange juice has a delicate shelf life when kept in the fridge. Although the freezer does an excellent job at extending this, you should still be looking out for warning signs to ensure that you don’t get sick.
The good news is that it is pretty easy to tell if orange juice has gone bad. If orange juice is spoiled, you will likely notice a funky smell to it. It would also taste off. At its worst, mold would be forming in the orange juice. If you notice any of these elements in your orange juice, it should be discarded.
When spoiled, orange juice develops microorganisms that can be harmful if they reproduce too much. Aside from the unpleasant smell and taste, you would likely experience nausea and other digestive troubles upon consuming spoiled orange juice.
How Long Does it Take Orange Juice to Freeze?
The larger the container is, the longer it will take the orange juice to freeze. If you decide to put it in ice trays, it shouldn’t take more than a couple of hours. An entire bottle might take anywhere from six to twelve hours. It’s hard to give an exact number, but don’t anticipate getting a frozen carton in one work day.
Defrosting Frozen Orange Juice
There are a few different ways you can defrost frozen orange juice. Thawing it out in the refrigerator is a great way to do it, but it does take some time. Taking the container out of the freezer and placing it straight into the fridge will defrost it in about twelve hours.
Again, the defrosting time will depend on the volume of your container of orange juice. The thawing process can be sped up by putting the container into lukewarm water. To do this, just dunk the container into a bigger container of room temperature water. It will still take a couple of hours, but likely less time than it would in the fridge.
Conclusion
There are many reasons someone might want to freeze orange juice. Maybe you couldn’t finish the carton in time but don’t want to waste it, or you want to put it in some ice trays and save it for a hot day. Some recipes also call for small amounts of frozen orange juice.
Whatever the case may be, orange juice can be frozen in any sort of container and last for many months. It is important to make sure the container isn’t entirely full before freezing, as liquid expands when it is frozen. But other than that, orange juice can be successfully frozen.
