DRINK PINK

The past few weeks we have been inundated with guava. They are everywhere. The trees and ground are full of yellow polka dots. A few days I decided to take a new approach to using these delicious pink fruit by making something other than cheesecake or jam. JUICE. Little did I know I would spend 6 hours peeling, cooking, pulping, straining, boiling, straining and enjoying. I cooked about 25 quarts of guava and ended up with about 10 quarts of juice. If you cooked down about 45--50 guava it might take about 1-1/2 hours. Jam is quicker and lasts longer but this juice is delicious... not to mention nutritious.

Check out this link to see all the great health benefits guava has.

Hundreds of fresh guava. 5 tote bags full in total.

Peel and chop. Cook until soft.
I prefer to use the firmer, immature guava and not ones that are too soft or over ripe. 

Remove seeds from cooked guava with a food mill. Guava pulp.

Run the guava pulp through a mesh strainer to remove the fibers and any small seeds that made it through the food mill. Add the thinned juice to a 5 quart pot and add water and sugar. 3 quarts of pulp, 1-1/2 quarts water and 1 cup of sugar. Boil about 10 minutes until sugar is dissolved. Adjust to taste.

Run the water/pulp/sugar mixture through cheesecloth. You have to stir it in the cheesecloth until all the liquid runs through. Small batches work best. And there you have your guava juice.
Refrigerate and serve.