S and J Mandarins are fresh citrus fruit picked at the peak of ripeness.
They will typically last up to 1-2 weeks when kept in a cool dry place in a single layer. If you haven’t eaten all of your mandarins within 1-2 weeks (which is nearly impossible because they are so yummy), place them in the refrigerator to extend their shelf life by a few more days.
Remember: It’s best to not store them in the cardboard shipping box, in the sun, or under the Christmas tree — it gets too hot! Also, avoid getting them wet or storing them in moist areas. The moisture can split the fruit.
Freezing Mandarins
If you are going to freeze your mandarin oranges for smoothies or to use out of season:
- Peel the fruit and remove all of the white membranes (or as much as you can), as the membranes can turn bitter over time.
- Separate the mandarins into smaller pieces (easier to pop in the blender).
- Place mandarin pieces in a single layer inside a freezer storage bag or container — this makes it easy to break apart the segments later. If you just fill a freezer Ziplock or storage container, the juice will freeze the segments together into one big block of mandarin pieces, making it hard to use in smoothies etc.
- Put the storage bag or container in your freezer and enjoy!
Juicing Mandarins
If you want to juice your mandarins, store them at room temperature as they produce more juice when they are warm than when they are cool.
- Roll the mandarin orange back and forth on a hard, flat surface with some pressure. This will lightly bruise the fruit and produce even more juice.
- Cut the mandarin in half and hold one half in your hand, cut side facing upward.
- Squeeze the mandarin over a wide-mouth container and repeat with the other orange half.
Blending Mandarins
Or, if you have a Vitamix or NutriBullet blender, you can peel a bunch of mandarin oranges, fill up the blender with as many that fit inside, fill the container half-way with water, and blend.
- If you like your mandarin juice with pulp, blend the mandarins for a shorter amount of time.
- If you prefer your mandarin juice to be pulp-free, blend the mandarins for a longer period of time.
The blended juice will be frothy, but stick it in the refrigerator and by the next day, it will be perfect!
Buy Mandarins
Don’t forget, you can always buy mandarins online or visit us to pick up a bag of our organic Satsuma mandarins at the orchard daily throughout mandarin season, or stop by the Sacramento Certified Farmers’ Market in the State Parking Lot at 8th and W Streets under the freeway in downtown Sacramento from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm on Sundays. If you get there early, often you can get a great deal on our “juicers” — those mandarins that taste amazing, but aren’t pretty enough to ship.
