Ideas to cut the bitter taste of orange rinds

May 27, 2008 1:45 PM

I LOVE my new juicer but the oranges betray me.

I just bought a Breville Compact Juicer and I luuuurve it. There is truly nothing more joyous than pulverizing fruit first thing in the morning. But my dilemma is with the oranges - a staple of morning smoothies, I'm sure you'd agree - and specifically the rinds, which are insanely bitter. Obviously I could peel them before juicing but that kind of defeats the ease of the juicer in the first place. What I'm wondering is if there are any food and cooking able people out there that may know a tasty way to balance the bitterness of the orange rinds. Sugar? Yogurt? Bananas? Not much seems to be cutting it. Thanks!

posted by smallstatic to Food & Drink (7 answers total)

"if there are any food and cooking able people out there that may know a tasty way to balance the bitterness of the orange rinds"

Now, I'm sure there's someone more clever out there, but honestly, the pith of the orange is a downright disgusting substance if you ask me. Peel 'em, because I don't think anything you can do is going to make food contaminated with citrus pith palatable.

Come to think of it, I've never even heard of anyone trying to juice unpeeled oranges using that type of non-crushing juicer device. That sounds awfully crazy to me.
posted by majick at 1:51 PM on May 27, 2008

You are supposed to peel the oranges before putting them in. Same with limes and lemons and all other citrus fruits. Buy the kind that you don't need a knife to peel if you are in a rush.
posted by charlesv at 1:52 PM on May 27, 2008

I've always peeled citrus before juicing. If you're short on time, you could always pre-peel a few oranges and leave them in a container in the fridge, then simply grab and throw into the juicer as needed.
posted by Meagan at 2:12 PM on May 27, 2008

Yeah, what they said. Raw orange pith is incredibly bitter, and you're going to have to peel or cut it off before juicing the fruit. All you need is a sharp fruit-paring knife and a little practice.
posted by hot soup girl at 2:50 PM on May 27, 2008

I am also pretty sure that the directions for your juicer tell you to peel it. I have a Breville but a different model and the directions explicitly say that you have to peel citrus fruits.

And if you're thinking about throwing in a peach without taking out the pit...don't. Same with cherries and other stone fruits.
posted by charlesv at 3:02 PM on May 27, 2008

This winter I was getting organic navel oranges from Florida that had lovely pith, not bitter at all. But the oils in the rind can pack quite a punch. Tupperware makes a plastic orange peeler that makes peeling really simple.
posted by rikschell at 5:33 PM on May 27, 2008

Peel them. Save the rinds, dry them out, then make them into marmalade. Or adjust to drinking bitter juice.
posted by beerbajay at 5:18 AM on May 28, 2008