Growing up, my mother would buy apricot nectar in a can at the grocery store and serve it to my siblings and I when we would have a sore throat. When we moved to a home with an apricot tree in the backyard, my mom and I worked together to preserve the apricots as juice, jelly, and apricot butter. Since I frequently catch strep throat, apricot nectar is my go-to choice of beverage. This last year, I was unable to find any canned apricot nectar at the store, and the apricot tree at my parents’ house had rotted and been cut down. I purchased an apricot tree from a local nursery, and while it grows, a friend from church was delighted to offer access to her apricot tree.

Thus began my first solo adventure in canning apricot jam and nectar. For this project, I used a steam juicer, a hand mill, 64 oz plastic bowls with lids, sugar, lemon juice, and apricots (of course). My son tasted the results, held the pan, and provided “helpful” suggestions on how to do it better.

To start, I pre-washed all of the parts of the steam juicer, following the directions from the manufacturer. I then added water to the lowest section and placed it on the stove.

Then, I connected the tubing to the juice collector section and followed the manufacturer’s instructions to attach the clip.

Then, I added the basket section and placed the prepared fruit in it. Preparing the fruit is actually not necessary, but I prefer to have a chance to check for mold or bugs in the center of the fruit, so I rinsed and pitted my apricots before putting them in. With my son’s help, we alternated pitted apricots with a cup of sugar until we filled the top (~5 colanders of fruit with 3 cups of sugar). The top and bottom layers were fruit as instructed in the directions for the juicer.

Then, I turned the stove on and brought the water to a boil. As it went, the juice began to collect, and about every 30 minutes or so, my son helped me drain it off into a large covered pan.

When the fruit had cooked down most of the way, I turned the stove off and separated the components again so I could put the remaining fruit into the hand mill.

Then, after milling the steamed fruit into puree, my son and I began recombining the juice and puree to make the nectar using my food processer to recombine the two. The ratio we settled on was one cup of puree to three cups of juice and a tablespoon of lemon juice. After setting aside about two liters for immediate consumption, I put the juice into the plastic containers and refrigerated them overnight before putting them into the freezer for long-term storage.

Quality control (sister, son, and self) says the nectar is delicious. I repeated this process a second time already, and I plan to do so at least twice more to ensure we have enough juice to last through the year.

In short: 12 (64 oz) plastic containers, steam juicer, hand mill, lemon juice, apricots (pitted), sugar (3c.), food processor (optional).

Nectar Recipe:
3 cups concentrated juice
1 cup apricot puree
1 tbsp lemon juice

All fruit used in these recipes are locally sourced (about 5 blocks from my house) or commercially grown. Fresh homegrown fruit should NEVER be transported from a quarantine area into or through a pest-free area as this can introduce destructive pests to local orchards, decimating crops and people’s livelihoods.