[Growster...]

That's amazing Maryann! Many thanks!

As an experiment, and also because that sort of cost is making our eyes water at the moment, I tried a method which I learned from distilling methods.

We chopped a one apple, and put it in our normal steamer, which goes on top of a normal saucepan.

Then we put a little water in the sauce pan, with a Pyrex bowl on the middle, so it just doesn't float, and fired it all up.

The result was pretty good too - the apple juice collected in the Pyrex bowl, and the remaining pulp went as someone described, very flabby and lifeless! So the juice was released, just as it should be!

I got about half a wine glass after about five minutes, so will try more when the Economy Seven kicks in...

We're pretty sure that there isn't much condensed water in the juice, but without a full analysis, it's impossible to tell - perhaps others know, but it tastes great and by no means watery!

We used a Lord Lambourne apple.

[Maryann]

Well it's worth a try but I woud think you have to accept you are watering down the purity of the juice. Having said that when using the jelly bag method don't you add some water to the fruit when cooking them prior to the straining anyway?

I did wonder if there was a way to use a conventional steamer as a juicer but I think you would end up with a lot of condensation and risk spoiling any lovely fruit or veg so maybe not worth it.

Keep an eye open for special offers on ebay or maybe even advertise on freecycle or simialar sites. I know £50 sounds a lot of money but my steamer has been in use virtually non stop since I bought it. I have made Bramble, Hedgerow, rose hip and Rowan berry jellies and also cooked meals in it. Today I'm going to try steaming beetroot and crabapples together to see if I can make either a jelly or maybe a cheese to go with cold meats, or ploughmans.
As I'm only using one gas ring on the stove I think I must be saving a little bit of money in gas usage - thats what I'm telling myself anyway!