How much Juice, Zest, or Sections of an Orange are in a Pound?

An orange is a citrus fruit that grows on a tree or a bush, depending on the variety.

You can find oranges growing in warm climates worldwide, but Brazil produces more than any other country. In the United States oranges are primarily grown in 4 states: Florida, California, Texas and Arizona.

An orange is a well-known source of Vitamin C.

An orange is considered a citrus fruit because it is formed from the plant ovary after the flower blooms and the orange also contains seeds.

There are several varieties that fall under the 2 main types of oranges: Sweet Oranges and Bitter Oranges.

Sweet Varieties Include:

• Navel - A navel orange is the most common and popular to eat; it's found in most grocery stores. It's popularity comes from its sweet taste with a low acidic content. In addition, it's easy to peel and has very few seeds to remove.

• Blood Orange - These oranges are orange on the outside with a bright red flesh on the inside.

• Cara Cara Navel Orange - Like a navel orange, the Cara Cara has a sweet taste and is very low in acid. However, this one has red flesh inside, and offers a hint of cherry and blackberry undernotes.

• Mandarin - A mandarin orange is smaller in size, sweeter in taste and easier to peel than the other varieties of sweet oranges. This orange is easy to recognize because it's rumply peel looks like it's too big for is body. Two common sub-oranges of the mandarin are:

o Tangerine - This one has a deep orange colored peel and is a little smaller and sweeter. Otherwise, it is very similar to the Mandarin.

o Clementine - The clementine is a hybrid between a mandarin orange and navel orange. The peel is a deep orange color with a smooth exterior. This is a very juicy and sweet tasting orange with fairly low acidic content.

• Valencia - A Valencia is a basic orange that does not taste as sweet are the other sweet oranges. It also has seeds and is normally cut with a knife, not opened with your hands.

• Acid-less Orange - An acid-less orange is considered a sweet orange. It definitely contains very little acid, but it also offers very little flavor.

Bitter Varieties Include:

• Seville Orange - Seville oranges are known as your basic sour orange. Due to its high acidic content and bitter taste, it is used in cooking - marmalades, salad dressings and sauces.

• Bergamot Orange - This fragrant orange can be found with either a yellow or green colored peel. Its highly acidic juice has a very strong bitter taste. The bergamot orange is used commercially to in perfumes. It can also be found is tiny amounts as a flavoring in some coffees and teas.

• Trifoliata Orange - This very tiny bitter orange that originally came from China and Korea, is primarily used to make marmalade.

An orange is either a round, sweet, juicy fruit or a round, bitter fruit. Both its skin (called a peel) and the fleshy inside (called pulp) are most often orange in color, however, some varieties are a bit more yellowish or reddish.

Oranges, like most citrus fruit do not continue to ripen after they are picked from the tree or bush.

As the name implies, sweet oranges do taste sweet, but they often have a slight tart kick to them also. At the height of the season, real ripe oranges basically just taste deliciously sweet.

Bitter types of oranges are normally not eaten raw but cooked into preserves, sauces and marmalades. Some are even used to make commercial non-food products.

Even though the flavor will change, both lemon and grapefruit can be used as a replacement. If you need the “orange” taste, you can use a tangerine or clementine as an option.

Before you cut an orange for either a wedge, segment or a slice, wash off the orange peel under cool running water. This will help keep from getting any remaining dirt or debris onto the inside of the orange.

Here are 3 of the basic orange cuts: wedges, segments and slices.

• Wedges: This cut is often used when you are going to pick up the orange piece and eat it with your hands as a great snack.

Place the orange on the cutting board on its side. Cut across the orange dividing it in half. With this cut you are slicing the segments in half. Next slice the halves into angled shapes making the wedges the width you want for your recipe.

• Segments, with no peel, or membrane: This type of cut is often used when oranges are used in fancier salads or dishes.

For this cut it is helpful to have a well sharpened knife to remove the segments from the membranes.

Place the orange on it's side on the cutting board and trim off about 1/4" from each end. Next begin to take off sections of the peel by cutting from the top down the outside of the orange.

Repeat until you have removed all of the skin and membrane on the outside of the orange; you are left with just a ball of orange fleshy segments. While holding the orange in your hand, cut out the segments from between the separating membranes.

• Slices: Slices are used for garnishes in cocktails, dinner entrees and used to make orange candy.

Place the orange the cutting board on its side. Using a sharp knife cut off both ends of the orange. Next cut across the orange into slices (this cuts through each segment) the width you need for you recipe.

Once zested, the outside of the orange peel is often sprinkled onto an entrée or salad to add extra aromatic citrus flavor and brightness. A zester makes very finely grated pieces of orange peel.

Be sure not to get any of the white pits as it has a bitter taste.

Both Valencia and navel oranges are the perfect choice for juicing. For a fun twist, a blood orange will give your drink a pinkish color. Sor a sweeter orange juice, select either a clementine or a tangerine to make your drink.

• Manual juicer: It is both quick and easy to use a basic manual juicer to make fresh squeezed orange juice. Cut the oranges in half and remove any seeds. Place the orange half on the juicer and manually twist the orange while applying some downward pressure.

• Blender: To make fresh orange juice in a blender, begin with removing the rinds, seeds and white pithy membranes from the oranges. Place the orange pieces into the blender and cover with some water or other juices. Blend and enjoy.

• By Hand: Some oranges are so juicy that it is easy to just squeeze the cut orange half with your hands!

If you plan to eat the fresh oranges in 5 to 7 days, you can leave them on the kitchen counter preferably where the sun won't shine directly on them. An orange is juicier to eat or use when it is at room temperature.

You can store fresh oranges in the refrigerator crisper drawer. This method will maintain the sweetness and quality for about 2 to 3 weeks.

Once you have cut into the oranges, you can easily store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for a couple of days.

After washing the whole fresh oranges under cool running water, you can freeze them by placing the whole orange into Ziploc freezer bags and storing them in the freezer. Frozen whole oranges maintain their quality up to 1 year.