Cull Oranges Anyone?

The answer should be “HECK YES!” from all of you!

What is a cull orange, you may be asking? Well, a cull orange is the not perfect orange. They are the oranges with wrinkles, thin skin, bruises, over-ripe or any other defect that will cause them to not sell for top dollar. They are the oranges that have been “culled out” of the orange bin you see at the market.

Its odd, cause I’ve been working in the grocery industry for a few years now, and I’d never heard this term until just this week. I first read it this past Sunday, while my husband and I were visiting a hometown farmstand that I read about in Edible San Diego (which you should TOTALLY check out, here, they have them for most of the major cities). Farm Stand West, is one of only two outlets of a local farm that grow everything from citrus to strawberries to garlic (check them out here). Citrus seemed to be their specialty. While walking around the little farmstand, I saw this big wheelbarrow looking thing filled with oranges that were only 50 cents a pound! Getting closer, the sign said “Cull Oranges, 50 cents, Great for Juicing!”

 

Now fast forward three days. I was working at the farmstand that I work at. I had been going through the Valencia oranges we were selling and noticed that some where getting just a little less than perfect. My boss walked over and started pulling out these oranges, realized that she was doing what I was just doing, and told me “eh, just cull these ones out.” WHAT?! SWEET!

 

So… I had a heavy walk home from work that day. See, we don’t have a cull bin at my stand. The best part was that I also had to “cull” the tangelos and tangerines.

 

Then next morning, I made juice. Lots and lots of juice. Delicious juice. Make sure to go through your oranges, as your cutting them in half, if you notice anything weird about the inside, just toss that one. Out of the 4 pounds I had, I had one that was a little weird on the inside. I knowwwww you don’t need a recipe, but here’s one anyway!

 

Super Delicious 'Orange' Juice

Ingredients:

• 4-5 pounds of orange citrus (makes about 2 quarts)

Directions:

1. Wash citrus, cut each in half, squeeze or juice with one of those cone-y things. Strain out the seeds and drink. Store any leftovers in the fridge and shake before drinking again.
2. Substitutes: Use all or any orange citrus you can find! Navel oranges, Valencia oranges, blood oranges, tangerines, tangelos and mandarins. Also, if you have just 4 oranges, make a cup of juice instead of a jug!

 

Seriously, the best, sweetest, most nutritious and cheapest orange juice you could ever have.