It is easy to make “true” carrot juice in a Vitamix!
Many people like both whole food juice (aka smoothies) and “true” juices, but not everyone wants to buy or store a juice extractor and a Vitamix. Here is how you can make a quality juice using only your Vitamix machine and a filtration bag.
- Start with the freshest carrots you can find. Carrots lose their juice, and grow bitter over time.
- Use very cold carrots from the fridge (or better yet, place them in the freezer for just a few minutes to get them very cold, but not frozen).
- If you want the sweetest juice possible, take off the ends, and peel your carrots first.
- Rough chop the carrots into 1 inch pieces then place them into the Vitamix.
- If you look at the picture above you will see that I started in my wide bottomed, low profile container. Because it is harder to make small batches in that container, I should have started this in my 32 oz wet container. Once I began blending, the volume shrank so much that there was not enough carrot puree to cover the blades so the mixture could flow freely. I moved the partially pureed carrots over to my 32 oz. container to finish blending. The total volume of the puree was about 2 cups. The picture below is looking into the top of my 32 oz. wet container.
- Visit Vitamix Containers Explained to learn why it is best to have a narrow bottomed wet container to compliment the wide bottomed container that comes with Next Generation Vitamix models.
- Blend on High, using your tamper the whole time, and stop as soon as you have a puree.
- You want to blend for the shortest time possible to get to the puree stage. It took me 23 second total blending time to make the puree in the picture above.
- Many people will claim that blending in a Vitamix will heat the juice, and damage enzymes. Phooey. The puree will only get hot if you blend for too long. This is why it is important to start with cold carrots, and stop blending as soon as you have a puree. In this carrot juice example it only took 23 seconds to make the pulp, the pulp was 60°. The gear of a masticating juicer gets much hotter than 60°, but not likely as hot at 118°.
- Enzymes are not living things that can be “killed” (you often hear people say that heat kills enzymes). Enzymes are proteins made of amino acids (building blocks) designed to speed up a specific biological reaction. Heat or a chemical force (such as an acid, base, solvent, etc.) can alter the shape of the building blocks which make them unable to perform their function. Heat is what people in the “raw food” movement are concerned about. Where the enzymes in food (juices) are concerned, as long as your juicing method does not produce heat above 118° there is nothing to be concerned about.
- Although a Vitamix can create friction heat, you have to blend for several minutes before the heat has a chance to build up. Making a puree only takes seconds. For those who are concerned about damage to enzymes due to heat (the correct terminology is “denaturing enzymes”), notice that the temperature of the puree is only 60°F. Enzymes are not denatured until they are heated to above 118°.
- The pulp in the picture above has not been strained yet.
- I use nylon paint strainer bags as filtration bags. They cost about .50 per bag, and I always get a minimum of 10 uses out of one bag. I can find no difference between the nylon nut milk bags sold for several dollars per bag, and the nylon paint strainers, but if you would prefer to pay more 😉 you can buy nylon filtration bags (aka nut milk bags), or natural fiber bags.
- A glass measuring cup works great for holding the filtration bag open
- Squeeze the juice out of the filtration bag.
- When you strain by hand, you can get every last drop of juice out of the pulp. My Champion Juicer is considered a good juicer, but I can take the pulp that is ejected from my Champion juicer, put it in a filtration bag, and squeeze out another ounce of juice! Many people think that the last few drops of juice that come from the pulp have the most nutrients.
- Anyone who has ever cleaned a juicer knows that cleaning a filtration bag and a Vitamix is a breeze compared to cleaning a juicer!
- The final, product is a pure, sweet, delicious, nutritious, and freshly “squeezed” carrot juice!
- I have to limit my sugars, and this is a high glycemic treat, so instead of drinking all of the carrot juice that came from 2 cups of puree, I placed the leftover juice in an ice cube tray to make “carrot juice cubes”. Carrot juice cubes can be used in place of ice in future smoothies!
Did you try making carrot juice in your Vitamix? If yes, how did you like it? Please scroll down to leave comments and/or ask questions about making carrot juice in your Vitamix…
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Can’t you drink the carrot juice, as long as it has lemon or vinegar in it, to mitigate the blood sugar reaction? Thanks for great info!
So glad that I found this site and you’re a Vitamix rep…wonderful. I need HELP!
I just bought my first vitamix and so excited. I did much research on vitamix versus a juicer, as I really want to juice. I have two questions and hope that I can get some guidance.
1. I bought a E320 from Costco 2 days ago. So far have made a smoothies and so happy with it. However, all recipes on the site have the variable speed. All I have is 1-10 and no high….Is that right? If so, what would I do when all the recipes call for 10 at high speed.
2. I tried to make celery juice, as I bought this in hopes that I could juice. I had the celery in the fridge, added cold water and even some ice. I found that the mix was warm after only 40 seconds and this didn’t give time for all the celery to mix. Did I get a lemon? I heard that you don’t want the veggies to get warm as it takes out the nutritional value of the veggie.
Any help and/or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks! I have a new VitaMix. Now I am off to the hardware store to get paint straining nylon bags! Carrot juice—yes!!??????
Auto correct—ouch.
Straining bag!
Carrot, not carry
Thank you so much for sharing, I love carrot juice
This left over pulp is great to use in a carrot soffle!
