I did a little experiment, opening up a couple of pomegranates. I peeled the white pith away from the seeds, transferred the seeds into a saucepan, added a little water and brought the mixture to a simmer. When the mixture had liquefied, I poured the juice through a sieve and pressed out the last drops.I placed the seeds from the other pomegranate into a potato ricer and crushed them, as gently as possible, over a bowl. (Crushing them in a sieve would probably have worked as well.)Results: The cooked juice had a far better flavor than the fresh-crushed juice, which was bitter and had an earthy taste. "Joy of Cooking" was right.

Please Don't Squeeze the Pomegranates - Los Angeles Times Saturday, December 21, 2013 @ 9:31pm