It looks like Walmart still sells frozen orange juice, for whatever that's worth.
Old school grocery items you wish would make a comeback
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In A Pickle
Head Chef
Might be a bit defrosted by the time it's done over 4000miles to get back here 
I suppose you wouldn't need to thaw it before use then...Might be a bit defrosted by the time it's done over 4000miles to get back here
Wow, that's a shame. I have a partial can in my freezer for that kind of use.
It's also sort of odd because shipping frozen, concentrated o.j. means that you are shipping a lot less water.
You mentioned trying to make it yourself. Do you know anyone who has a freeze dryer? I would guess one could stop the machine before it was actually dry. I imagine that one could leave an open container of o.j. in the freezer and wait for enough water to sublimate. But, by then, the o.j. would probably have picked up some odours that one didn't want.
In A Pickle
Head Chef
Citrus is sensitive to processing and its flavour is easily lost or altered in a way that makes it unpalatable.
The zesty freshness evaporates into the air which is why the clever bods who figured out how to make FCOJ (frozen concentrated orange juice) also had to work out how to capture the smell and zesty flavour that evaporates and add it back in at the end.
They concentrate it in a vacuum because the evaporation can then take place at much lower temperatures, helps protect the flavour of the OJ which would be wrecked at higher temps.
I don't know anyone with a freeze dryer but it's and interesting idea. I suppose I could buy some freeze dried oranges and grind them up, see what flavour that yielded.
I recently bought some orange zest powder, I was thinking perhaps the flavour of some normal OJ could be bolstered with it
OP
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Linda0818
Executive Chef
Here's one that blows me away that I don't remember at all - salisbury steak dinner with soup????Check out these pictures of retro TV dinner in my album. Some even have soup "Complete 3 course meals". LOL
Retro Dinners
www.discusscooking.com
(picture quality is terrible, but you can clearly see the soup in the tray)
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Linda0818
Executive Chef
I wasn't aware of that either. But then I haven't looked for it in years. My mom used to make it for us all the time when we were kids and I remember buying it a couple of times myself.
Yup, I'd buy a case at a time.
I checked a couple of grocery stores online, here in Montreal. Both Voilà and Métro seem to have frozen, concentrated orange juice.
caseydog
Chef Extraordinaire
My local Kroger, Walmart and HEB stores all have frozen orange juice, but only store brands. None of them have the old Minute Maid frozen OJ I grew up drinking.
CD
I didn't look very hard, but all I saw was Minute Maid.
In A Pickle
Head Chef
Post me some pls, cheers
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Linda0818
Executive Chef
When looking up some info, I found this, that mentions Minute Maid...
Frozen concentrated orange juice has largely disappeared from grocery store shelves due to declining consumer demand, shifting preferences toward "not-from-concentrate" refrigerated juice, and high production costs driven by inflation and citrus greening disease. Major brands like Minute Maid are discontinuing these products as shoppers prioritize convenience and perceived freshness over frozen, processed options.
Frozen concentrated orange juice has largely disappeared from grocery store shelves due to declining consumer demand, shifting preferences toward "not-from-concentrate" refrigerated juice, and high production costs driven by inflation and citrus greening disease. Major brands like Minute Maid are discontinuing these products as shoppers prioritize convenience and perceived freshness over frozen, processed options.
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A few years ago I read about how the not-from-concentrate orange juice is produced. That doesn't really sound fresher or better to me than from frozen concentrate.
From https://orangebook.tetrapak.com/chapter/fruit-processing
caseydog
Chef Extraordinaire
I've known for years that NFC juice is not the same as fresh juice. And, that it is often stored for long times frozen, just not in concentrated form. Florida's Natural brand used to have commercials that seemed to indicate that a bunch of orange growers fresh squeezed oranges from their groves into bottles, and sent it to grocery stores to be sold to us.
Not true. As you posted, Taxy, it is an industrial product, made from a blend of oranges from multiple countries (to maintain a consistent flavor), and is not fresh.
I like the Simply Orange brand, because I like the flavor of it. I know it is not fresh OJ, and how it is made, but it tastes good.
I liked the frozen concentrated OJ I grew up on, too. But, bottled NFC juice is easier, which I assume is why demand is down, and it is going away.
CD
RavingLunatic
Senior Cook
Now I feel bad about feeding my children that frozen concentrated juice. I now just squeeze them fresh from my garden.
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blissful
Master Chef
@In A Pickle
You could try just dehydrated (not freeze dried) orange slices, then reconstitute the flesh part, or the peel part or both and see what flavors you'd like to keep. I was pleasantly surprised how good the slices are thrown in a drink or tea, hot or cold. I dried them at about 95 deg F for a longer time, they kept their flavor and color. If they are dried hotter they lose their nice color and start browning a little.
From dry, I can leave them whole slices, or put them into my spice/coffee grinder and make a powder. I keep this on my spice cabinet in a jar, for frozen desserts, for a nice citrus 'zing'. (I do lemons, limes, and oranges.)
Once they are dry, they can be used for more than a year without refrigeration.
I noticed that frozen orange concentrated orange juice about doubled in price from less than $2 to almost $4. I use a tablespoon of it in whole wheat bread. It takes the bitterness off the wheat. This was recommended by the Baking Book by King Arthur. It works and I use it all the time.
You could try just dehydrated (not freeze dried) orange slices, then reconstitute the flesh part, or the peel part or both and see what flavors you'd like to keep. I was pleasantly surprised how good the slices are thrown in a drink or tea, hot or cold. I dried them at about 95 deg F for a longer time, they kept their flavor and color. If they are dried hotter they lose their nice color and start browning a little.
From dry, I can leave them whole slices, or put them into my spice/coffee grinder and make a powder. I keep this on my spice cabinet in a jar, for frozen desserts, for a nice citrus 'zing'. (I do lemons, limes, and oranges.)
Once they are dry, they can be used for more than a year without refrigeration.
I noticed that frozen orange concentrated orange juice about doubled in price from less than $2 to almost $4. I use a tablespoon of it in whole wheat bread. It takes the bitterness off the wheat. This was recommended by the Baking Book by King Arthur. It works and I use it all the time.
Gone Hiking
Senior Cook
Hard pass. I grew up eating wayyy too many Salisbury Steak dinners and don't ever want to see one again.
On the other hand, I loved sliced cow tongue lunch meat that was encased in gelatin to fill out a uniform shape. After the mid-80s, that vanished from existence for some reason, except from a handful of local, old time butcher stores, where you can now only find it chopped and mixed as souse, which is just not the same.
Well that sent me down a rabbit hole. I grew up eating beef tongue and really liked it. My mum would cook it for supper and then the leftovers became cold cuts. I cooked a pig's tongue once, but I didn't know you had to peel it while it was hot. I peeled some of it and it was very uncomfortable. I left the rest to cool and my cat, Musmus snacked on it. What I could rescue, was virtually impossible to peel. I just had to cut off too much meat while cutting off the skin. Haven't tried cooking it since. It's not something you see at most grocery stores.
I found a recipe posted by someone who grew up in Finland eating tongue. Somehow that reminded me of something else that most people in North America don't really like, head cheese. I loved the "sylte" that my mum made. I have tried buying head cheese here a couple of times, but I didn't like it.
My brother loved Head Cheese, as did my mom, dad, grandmother. I don't remember anyone else liking it but that's not to say they didn't.
I did NOT like it.
I don't remember why I didn't like it - but at the time was most probably because I knew what it was made from rather than the taste.
I did NOT like it.
I don't remember why I didn't like it - but at the time was most probably because I knew what it was made from rather than the taste.
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