Carrot juice! I love it, but thought I’d have to give it up when I gave up on my juicer. I had upgraded to a highly rated, better juicer with the power to extract more juice that promised less, drier pulp. The improvement over my “bargain” brand was noticeable, but not all that impressive. The pulp, by volume, outweighed the juice – and the pulp was quite wet. I tried to recycle the pulp by running it through again with the hope to extract more juice, but that only resulted in a lot of pulp escaping into the juice.
Well, it was mine now so I decided to make the most of it and just considered it to be a small price to pay because I love fresh juice. About four months into ownership, I again found myself avoiding making juice because cleaning the juicer’s basket was a daunting task. Plus, there are only so many creative ways one can think of to repurpose the pulp.
I found myself researching Vitamix – my mom had one in the 70’s and she loved it. An added bonus is that it is not only made in the USA, it is made right here in the Cleveland area, where I live. I felt like we were soon to become soul mates. The more I researched, the more determined I was to buy … and I did. This is the best decision I ever made in the kitchen! Fortunately I had purchased the juicer from a store with a very liberal return policy, so it got boxed it up, said good-bye and never looked back.
I still thought I’d forever be without true, fresh, juice but was happy to have the best darn smoothie machine that could also make soup and help me prep for dinner. For two years I resisted trying to make juice until I read Lea Ann’s tutorial for juicing in the Vitamix and how to remove the pulp. I took the plunge and even tweaked the recipe a bit. I was so impressed with the volume of juice and the drier than dry pulp that was left after the pulp was squeezed. The result? More juice per carrot!
My recipe is a blend of flavors using my 64 oz. container. 5-6 carrots (I use organic carrots, so I just scrub them with a vegetable brush instead of peeling) 1 apple cut into quarters with only the brown stem removed, 1-2 stalks of celery, broken into pieces and a clove of garlic. Once everything is in the container I put in just enough filtered water to make the veggies start to float. I blend it on variable speed 10, for about 1-1½ minutes.
I strain the juice through a double layer of very fine netting from the fabric store, squeezing out as much deliciousness as possible. The pulp is damp, not wet, and pretty minimal by comparison. I drink one and store the rest in a glass pitcher in the refrigerator to enjoy this perfectly smooth, no-pulp juice for the next two days. You might say that straining the juice sounds like a lot of work, but it’s really not. Literally, it is no more time consuming than scrubbing and picking pulp out of the juicer’s basket while trying not to scrape my hands on the sharp edges. And I only have to do it once every three days!
The listed quantity of ingredients yields enough juice to fill 3 – 16oz. glasses. Generally I spice it up a little by adding some Tobasco and black pepper to each glass. The possibilities are endless. Another bonus? My Vitamix cleans itself while I enjoy my fresh juice!
Diane, thank you for that recipe..I’m on my 2nd Vitamix (5300), and I sure wish LeeAnn was still our blender lady,(I’m very happy for her and new career tho). I’ve been searching everywhere for veggie juices, and want to incorporate a chunk of beet. !
Hello Donna, I’m still around supporting people in the Vitamix Enthusiasts FB Group, and answering emails! Did you see the green juice recipe in the group files? https://www.facebook.com/notes/vitamix-enthusiasts-blender-lady/green-juice-recipe-true-juicing-using-a-vitamix/670909332981014 You can make any other juice the same as carrot juice, just make a pulp out of the veggies you want to juice, then strain them!
I think I’m going to be juicing more than the smoothie style. No matter how I make them, with fruit or green, I can’t deal with the thickness of them. And yes, I’m so glad you’re still our blender lady!! ?
LOVE this! I love carrot juice, my boys love carrot juice!! I had not found a way to make in vitamix. Most of the recipes I had found required lemon juice to be added. Not the same so I had a juicer that I had gotten simply to make carrot juice! When I learned this way, made all the difference and I sold my juicer in the very next yard sale.
Well that sure is an endorsement for how easy it is to make “true” juice in a Vitamix! I’ve heard that some people don’t like “kneading” the juice out of the bag, but I find that it STILL takes Less Time to make juice this way than with a juicer (when you factor in the time setting up, juicing, cleaning, and returning the juicer to the cabinet). Also, the juice I make in my Vitamix is thicker, richer, and the fiber is much dryer than when I make it in a juicer. I think that only a Norwalk Juicer (amazon associate’s link) could compete with a Vitamix for quality of juice! 😉
So glad to see this today. I am considering making carrot puree for my autoimmune meatloaf next week, and I thought I had to steam the carrots first. I’m sure that would make it EASIER of course, but if I just chop/puree in the Vitamix itself, not too hard! Have you dehydrated the pulp for carrot flour? And how do you clean the strainer bag? When I made the green juice last week, I threw the bag away – didn’t realize it could be cleaned.
Hello Cindy,
Yes I HAVE dehydrated the pulp, but used it with other ingredients to make “cookies”. To clean the bag, just turn it inside out and rinse well. I also add a drop of dish soap, do a bit if kneading/squeezing of the bag, then rise well. I like to put the rinsed bag in a towel and squeeze to remove moisture – the nylon strainer bags dry FAST! I don’t worry about staining. I only get rid of the strainer bags when they wear a hole in them.