How can I reuse or recycle expired fruit juice?

fruit-juiceWe’ve had an email from Catherine:

I can compost out of date fruit juice right?

Right! Fruit juice can go straight into the compost heap – just be careful not to make the compost heap/bin too soggy (it needs to be damp, not too wet or too dry, to optimise the composting process).

Before you throw it on there though, make sure it’s really gone off – don’t trust dates on packaging and don’t forget the difference between “use by”, “sell by” and “best before”. All the fruit juice cartons we’ve got to hand – both the refrigerated stuff and the non-refrigerated ones – have best before dates on them (and guidelines about how soon to drink it after opening), not use by.

Since I’m not a fan of fruit either in whole or juiced form, I can’t think of too many reuse ideas – but I’m sure Recycle This’s awesome readers will be able to come up with something — can more acidic juices (pineapple juice, for example) be used for cleaning as you would with lemon juice?

(One thought I did have was to freeze the juice before it goes off if you don’t think you’ll be able to use it in time – freeze it in ice cube trays rather than in its native container so it’s easier to reuse in small amounts.)

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12 Responses to “How can I reuse or recycle expired fruit juice?”


  1. Bobbie says:

    I don’t usually have juice go bad because I use leftover juices from canned fruit or juice to make sweet ‘n sour sauce for stir frys. My method is to bring the juice to a boil add a few maraschino cherries and juice if I have it, then add sugar and water-diluted cornstarch to make the sauce. Sometimes if I don’t have fruit juice I use jelly or jam mixed with water.

    I would think too that it could be mixed in with fruit pie juice and used that way, but I have never tried it.

    • Bobbie says:

      OwwwwI missed an ingredient (I always make it on the fly without a recipe). Put vinegar in to taste until it has that nice sour twang.

  2. Jack Cornish says:

    Freeze tje juice before it goes off, not in icecube trays but as icepops!¬

  3. I freeze juice all the time…the juice ice cubes work perfect for making smoothies. Yum!

  4. Alice says:

    Rhubarb acid works fine for descaling my kettle and toilet, so I guess “off” fruit juice could be used like this too.

    http://alice-in-blogland.blogspot.com/2009/07/free-acid.html

    If it has already started fermenting then how about making wine with it? Or vinegar?

  5. carol says:

    bobbie’s idea for the sweet and sour sauce is awesome! Can’t wait to try it. I freeze all my various juices in a small container in the freezer, just mix ’em together and use them for smoothies or sometimes freeze them in ice cube trays and add to ice tea. Tons cheaper than what you can buy and just as yummy

  6. How wasteful and bourgeois to regard fruit juice as unuseable as soon as it goes out of date. Don’t be so bloody precious, it’s still drinkable.

  7. Anonymous says:

    Hey what about using acidic juices as weed killers? would that work?

  8. Olia says:

    You can boil it and make compote or pudding. You can add it to a cake dough instead of water.

  9. Olia says:

    Boil it and make jello. Also, you can water your plants with it, they’ll be very happy.



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