Sugar Cane Juicer

[simon_grow]

Hey Bill,

That is San Diego Yellow. Out of about 10 varieties I’ve tried, it is my overall favorite because of its flavor, sweetness, color ease of growth and ease of juicing. This is a juicing type cane and I don’t recommend it for chewing because of its thicker skin.

The Asian Black was my favorite for chewing but it’s horrible for juicing because it falls apart.

Brad is growing a striped Sugarcane that he really likes, I haven’t compared the San Diego Yellow to the Striped cane but I will next time I visit Brad.

On a side note, I still have my sugarcane juicer and it still works like a champ. I’m considering upgrading to one of the Tubobiz juicers ( now David’s Cane Machines).

I did add an electric motor to my unit and it makes juicing much easier and if there’s ever a power failure or no outlet, I could always hand crank.

Simon

Simon

[BestDay]

It is really pretty when it gets that red on it. Some of the pictures of the San Diego Yellow don’t have the red on it and some do. Do you know why?  Do they get red on them when they mature?  Or maybe when they get a lot of sun exposure?

Thank,
Bill

[simon_grow]

The San Diego Yellow is usually mostly yellow and green in color but it will get a bit of red in it every once in a while. I have not paid attention to the areas that get more red but it could possibly be from mechanical rubbing or from mealybugs. By mechanical rubbing, I mean when the stalks touch and rub on each other when the wind blows. I’ll have to go check my patch and see if I can find any patterns.

If you think that red is pretty, the striped sugarcane is absolutely gorgeous!

Simon

[simon_grow]

I just checked my plants and it does appear that the red tinges on the San Diego Yellow sugarcane is on the sun exposed sides although many of the canes exposed to sun do not have the red.

This one has some red pigmentation that you can hardly see



This one is more obvious and the sun exposed side has the red color and the interior side has no red




Simon

[BestDay]

Mystery solved!  Thanks for the info. 

How much do those David's Cane Machine's cost?  I emailed him but he wouldn't tell me the cost.  He wanted me to download Whatapp to communicate with him. 

Thanks,
Bill

[simon_grow]

It depends on which model. I got the quote maybe 5 years ago and can’t find it anymore but i believe it ranged from 2-5K or more depending on model.

Simon

[Eggo]

I've been thinking about growing sugar cane for the last half a year.  This thread has some great info on the presser and varieties. I think this will be the year I will grow some.

Where can one buy San Diego Yellow sugar canes?

[simon_grow]

Hello Eggo,

Brad (Spaugh) usually has cuttings for sale.

Simon

[spaugh]

I dont have any extras now but they sell it on ebay and etsy.  Theres a lot of sellers.  The jamaica stripe is my choice cane.  Thry have it for sale on etsy now. 

[toucan_joe]

Does anybody know where one can buy a Sugar Cane juicer???

A usual cold press juicer is suitable for that. But you should cut it into small pieces previously.

[Julie]

Do not use a standard juicer for sugarcane!  It will ruin your juicer!

The farmer I know who has sugarcane uses a hand crank juicer from amazon.  I've seen an automatic one in a John Kohler video on youtube. 

[wellemetal]

spammer

[Eggo]

Did anyone on here ended up with a David's Cane Machine?  I got a wall of sugar can now lol. Excited to start juicing some next year.

[BestDay]

Not yet, but I got a price. $1600!!!  That’s a lot of money just to drink some fresh juice. But his u it’s do appear to be very high quality.

Bill

[simon_grow]

I got a quote several years ago and the price varied based on the model. I can’t find the quote anymore. If you’re just juicing for family and friends, you can just do a little at a time with the model I posted about. I got a small electric motor attached to mine now so I can juice a lot more than compared to when I was hand cranking.

If you’re thinking about opening up a shop or selling your juice, then David’s cane machines are a good investment.

There’s a relatively new juice bar in the Clairemont/Convoy area of San Diego called Cane Concoctions that sells a variety of drinks made with fresh pressed sugarcane. They use a David’s Cane machine there so it would be worth checking them out and talking with the workers.

