You're probably asking, "What's he going to tell us now?" The story starts a few years ago when I used to pay about $10 for my vitamin C tablets from Vitacost. Marcia would buy hers from an alternative medicine pharmacy and the cost was about $50. "Mmmmm," I thought. "What's the difference?" So, I looked into it and found that mine were made with ascorbic acid (synthetic) and hers was made using citrus sinensis. Citrus sinensis, as discovered, is basically a fancy name for orange peel!
I then set off to make 'our' own vitamin C. Is it any wonder, that she's just gaga over me? I'm here to tell you how I do it. The industry uses several acids in their acquiring process for leaching. That certainly doesn't smack of being a very wonderful thing. I use NO acids, and the whole process is natural. This isn't a sales pitch so don't worry, nothing is for sale here. Kind of see no evil, do no evil premise. We've been doing this for over three years.You should use only ORGANICALLY grown oranges. Most producers use chemicals to preserve shelf life and color. We are fortunate that our friends Al and Wanda have access to organic oranges. They grace us through the harvest season with boxes of oranges off of neighbors' trees. Every morning, I juice three oranges and do my processing routine. Orange peels are edible.
This is cutting and squeezing for the juice.
The next step is to remove the inside remnants of the orange. I use the sandwich knife by Cutco. The rounded blade is just perfect for the job. I do this for all the sections before I begin to slice the peel into at least 1/32" strips. I'm getting pretty good at doing this. It's kind of fun to see how fast you can do it without incident! I jokes. The Cutco blade is made specifically to prevent accidental cuts. So, I zip along!
I then get the drying tray that I used the day before (24 hours is sufficient). See note below.
Every time I do a new batch, the dried peels are removed from the rack and are put into a shopping bag which is right next to the heater. (Marcia added, "Where it decorates the living room!" .
I usually acquire about a month's worth of dried peels before I move to the grinding (milling) stage.
I then place them into a gallon-sized baggie and store them in the freezer as soon as possible. The orange sinensis is so potent that you need the double bagging to prevent the other items in your freezer from tasting like oranges, ie. butter, etc..p.s. Our little heater is ideal. The pilot light puts out a nice drying heat all day long. When it does come on, it's for a brief time and usually on low. I've even dried it in the sun. That takes a while to do. Whatever you use as a dehydrator, make certain you don't expose it to temps. above 125 deg.. That would kill the enzymes. If you can snap it like a piece of dry spaghetti, that's about the dryness you want. The drier, the better. If it's not, it'll sort of gum up your grinding heads. Also if you set the heads too close together, it will do the same thing. You don't have too grind it too fine.
We then use it by adding 1 tbsp. to a glass of fresh squeezed orange juice or on cold serial. We also use it on our yogurt and granola dishes. If you use it with steel cut oats, or any hot serial, don't put the peel in when you cook the oats. It will negate the enzymes.
I just read a statement about vitamin C in orange juice that surprised me. I learned that out of 'from concentrate' and 'not from concentrate', the concentrate contains more vitamin C because it is quickly frozen and is fresher when you add water. The 'not from concentrate' allows the vitamin C to degrade by being exposed to the air. So, the best is fresh squeezed, then second is from concentrate! That was news to me. I've always bought 'not from concentrate'. I guess on that info. the frozen concentrate that we Alaskans buy is probably the best form of concentrate, because the vitamin C would be better preserved.
The ingredients in citrus sinensis have an adverse effect on Vitamin A absorbtion. So it''s important to eat foods rich in Vitanin A. This is an excerpt that I copied.:
Vitamin A
Alcohol, coffee, or excessive iron can all deplete your body's supply of this essential
vitamin -- bad news. But the good news is that vitamin A is readily available from numerous
food sources. It can be obtained from food in two different forms -- pre-formed vitamin A
(called retinol or retinal), found in animal sources, and pro-vitamin A (beta carotene), from
plant sources.
Thrive Online, part of the Oxygen.com network of sites, provided a comprehensive answer to
your question in their Vitamin and Mineral Guide, which lists the following as the top ten
vitamin A-rich foods:
liver
sweet potatos
carrots
mangoes
spinach
cantaloupe
dried apricots
milk
egg yolks
mozzarella cheese
Orange peel.
Orange Peel is one of the greatest sources of vitamin C on earth and should not be left out of
your diet as a rich source of soluble fiber and a potent support for an enhanced immune
system, as well as a natural resource for supporting the body's efforts to ward off invasive
infection. It is an old and reliable digestive, but important new research has demonstrated
promising potent antioxidant activity. There are also more good sources of vitamin C if you research the subject.
That's it in a nutshell. Just hope you can use this info.