Are you the same Eggo from back in the GardenWeb days?

Simon

[Eggo]

Thanks Bill and Simon.  I won't be opening a juice shop but have a bad habit of going all out. I will be ordering one and will let you know how it goes.  Communication with David has been pleasant and easy.  I wanted to see if anyone had experience with the machine long term but i guess if a juice bar is using it, it should last awhile ahah.

Simon, yes that's me. Those felt like the early internet days now, lol.  And some fruits have came a long way.

[simon_grow]

Haha, yes, it has been a long time. My wife and kids call me “the ancient one” and keep making fun of my age. What was dad’s first pet, my wife asks? A Dinosaur, lol!

Send me a pm if you’re in the San Diego area and I can juice some cane for you to sample. If you do get the David’s Cane machine, I would be interested in which model you select and the price. I believe the shipping charge was a couple hundred dollars.

Simon

[BestDay]

The $1600 price he gave me was for the mighty mini and included shipping.  The mighty mini is now the cheapest model he sells.

Bill

[Eggo]

Bill, that's also the model I'm looking into. They are pricey but my wife spends quite a bit weekly on a half gallon of fresh squeeze cane juice.  I also need something that she could operate safely.  By the way I was going to show you this nice large beautiful dwarf brazilian that look like it will fruit early next year.  My chickens got into my fence off dwarf brazilian, they ate the trunk, pups and all in a day. It hasn't grown back yet but the weather has been cold, hopefully it sends some pups in spring. May have to PM you for another purchase next year if it doesn't, lol.

Simon, 🤣 lol yes ancient one.  Yes, I will definitely pm you if ever in the area, thanks for the kind gesture. It'll be awesome to sample some canes, my wife is more of the cane connoisseur. I currently got one variety right now growing but have space to maybe double my plantings.

I'll keep everyone posted on the juice machine.

[nullzero]

If anyone has san Diego yellow cuttings/divisions for trade. I have Asian Black and Morgan Red.

[Galatians522]

I have to confess that this is one of my favorite threads on the forum. Thank you Simon and Brad for all the hard work and research that you have put in. Because of this thread I bought a juicer and started growing heirloom cane. Asian Black is my favorite so far. Here is my small contribution.

One of the big problems with the Asian Black cane is that it oxidizes so fast. To prevent this, I scrub the canes very well and put 1 to 1.5 teaspoons of citric acid powder in the juicer tray before I start juicing. This keeps the juice from oxidizing and preserves the beautiful rose color for several days in the fridge.



If you put this concoction in an icecream freezer it becomes a healthy version of a gas station slushy. And when you put what is left over in the freezer its like Italian ice. I can't figure out why more people aren't into this!

[simon_grow]

Galatians522,

I pretty much do the same thing to prevent oxidation of the juice but I use Calamansi or Kumquat as the antioxidant. They add a wonderful citrusy taste to the juice.

I’ve also been adding fresh squeezed pomegranate juice, coconut water and fresh watermelon juice to dilute down the sweetness of the sugarcane juice. I need to try putting the juice in the ice cream maker, thanks for the suggestion!

Simon

[spaugh]

That pink juice looks amazing.  Does your black can make pinkmjuice Simon?

[simon_grow]

Hey Brad, I got rid of my black Sugarcane but when I was growing and juicing the Black canes, it was a dirtier looking juice and it did not look nearly as beautiful as Galatians522’s juice.

There is a red can that may make juice like that. My yellow cane juice combined with pomegranate juice looks like that depending on how much pomegranate juice I add.

Simon

[Galatians522]

This is what I have been pressing to get that color juice. I only run it through once, so it doesn't fall appart on me.



I do scrub the canes with a wire dish scribble which might remove some of the peel, but I think the color difference is from adding the citric acid to the juice tray. If I wait until I have the whole tray juiced, it has already started to darken some. At that point, I can actually see the citric acid reverse the oxidation slightly as I stir it in (ie from brownish pink back to pink). I think once its all brown there is no revesing it, though.